First Plots

[Meat Manager]

I've got my first 3 small plots staked-out totaling a little less than an acre.

I've decided I'm doing all my work with leg-power so I've gone ahead and gathered-up some old and purchased some new supplies:

-4 gal backpack sprayer

-Round-up

-Soil tests

-Pelletized Lime

-Backpack broadcaster/spreader

-Spade-fork

-Rake

-Hoss Lil Double Wheel w/4Teeth

-Hoss Disc attachment

-Hoss Seeder/Planter attachment

-Egyptian Wheat (spring/screens)

-Buckwheat (spring/green manure)

-Turnips (late summer)

-Clover mix (late summer)

-Peas (late summer)

Going to grab some soil samples tomorrow and spread a load of lime. I surely will hit it again with lime after I check my soil results. I am holding off until then to pick up fertilizer.

Looking forward to my first round of spraying next week.

Gonna document my progress here for my own sake more than anything else so my apologies if this thread is boring.

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Edited April 6, 2014 by Meat Manager

[Four Season Whitetail's]

I've got my first 3 small plots staked-out totaling a little less than an acre. I've decided I'm doing all my work with leg-power so I've gone ahead and gathered-up some old and purchased some new supplies: -4 gal backpack sprayer -Round-up -Soil tests -Pelletized Lime -Backpack broadcaster/spreader -Spade-fork -Rake -Hoss Lil Double Wheel w/4Cultivator -Hoss Disc attachment -Hoss Seeder/Planter attachment -Egyptian Wheat (spring/screens) -Buckwheat (spring/green manure) -Turnips (late summer) -Clover mix (late summer) -Peas (late summer) Going to grab some soil samples tomorrow and spread a load of lime. I surely will hit it again with lime after I check my soil results. I am holding off until then to pick up fertilizer. Looking forward to my first round of spraying next week. Gonna document my progress here for my own sake more than anything else so my apologies if this thread is boring. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Spraying already?  We still have snow on the ground. lol   Do you have green up already?

[Meat Manager]

Spraying already? We still have snow on the ground. lol Do you have green up already?

Next week I'm planning on my first round of spraying...snow has been off most of the area I'm planting in for some time.

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[Four Season Whitetail's]

Next week I'm planning on my first round of spraying...snow has been off most of the area I'm planting in for some time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice!  We are another week or so away from the mud stage and with any luck will have some green for Gobble Day on the 1st.

[Meat Manager]

Definitely greening up:

Took some soil samples...very loamy and easy to dig.

Just gonna have to clear some dead stalks, gonna do that tomorrow afternoon and then spread some lime.

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Edited April 6, 2014 by Meat Manager

[G-Man]

Too much lime this year and you will shock your plants... its usually a 2-3 year process if your raising ph any significant amount..

[Meat Manager]

Too much lime this year and you will shock your plants... its usually a 2-3 year process if your raising ph any significant amount..

I'm only putting out about 80lbs Pelletized...don't think I'll have to raise it too much if its like my soil at home.

I didn't do any lime today I got caught up cutting a good trail and shed hunting.

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Edited April 6, 2014 by Meat Manager

[Hardcore]

Personally I would attempt to rent a tiller or have someone disk the areas, just to break up the soil and make your life and planting efforts easier. I have tried the cheap route before and it works if you have a quasi prepared seed bed.

I have also done without the prepared seed bed to see my time , effort and dollars yield disappointment in the final product. Nothing like hunting over a lush food plot that came from your blood sweat & tears....good luck

[Meat Manager]

Personally I would attempt to rent a tiller or have someone disk the areas, just to break up the soil and make your life and planting efforts easier. I have tried the cheap route before and it works if you have a quasi prepared seed bed.

I have also done without the prepared seed bed to see my time , effort and dollars yield disappointment in the final product. Nothing like hunting over a lush food plot that came from your blood sweat & tears....good luck

I am definitely planning on preparing the soil well...I am just doing it primarily with hand tools and a wheel hoe. I may also use my Troy bilt mini cultivator.

Like I said luckily the land was a farm long before it was forested and the areas I've chosen have loose and loamy soil...should not be that hard to work, still gonna be a lot of hard work!

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Edited April 7, 2014 by Meat Manager

[dbHunterNY]

things have been thawing out a bit here.  behind the house is a creek bottom and you can definitely hear the creek.  once it calms down a little more I think i'll take the Kubota B7200 down in there and plant some clover and chufa in one spot and something for late season in another.  I seemed to see more deer in there when I didn't let it go.  until then I've got chain saw work to do.

[G-Man]

Make sure your not converting a good bedding area into a food plot, those are worth more than the food plot is. And if you turkey hunt are they nesting areas?.. seems every overgrown field becomes a food plot... its not always a good thing... I screwed up myself and lost a great bedding area. Yes the deer came to eat but bedding is far more important.. if the deer bed. Property's away they have to walk past a lot of hunters before they get to your foods and if highly pressured will do so only under cover of darkness. If they bed on yours and a well thought out and placed plot is planted they only walk on your property.

[Meat Manager]

Testing my soil samples as we speak:

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[woodchuck]

How much was that testing kit? I bought one of those probes that you stick in the ground and get the readings. Wondered how accurate it was. You ever try one of those?

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[dbHunterNY]

Make sure your not converting a good bedding area into a food plot, those are worth more than the food plot is. And if you turkey hunt are they nesting areas?.. seems every overgrown field becomes a food plot... its not always a good thing... I screwed up myself and lost a great bedding area. Yes the deer came to eat but bedding is far more important.. if the deer bed. Property's away they have to walk past a lot of hunters before they get to your foods and if highly pressured will do so only under cover of darkness. If they bed on yours and a well thought out and placed plot is planted they only walk on your property.

 

I'm only talking about probably 1 acre total and I previously cleared it.  deer don't bed there but do elsewhere in the bottom which also has a dryer swamp attached.  most of it was thick brush that caused restricted travel straight through it.  So the locations are intentional.

[Meat Manager]

How much was that testing kit? I bought one of those probes that you stick in the ground and get the readings. Wondered how accurate it was. You ever try one of those?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was like $22 and will probably last for another round of tests when I do my summer planting.

I would say a cheap probe is probably the least accurate means of soil testing but it is better than nothing.

That said sending soil samples to Cornell or local ag extension is the best method. You can also pay a private lab they sell some collection kits OTC.

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Edited April 9, 2014 by Meat Manager

[Meat Manager]

My soil test results were as I expected...a bit high on ph and low on nutrients:

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Edited April 9, 2014 by Meat Manager

[phade]

No need to lime.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Extremely high. Is your plot next to a lime quarry?  LOL

 

 

[Meat Manager]

Yeah glad I didn't spread any...looks like N uptake should not be an issue.

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[Meat Manager]

Got my Hoss lil double wheel cultivator today, tried it out on my 2 yr overgrown garden...20 mins cleared the tall dead grass and did a top level 2" cultivation:

Got the seeder and disker attachments on the way...gonna throw a 25 or 50lb plate inbetween the steel wheels for the disker.

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Edited April 10, 2014 by Meat Manager

[Meat Manager]

Got out today and raked and sprayed a logging trail that I decided I'm going to plant with Deer Creek Seed logging trail mix ASAP:

Before and after (more like after and before):

Got everything green with the round up:

Heading back tomorrow to rake the remaining 3 plots I'll be seeding in mid-late may with buckwheat...also rake/spraying the screen strip I'll be planting with Egyptian wheat after last frost.

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Edited April 12, 2014 by Meat Manager

[Meat Manager]

Got most of my spring planting seed from Deer Creek Seeds today (loggers trail mix, buckwheat and Egyptian wheat), 3 days from order to door:

Still got WGF Milo from DC on the way as well as some Frostmaster Peas from the Seed Ranch.

Went ahead and mixed the loggers trail seed w/10-10-10 and spread with my backpack broadcaster:

I fast tracked this utility plot because of the wet and freezing weather we are getting over the next few days...Hopefully it will help work the seed in and then we will get some good sun before the trees leaf out.

This is just a shady road plot (fescue, rye, clover) for road structural integrity more than forage.

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Edited April 14, 2014 by Meat Manager

[phade]

You had better have some fast growth to outcompete the weeds planting this early.

[Meat Manager]

You had better have some fast growth to outcompete the weeds planting this early.

This was the recommendation from the seed co in order to take advantage of early spring moisture and unblocked sunlight. I am pretty sure that is why there is an annual and perennial of each rye, fescue and clover...the philosophy is that the annuals pop quickly and give the perennials space to get established.

Like I said its a shady logging trail...not a serious forage plot, but a planting done none the less.

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Edited April 15, 2014 by Meat Manager

[Hardcore]

Again the best of luck to you MM, don't get discouraged if they don't turn out like you hope. I have had many food plot attempts yield close to zip. I have also had many lush "TV" plots as I like to call them and the mediocre variety as well. The full spectrum of success and failure on my record. A lot of trial and error so many things need to be right.