Amazing what can happen overnight...

[birdgunner]

I love Buckwheat, makes even a no skilled plotter such as myself feel successful.
We had some clearing done last week and I wanted something green in it until it cools off enough in a month or so to get something proper planted and I just so happened to have half a bag of seed...
I spread the seed Wednesday, it was bare dirt yesterday and low and behold this morning I saw green emerging. It never ceases to amaze me what can happen overnight! I have never really had deer eat buckwheat but I love how easy it is to grow and its cover/nurse crop attributes. Here's to you Buckwheat for making my morning! haha

 

[Jason Broom]

BW is a great choice for "colonizing" new ground, whether it's an area that was just clear cut or old field that is being brought back into rotation. It's not high on the preference list for deer, but in many areas it is still browsed quite a bit. It's one of those plants that is probably better for the soil and wildlife, in general, but when used to help prep a field for bigger and better things, it can definitely make for a great morning.

 

[birdgunner]

Well said.
Where I am in mid NC we have red clay with almost no OM, severely deficient in phosphorus and a PH of under 5 yet against these odds BW flourishes and is the cornerstone in my efforts to improve the soil. Deer may not love it but honey bees, bumblebees and butterflies sure do!
We had a 100' long mound of stumps, logs and misc branches from our last clearing that was covered in dirt, last fall I planted it in WW and clover, when the WW died the fell down a month or so ago I broadcasted some BW just to keep things going and today it is full of life...if only I could develop a high sugar Buckwheat I would be my own fan boy! haha

 

[birdgunner]

Couldn't believe it, yesterday when I came home from work I looked in the back buckwheat field and to my amazement there were actually two does grazing away... first time I have ever seen a deer actually eat BW (sorry for the bad pic, it was from my phone through the window and had to max zoom). I will count this as a little victory! haha

 

[cutman]

Deer destroy buckwheat when I plant it. Doesn't get 4" high.

On another property they don't touch it.

 

[outdoorstom]

They don't touch it at my place but I plant it for weed suppression and to build om

 

[Jeff H]

I planted buckwheat for the first time this year and my deer have just hammered it.

 

[Elkaddict]

Our deer love buckwheat.

 

[Jason Broom]

I must be fortunate, or maybe it's our relatively modest DPSM, but our buckwheat always shows signs of grazing, without getting wiped out. Some years it really out-produces the deer and other years the deer hit it pretty good, but I've never had it fail to canopy, which is one of the main goals when I plant it.

 

[srmtrap]

New to this. DPSM and OM are used above. Definitions?

 

[Kabic]

Deer per square mile (square mile of habitat may differ)

Organic material

 

[THE LLC]

DPSM - Deer Per Square Mile
OM - Organic Matter

 

[srmtrap]

Thank you!

 

[Tenured Student]

Turkeys love buckwheat as well. It's also good for pollinators.