Foodplotting In The Mountains...The Sequel

[George]

I really like the composition of your shroom photo and yes I did take note of a bunch of them yesterday on my walk. But no pictures, I'll get one tomorrow.

G

 

[lakngolf]

That is great that you got to spend some "sweat time" with your son. It was my son at age 10 that got me into deer hunting. From then til he moved out of state after college we spent some great work and hunting time together. I often wish he was close enough to help, but then would be just like your son with many family responsibilities. Enjoy the time. Your beautiful pictures inspire us all.

 

[dogghr]

I really like the composition of your shroom photo and yes I did take note of a bunch of them yesterday on my walk. But no pictures, I'll get one tomorrow.

G

Yea as I've followed your threads, I would expect you to take notice G. Look forward to that pic.

Thanks Lak, now just need some cooler weather and some bucks to begin showing on the property.

 

[Fish]

Always good to hear your thoughts dogghr. You help lift my spirits when my plots are weedy and native weeds spell out my land more than anything i planted.
Great to see time spent with your boy. I did that for my dad when i could and i am beaming with pride thinking my son will help me someday.

 

[Weasel]

Now that's funny Weasel, bet a bunch on here may not get that. I know you just saw it on reruns, you are too young.

I was late to the party but I enjoyed the prime time slot that show was on in my late teens. I graduated high school in 1992, it was still on the air for another year!

Outstanding pics & stories as usual. Glad you got to spend some time with your son. He will cherish those times. I miss being able to have that time with my dad. Love natures free screen, I mow a lot of paths through my goldenrod.

 

[dogghr]

Always good to hear your thoughts dogghr. You help lift my spirits when my plots are weedy and native weeds spell out my land more than anything i planted.
Great to see time spent with your boy. I did that for my dad when i could and i am beaming with pride thinking my son will help me someday.

Thanks fish. I will admit, I still cringe when I see my plots as I grow them today. But I know that they are more productive now than ever before and more tolerant of weather extremes. And saves me a lot of work. But the urge is always there for me to spray, or mow , or till or.. anything. The pic from the hill top shows those bottom plots that look mowed but if you were up close to them you would see a weedy, somewhat grassy mess in them. Not a problem.

I was late to the party but I enjoyed the prime time slot that show was on in my late teens. I graduated high school in 1992, it was still on the air for another year!

Outstanding pics & stories as usual. Glad you got to spend some time with your son. He will cherish those times. I miss being able to have that time with my dad. Love natures free screen, I mow a lot of paths through my goldenrod.

Glad you got to see the show, need a few more long lasting ones like Cheers. Thankgoodness for YouTube that preserves many of those.

Speaking of which, I should've gave some explaination of the quote I used from Eddie Cantor. He lost both parents at age 3 and was raised by his grandmother in a basement on the rough East Side of NY in the late 1800s-early 1900s. She sold candles to provide food money. He became a vaudeville singer and actor and an accomplished biographer despite his dire surroundings. Look up on You Tube his rendition or "Makin' Whoopee" stage song and dance I presume in the 20's. Just seeing his eye rolls is worth the look.

 

[G3 Ranch]

Beautiful property, and a good read....
I'm interested in your alfalfa mix, not sure how that would grow at my place but I sure would like to give it a go.
Any tips?

 

[dogghr]

Beautiful property, and a good read....
I'm interested in your alfalfa mix, not sure how that would grow at my place but I sure would like to give it a go.
Any tips?

For some reason plotters seem to look at alfalfa planting as a scary proposition I think much due to reading its need for baling, and insect issues. But as a simple plotter, those are non issues. I use to say often on the other forum how my plot success were very much due to previous rotations (read LC) and good seed selection. This plot was rotated LC mix for several years before this planting. My ph was 7 and nutrient levels were excellent. I had no intention to bale it, or have a monoculture farmers alfalfa field. I simply wanted to improve an already great plot that would handle drought years more easily, and quite honestly I was bored and wanted to try something new.

So anyways, I planted in Sept 3 yrs ago a mix of non RR alfalfa, Chicory, WC, RC, and WR. I added 19-19-19 at planting. As expected , growth was decent that fall but next spring it all exploded. And as I wanted, the deer basically keep the alfalfa trimmed back without worries of bale. If it does get too high, or I see weeds getting tall, I mow at a foot to foot/half high to keep from mulch smothering alfalfa which can be a problem. I have had no issues with that smothering and as it enters its third fall, I'm very pleased and the deer eat all thats there. I have sprayed Cleth each year also to help control grasses. Its not perfect, nor do I expect it to be but I do know the deer love it.

Alfalfa in this area is attractive until the first couple freezes then the deer back off it, then by mid Dec they are back to browsing it thru the winter and all the next year. That is why the mix of plants covers me basically 12 mo of the year, and as things go dry and dormant in heat of Aug, the deep rooted alfalfa and chicory keep plugging along until cool wet weather brings back the clovers. Go for it, I've really enjoyed it. But have that ph 6.5-7 and your weed issues under control by crop rotation for good success. Smallplot alsohas a nice thread with good info on alfalfa which is more of a monoculture farmer type plot. I also overseed this plot and perennial clovers each fall with WR to help eat a little excess N and weed control. I also add 0-20-20 fert and Boron each fall to the alfalfa. Good luck.

 

[Satguy]

Hope you get the rain you need. Place is looking good.

 

[G3 Ranch]

I do have one 3.5 ac plot the PO had in alfalfa a few years back, the PH tested at 7.4 but deficient in all nutrients. I spread 250 lbs/ac of a balanced fert this spring, did not incorporate it. I did throw & mow soybeans in the plot, it was devoured shortly after it came up, grasses have been sprayed a couple times through the summer. What would be your recommendations for additional fert & seed quantity for your mix? or would I be better to just to do the LC mix until I get the nutrient levels up? I have not followed up with testing this summer and won't have time at this point. Curious as to why RR alfalfa and not a non GMO alfalfa with the mix?
Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

 

[BrianVT]

Appreciate the write up on the alfalfa. Was hoping eventually to do the same thing. Hope you are getting some of the rain that is moving through our area. I've nailed it this year. Planted my WR Tuesday. Briefly rained yesterday and nice rain last night.

 

[dogghr]

I got one quick shower today at work, hopefully hit farm. Better than nothing. Looks like you guys might be on edge of TS, we are supposed to miss the moisture. My buddy in Suffolk not too thrilled.

G3 here is the mix I used in that alfalfa planting. Not sure what to tell you on choices. Personally I would probably do couple years of LC rotation to manage weeds and build a little soil thatch. With that size plot, I would do it in 1 ac strips of each planting then rotate following year. Deer love edge, and I think that is the one thing LC never really emphasized about one of the advantages of his strip plantings. It simply provides tremendous edge in a other wise monotonous plot. I always see how the deer wear trails down the edge that separates one planting from the other. The more edge you can create in field or forest, the happier a deer.

But my planting rates were/ac: 12# non RR alfalfa, 4 # WC, 6# RC, 75# WR, 75# spring oats, 4# chicory, with 200 # 19-19-19. I used Non RR alfalfa because I'm cheap, and since I had other seed in mix, I knew I wouldn't be spraying Gly for weed control. I really just winged it on the seed amounts of each addition, and the planting was done with tillage.

As for your own fert application, follow soil test of if you have none then wing it at 400# 19-19-19 at planting. After establishment, you don't want to add any more N, hence my use of 0-20-20 which I have available at my coop. My soil test call for 1 # /ac Boron, and I use Mule Train Borax for that tx. There are fert available with boron included but my experience is that they contain some N. The N only contributes to weeds and grasses and the plot is making plenty of N on its own. Hope this helps, good luck. And by the way, this is why I keep better records of plot plantings than I do my taxes, including weather and plot results each year. Amazing what you can learn looking back thru your records. Good luck.

 

[G3 Ranch]

Thank you Sir...
The details you've provided will help many. The plot has not been tilled and has a decent thatch layer, I'm thinking about scaling the alfalfa down to an acre and experimenting with the mix.
I must have glossed over the "NON" RR when I read it the first time.

 

[Triple C]

And last, you want to find out how well your habitat improvements are doing. Don't check in the nice cool wet spring. Do a walkabout in the dry heat of August and your land will tell you how prepared you are. Anyone can grow in good weather, the real test is when Mother Nature throws a curve ball at you. Love this sight of plots of multiple food, interspersed by screens of natures Egyption Wheat, the Goldenrod.
But don't just look at your plantings, get down and see how nature handles her plantings in less than ideal conditions. If you learn, and maybe apply her ways to your methods, then just perhaps, just perhaps, your success levels will be improved. I hope I never tire of learning. So much to learn that I thot I already knew. And just when I think I've seen it all, she teaches me something new. Maybe if I learn to mimic her, then life becomes even more simple. Peace.


"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast--you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."--Eddie Cantor

Thanks for the reminder. It's been a whirlwind for me this year. Not complaining...it is what it is and I'm grateful. But...I relish the breaks when I can slow down and enjoy life outside of work. Always enjoy your updates!

 

[dogghr]

G3, good luck. Interesting I was at farm for just a couple hours last night doing a repair, and while my new plots are very slow coming on due to no rain, the alfalfa had grown almost 6 inches since last week while the intermixed clover was barely a carpet. The chicory was doing well also. I show some sorry pics when I get chance. Was going to finish my plantings this weekend, but with continued dry, going to stall another week. That's the nice thing about WR mix, it can go in really late and still give a good plot as long as temps are above 40 deg for most part.

 

[G3 Ranch]

G3, good luck. Interesting I was at farm for just a couple hours last night doing a repair, and while my new plots are very slow coming on due to no rain, the alfalfa had grown almost 6 inches since last week while the intermixed clover was barely a carpet. The chicory was doing well also. I show some sorry pics when I get chance. Was going to finish my plantings this weekend, but with continued dry, going to stall another week. That's the nice thing about WR mix, it can go in really late and still give a good plot as long as temps are above 40 deg for most part.

Thanks dogghr,
Sounds like some good alfalfa growth for a week, I'm interested in seeing the pics

We planted per ac, 50 lb rye, 100 oats, 10 lb RC, 4 WC, 5 each of radish & chicory, 15 alfalfa on about 1.5 ac. I don't expect much out of the alfalfa because I didn't prep the seedbed, after broadcasting the grain I made one light pass with the disk, cultipacked, spread small seed & repacked...we'll see, I will most likely get another education on what not to do.

 

[dogghr]

I think you will like what you did and bet good results by next fall. I also over seed a little alflalfa and clover into plot in fall. Alfalfa supposedly doesn't over seed well, but it has worked good, probably since not a pure stand. I probably have 40-70% alfalfa in my plot depending on area. You got me talking so much about this , I have decided to do another rotation plot on my ridge like this. I'm tired of dealing with weather for planting each year, and will make this one just a perennial instead of an annual rotation.

 

[G3 Ranch]

I think you will like what you did and bet good results by next fall. I also over seed a little alflalfa and clover into plot in fall. Alfalfa supposedly doesn't over seed well, but it has worked good, probably since not a pure stand. I probably have 40-70% alfalfa in my plot depending on area. You got me talking so much about this , I have decided to do another rotation plot on my ridge like this. I'm tired of dealing with weather for planting each year, and will make this one just a perennial instead of an annual rotation.

That's what I read about not over seeding & needing a well prepared seed bed that made me wonder if it was worth the cost/effort..a well prepped seed bed just ain't gonna happen right now. I'm doing all my disking with an offset disk with notched disks, doesn't exactly leave a finished seedbed, go over it with the cultimulcher and it's good enough...I hope.

Encouraging that my ignorance in food plots inspired you to get another plot in, I've helped one...so far.

 

[dogghr]

Decent pattern at 20-some yards. I'll take it. Rough in fletching tho. Shoulder issues last few years has limited my recurve use. Started new program this early summer of just shooting 2 arrows 10-20 times. Seemed to have worked. Yea I know I'm 2 inches left of target bull but this was after hard workout at gym.
Funny at one time it was considered good enough to hit a pie plate. We always shot playing cards and I used to win quite a few bets back then. Not so much anymore.

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[dogghr]

Of course I did get this sent to me today. She really doesn't care, just a joke

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