House and Habitat build thread:

[catscratch]

Wheat has most of the same soil building properties as rye with nitrogen scavenging, a fibrous root system that helps soil tilth, and addition of OM... wheat is preferred by deer over rye here during the same months that rye is palatable... and awnless wheat provides a high protein grain that is readily consumed during antler growth and milk production... and at a time that is extended over what rye provides. Summer is exactly a time that I want to provide deer lots of protein. Not a lot to not love.

With all that said I still find a place for winter rye in my mixed. I suspect rye is favored among plotters who have poorer soils as it's known to grow better than wheat on sandy, low fertile, and rocky soils. It certainly has it's place, I just see few benefits of its use over some other plants.

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[Mennoniteman]

Wheat has most of the same soil building properties as rye with nitrogen scavenging, a fibrous root system that helps soil tilth, and addition of OM... wheat is preferred by deer over rye here during the same months that rye is palatable... and awnless wheat provides a high protein grain that is readily consumed during antler growth and milk production... and at a time that is extended over what rye provides. Summer is exactly a time that I want to provide deer lots of protein. Not a lot to not love.

With all that said I still find a place for winter rye in my mixed. I suspect rye is favored among plotters who have poorer soils as it's known to grow better than wheat on sandy, low fertile, and rocky soils. It certainly has it's place, I just see few benefits of its use over some other plants.

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Fall planted wheat in midwinter here is mostly brown and frozen when rye is still green. Also, my soil is on the poor side and wheat & barley for some reason don't grow well here, but rye, oats, corn, clover, etc grow very well, I could never figure this out?

 

[catscratch]

Fall planted wheat in midwinter here is mostly brown and frozen when rye is still green. Also, my soil is on the poor side and wheat & barley for some reason don't grow well here, but rye, oats, corn, clover, etc grow very well, I could never figure this out?

That is kind of goofy; that corn grows well and wheat doesn't. You would think that most grasses would react similar unless it has to do with the winter cycle. Now you have me curious. What zone did you say you were in? Wheat stays green all winter here (except for some yellowing during the driest part of winter).

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[Mennoniteman]

That is kind of goofy; that corn grows well and wheat doesn't. You would think that most grasses would react similar unless it has to do with the winter cycle. Now you have me curious. What zone did you say you were in? Wheat stays green all winter here (except for some yellowing during the driest part of winter).

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Zone 6B. Throughout Pennsylvania if you see a really green looking field in midwinter it's always rye, winter wheat is also somewhat green throughout winter, but if it's side by side with rye there's a huge difference, also the growth rate in cold weather is much better with rye. And yes, I'm totally puzzled why I can't grow wheat and barley on my soil, I can grow about anything else.

 

[catscratch]

I've grown wheat and rye side by side many times but rye is almost never seen in a field here. I've always presumed that that's the reason deer here preferred wheat... its what's most common and what they are use to. But I've planted them together so many times that they've had plenty opportunity to decide what they like best. I wonder if your regional soils are depleted in something like iron, sulfur, magnesium, or copper? I think any of these deficiencies can cause yellowing, and possibly affect palatablity?

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[catscratch]

The beans I put out Wednesday are off to a running start. Put an efence up around some of them to see if I can get seed production out of them.

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[Mennoniteman]

Here's a picture of my oats-barley-wheat experiment. Everything else was 100% equal and the oats outperformed the other two by quite a big margin.

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[catscratch]

Here's a picture of my oats-barley-wheat experiment. Everything else was 100% equal and the oats outperformed the other two by quite a big margin.

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Great looking field! I like how you laid it out in alternating strips. Watching a field like that can sure some insight to what the deer are using. Well done!

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[MarkDarvin]

Here's a picture of my oats-barley-wheat experiment. Everything else was 100% equal and the oats outperformed the other two by quite a big margin.

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What were you looking to learn?

 

[Mennoniteman]

What were you looking to learn?

Spring planted wheat had seemed to grow slower than spring oats for me in the past, so I decided to do a direct comparison to figure out what spring small grain cover crop is best to follow fall brassica fields with. I know the wheat would have done much better as a fall planted crop, but that's not an option with fall brassica plots. I always like to get an early spring planting into any fields like brassica fields that have no current crop growing in them.

 

[MarkDarvin]

Spring planted wheat had seemed to grow slower than spring oats for me in the past, so I decided to do a direct comparison to figure out what spring small grain cover crop is best to follow fall brassica fields with. I know the wheat would have done much better as a fall planted crop, but that's not an option with fall brassica plots. I always like to get an early spring planting into any fields like brassica fields that have no current crop growing in them.

And the oats headed out before the barley?

 

[Gravel Road]

Did you get a chance to try out your mist blower this year?

 

[catscratch]

Did you get a chance to try out your mist blower this year?

No, that thing scares me. With all the wind we have and not great spraying conditions I hate to use anything other than a boom pointed straight at the ground. I can't help but think drift could be awful with one of those.

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[Gravel Road]

They do have some drawbacks. I'm going to buy a UTV sized one for thistle control in open areas and spraying locust and hedge trees. Figured it might work well for spraying insecticide on trees too. We've been hit with crazy bagworms and Japanese beetles this year.

 

[catscratch]

I haven't ever sprayed any of my trees, hope to not have to. Thistles in open places on the other hand... well I would love to make them feel my wrath!

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[catscratch]

The Throw-n-Mow bean plot is doing well. It's getting dry, we had rain in the area last night it completely missed us.

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[catscratch]

Getting some good pics of deer. They have been using the clover... beans are fenced off and other plots were basically mowed down. Seeing them around can inspire some practice time. Need to check my trailcams soon to see what's on them.

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[catscratch]

I'm very excited about fruit right now, going to be a lot of firsts this year!

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[OkieKubota]

Looking great catscratch. I like the looks of those bucks!

 

[Gravel Road]

That buck with the extra inside points looks great. Looking like a fun deer season