Those are excellent questions Cedar Ridge. I've planted early like this the last 2 years and haven't had a problem with the grains becoming too mature. They have continued eating them right up into the November gun season. The intent of the buckwheat and beans is to provide some attraction that they won't find anywhere else early on and get them into the habit of coming early to the plots. They also act as a nurse crop for the clover and chicory, which will dominate the plot next year.
If you stop and think about it, we are probably many, many days away from a killing frost. Just think of how attractive those plots will be by mid October when the two day Muzzleloader season comes in.
Let's just go ahead and create a new term today that the antler jockey writers can run with. Let's call it "
Two Stage Plotting." Remember that you heard it first here.....
One more thing - another reason I planted so early was that I saw good rains coming. If you recall, last year if someone had waited until the normal time, they could have not had any fall plots because of that drought we had here. I would have waited later this year, but the forecast was right and I went ahead a little early.