New plot suggestions

[Creek chub]

I’m gonna establish a new plot in the few weeks and need some suggestions.
The plot is not accessible with a tractor so no discing. It’s mountain land surrounded by laurel on three sides and faces north. Tree density isn’t high and no mature trees in the projected plot area but mature oaks will be on the edges so shade will come into play. No soil test but similar sites have tested around a 5 ph. The plot will be around 1/3 acre.
I’d like to get a summer crop going. I like buckwheat but the deer demolished a similar sized plot last year. Any suggestions?

 

[Native Hunter]

It's going to be hard to stay ahead of the deer with only 1/3 acres unless you have extremely low deer numbers. I would probably plant some rye, wheat and medium red clover and just see what happens. It might have a chance of surviving but I doubt it. That's usually considered a fall planting but would work just fine for a spring planting too.

 

[Creek chub]

It's going to be hard to stay ahead of the deer with only 1/3 acres unless you have extremely low deer numbers. I would probably plant some rye, wheat and medium red clover and just see what happens. It might have a chance of surviving but I doubt it. That's usually considered a fall planting but would work just fine for a spring planting too.

I have a bag of oats and barley. I guess if I add red clover and get a decent germination, maybe the clover will get established enough to keep the weeds at bay after the barley and oats die in a few months. Then I can overseed wheat or rye late summer

 

[coolbrze0]

CC - sounds like where we are in the mountains. New plots are almost always right at 5.3 (thus a lot of Laurels which do well in low pH). 2 of my plots face South & 2 face West. I've had decent luck w/ WR, WW, WO, & WB. Also done well w/ Patriot & Durana clovers. Everything has been broadcast, no drill or anything to plant. I did lightly rake 3 of the plots w/ my 8' landscape rake but won't do that again b/c you can lose too much 'topsoil' if you get a moderate + rain on these hills.

For your plot, can you get a 4 wheeler to it? If so, I'd drag a harrow or something to clear as much debris as you can then maybe use a backpack blower to get rid of leaves if they're still there. At 5 pH you're going to need a lot of lime if ya wanna bring that up to 6-6.5. Try that Solu-Cal or even the Southern States Solu-Lime that I mentioned earlier. It's fast acting & you don't have to put down as much at once. Let me know what you do & how it works out. My smaller West facing plot is a lot of shade & the WR I plated there has done OK at best but nothing else even does that good b/c of the shade.

 

[Creek chub]

CC - sounds like where we are in the mountains. New plots are almost always right at 5.3 (thus a lot of Laurels which do well in low pH). 2 of my plots face South & 2 face West. I've had decent luck w/ WR, WW, WO, & WB. Also done well w/ Patriot & Durana clovers. Everything has been broadcast, no drill or anything to plant. I did lightly rake 3 of the plots w/ my 8' landscape rake but won't do that again b/c you can lose too much 'topsoil' if you get a moderate + rain on these hills.

For your plot, can you get a 4 wheeler to it? If so, I'd drag a harrow or something to clear as much debris as you can then maybe use a backpack blower to get rid of leaves if they're still there. At 5 pH you're going to need a lot of lime if ya wanna bring that up to 6-6.5. Try that Solu-Cal or even the Southern States Solu-Lime that I mentioned earlier. It's fast acting & you don't have to put down as much at once. Let me know what you do & how it works out. My smaller West facing plot is a lot of shade & the WR I plated there has done OK at best but nothing else even does that good b/c of the shade.

I can get a four wheeler to it and can use my drag harrow. I may go with white tail Institute no plow. I tried that in a similar newish plot two weeks ago and it’s germinating really good. That mix has about 25% rye grass that I don’t like but the rape and clovers will hopefully feed some deer soon. I’ll likely gly the plot in late August and throw down oats for early bow season

 

[coolbrze0]

I can get a four wheeler to it and can use my drag harrow. I may go with white tail Institute no plow. I tried that in a similar newish plot two weeks ago and it’s germinating really good. That mix has about 25% rye grass that I don’t like but the rape and clovers will hopefully feed some deer soon. I’ll likely gly the plot in late August and throw down oats for early bow season

Good deal. What kind of mountain soil do you have there? My largest plot is actually decent topsoil & pH of 6.0 so it's been "easy" to work with. My other 3 are your typical crappy rocky, sandy, loamy mounting soils, although 1 is better than the other 2. Had great luck w/ No Plow on our farm in Northern VA but it didn't do well here compared to some of the other mixes I put down (which is weird). Going to give it another shot sometime but I had better luck w/ Bowstand & Secret Spot. Note: I planted them all separately in the same plot to see how each would do comparatively.

 

[Creek chub]

Good deal. What kind of mountain soil do you have there? My largest plot is actually decent topsoil & pH of 6.0 so it's been "easy" to work with. My other 3 are your typical crappy rocky, sandy, loamy mounting soils, although 1 is better than the other 2. Had great luck w/ No Plow on our farm in Northern VA but it didn't do well here compared to some of the other mixes I put down (which is weird). Going to give it another shot sometime but I had better luck w/ Bowstand & Secret Spot. Note: I planted them all separately in the same plot to see how each would do comparatively.

My mountain plots soil is like yours. Rocky and sandy for the most part. Pasture land on the lower part of the farm is really good soil. So far, the no plow looks like it will serve its purpose and hopefully allow me to seed oats this fall.