Summer No-till Plot - Buckwheat & Sunn Hemp

[yoderjac]

I normally plant my summer plot in late May to mid-June, but we had several days of good rain in the forecast, so I decided to plant a little early this year. It was May 5th when I planted. For background, last fall, I planted Winter Rye, Crimson Clover, and Purple Top Turnips in this field. Deer used the field well. This spring, I waited until the PTT was in full bloom and then I mowed the plot high . The winter rye and crimson bounced back quickly and the WR headed out but was still green and actively growing by early may. Here was the planting process I used.

In the morning, I sprayed the field with glyphosate. I then took a break to let gly get absorbed. The area is an acre and a half. After lunch I mixed Sunn Hemp and Buckwheat (50/50) in my 3pt broadcast spreader and seeded the field. I then hooked up the cultipacker and ran it over the field.

Note that the dark green to the left of the blind was spring oats and crimson clover planted earlier this spring for turkey. This picture was taken on May 11th about a week after planting. You can see that some of the WR is beginning to die but much of it is still green.

This picture was taken on May 17th. We winter rye is now dead and laying down much better. You can see both buckwheat and sunn hemp have germinated and are coming up through the WR. I've been using this technique for quite a few years and it works out well for me. Now that I'm retired, it is much easier to coordinate planting before a good rain. Timely rain covers a multitude of sins.

I used no commercial fertilizer on the plot. I selected seeds that complement each other, compete well against our summer weeds, and that provide good nutrition for our deer. I will tolerate whatever weeds grow in the plot.

Over the next weeks and months, I'll take a few more pictures.

 

[Flatiron75]

Deer eat sunn hemp?

 

[yoderjac]

Deer eat sunn hemp?

Yes, It is a high protein food source for deer. They love the young plants. This plot is right next to our barn and our retirement house which is under construction. There is no daytime use but we have deer in this plot every night. Like most plants, as sunn hemp gets older and larger it becomes less attractive.

This is a plot intended to primarily cover the summer stress period here. It will be planted again in the fall. Sunn hemp will be over 6' tall by then. Both Sunn Hemp and Buckwheat are short term food sources for deer and last about 3 months. They will use it for cover after that and turkey love the buckwheat seed. I will mow it before planting in the fall leaving strips of it standing in strategic locations to guide deer movement for fall.