The Massey

[MarkDarvin]

Those are some pretty damn nice photos. No matter how dry it is, you're always going to be in better shape than someone with bare dirt. Please keep us posted on how that clover responds now that the cereals have been knocked down. I can't wait to see my fall plot after I mow my rye. That probably won't be until early to mid August though, unless it matures before that.

 

[KSQ2]

Have some pretty good chances for rain the next week. Hopefully the buckwheat t&m’d last weekend will get started. Planning to run over to the plot I put barley and rye into a month ago. If there’s anything to take pics of I’ll post them.

 

[KSQ2]

Looks like there might be a little barley in the fray. Pretty sparse though and the plot is in need of a good rain. Several different types a grass are beginning to come on and if we get this rain to charge them a bit, I’ll hit them with gly and cleth to get ready for a fall t&m.

 

[KSQ2]

Dawna and I headed over to the Massey this evening to do a little deer watching out of the barn. Wheat is still in and the deer are hitting it pretty hard, which surprised me. As soon as it’s dry enough, the farmer will be getting it out and double cropping beans. Then the real fun begins! We saw at least 20 does and bucks this evening, including a couple nicer bucks. This was one of the better ones. Dawna took a pic through her binocs, so it’s not the best quality.

 

[KSQ2]

Went to the Massey to do a little spraying this afternoon. I was encouraged to see the buckwheat popping up. This is my first buckwheat experiment. I didn’t fertilize at all and they were planted into last fall’s brassica plot, which was hit pretty hard with urea last fall.

 

[Native Hunter]

That buckwheat looks good. I bet the deer will enjoy it.

 

[KSQ2]

First card pull of the summer. Nothing too close, didn’t put out any corn to get them closer. I might recognize a couple of them, need a closer look to know for sure. This isn’t at the Massey.



Nice pic of the future…

 

[KSQ2]

We put a camera over the buckwheat at the Massey today. The buckwheat looks good and they’re hitting it some. Sorry, no pics, I got stung by a stray red wasp and didn’t think to snap a pic or two. The farmer was putting beans into the wheat stubble while we were there. Should be some good deer watching from the barn soon!

 

[Native Hunter]

Great update and some nice looking bucks.

 

[KSQ2]

Headed over to the Massey to pull a card and throw a little corn in front of the buckwheat camera. It’s a jungle! Buckwheat looks pretty good, you could hear the bees 30’ away! There is quite a bit of johnson grass to contend with, but other than that it looks good. I plan to let the deer clean up the corn, if they can find it, then move the camera over to the beans before we leave for South Dakota for vacation. Here’s a look at the bee jungle:


One of the bucks that has shown up is pretty interesting. The pics kind of dried up the last week as the deer headed to the beans.

 

[Native Hunter]

Looking good KSQ2. Keep up the good work.

 

[KSQ2]

Looking good KSQ2. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, for the kind words and also pointing me towards buckwheat.
Native, please check out my question over in the regenerative thread. I’m wondering what to do this fall with the johnson grass in the buckwheat.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, please check out my question over in the regenerative thread. I’m wondering what to do this fall with the johnson grass in the buckwheat.

I will take a look.

 

[John Paul]

I too am amazed with how many bees and insects love the buckwheat when in bloom! Glad it's working out for you.

 

[KSQ2]

I headed to the back foodplot on the Massey this morning to pick up a card. Nothing exciting on film, but the clethodim appears to be doing its job.


Also stopped by another spot on the way home. I did a small t&m plot here the first of October. I can’t put rye there, per the farmers request, so I threw awnless wheat, it has laid down as you can see. I threw a little fertilize on it after broadcasting. All the work was done with a hand sprayer and weed eater. Looks like I put the wheat down too thick and the clover had a hard time. Some chicory looks to have made it and there is clover there too, both are just too sparse. I’m gonna give it another go this fall.



Is this purple flower chicory?

 

[MarkDarvin]

Looks like chicory flowers to me.

 

[KSQ2]

Supposed to rain this weekend, so I’m hoping to get the brassica plot in at the Massey tomorrow evening. Here’s a few pics from a recent card pull, not at the Massey:



And here’s a pic for dogghr, time for some new tires!!

 

[KSQ2]

I’d like to get a better look at the buck on the right in the above pic, he has managed to stay a good distance away from the camera so far. The cam is an older browning that is pretty low megapixel.

 

[MarkDarvin]

Simply amazing!

 

[KSQ2]

Headed over to the Massey yesterday evening with a good buddy. Without Chuck’s help, I would have been there til after dark. With the typical dry weather we have in August, I haven’t figured out yet how to put a small brassica plot in without disking a little bit to get the urea incorporated. The organic matter looks real good, and I rotate the brassicas around so that no spot gets tilled more than once every 4 years. Here’s a few pics of our work…


Purple tops, dwarf Essex rape, and groundhog forage radish…

I pulled the card in the bean field and threw some more corn in front of the camera. Here’s a couple pics…