WNY Planting Done

[William Allis]

May be a week or 2 late but we are getting rain today. I am hoping for a 1/2 inch.

The attached picture shows a 1/2 acre plot in a recovered meadow. In the background you can see what the whole 5 acre meadow looked like 4 years ago. Overgrown with common buckthorn, honeysuckle, autumn olive, multiflowered rose and a few wild apple. We mowed close and ran our offset disk over it for 2 years and then started planting just winter rye. 2 years ago and this year we mowed close and ran the offset disk with the gangs nearly straight as soon as we could work the soil. Then we treated it with Ranger and 2,4d in early July. This year on Aug 23 we broadcast 56 # Rye, 25# oats, 6 #turnips and radish, 8# ladino and red clover per acre. Then ran the cultipacker over it twice. Next year we will spray, throw the same seed mix but increase the clover and cultipack or mow and cultipack. I think the thatch should hold moisture and, if we get rain, the seed should germinate. Our offset disk is a very heavy 8ft Hutchmaster "rolling plow" and we have set the gangs nearly straight, it might go into the ground 1/2 inch but it cuts and kicks out the old dead shrub roots.

 

[Mennoniteman]

You could write a textbook on reclaiming brushy meadows. Your planting timing should be good with the rain, I hope you get a worthwhile soaker.

 

[William Allis]

Since planting on Saturday we have gotten a little over 1/2inch of nice rain and it looks like more in the next day or two. Temperature has gone down too. It is only 50 degrees this morning. That meadow has been fallow for 20 years. In the spring when wet the 3 inch common buckthorn will push out with the FEL on a 50 hp tractor. That food plot we just kept mowing and treating with Gly and 2,4d. You can see on the right we have a nice crop of goldenrods. We will start mowing that real short a couple times a year and hopefully some of the residual clover will return. We have an 8ft. twin screw Land Pride HD rotary mower.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Mowing will eventually kill off the brush and briars. Planting a combination of rye and radishes will boost your organic matter and your deer food. Putting some fertilizer on is key as well

 

[Buckly]

Been there done that. Keep up the good work

 

[William Allis]

Buckly, where are you buying your seed and etc. We got ours from Pierce Milling. I would like to find some field run buckwheat, but not at $100 a bushel.

 

[Buckly]

Oats and winter rye just from the local mill. Clovers, turnips and groundhog radish from Welters Seed and Honey in Iowa. I dabbled with buckwheat but, just like you found it expensive. Also way too sensitive with moisture. If you get a dry spell in July for 2 or 3 weeks when it’s small it would just burn up on me. If there was plenty of rain then it turned out great. Got burned too many times and never went back to it. Probably been 20 years since I planted buckwheat.

 

[yoderjac]

Buckly, where are you buying your seed and etc. We got ours from Pierce Milling. I would like to find some field run buckwheat, but not at $100 a bushel.

I pay about $40 for a 50lb bag either locally or from Welter

 

[victory]

Yoder I paid $216 delivered from welter 50 pounds of an equal mixture of ysc medium red balsana chickory and Alfalfa. Curious if you have any costs on plantain

 

[yoderjac]

Yoder I paid $216 delivered from welter 50 pounds of an equal mixture of ysc medium red balsana chickory and Alfalfa. Curious if you have any costs on plantain

I do not.