Food plot and a little work today

[Christianhuff]

Looking good, Christmas party and cheer competition didn't get up. Curious to see the plot again. Love this food plot stuff, it's almost more fun than the hunting!

[Christianhuff]

Supposedly they hammer the radishes after a good freeze, which we unfortunately haven't had yet. We have only had one day below freezing in oklahoma!

[unclefish]

So I'm kind of a soil/seed nerd and find it fascinating how germination works.

I threw some elbon rye in my garden last week when it was warm (in the 60's). I broadcast it on top of bare soil and watered it in good (trying to build some organic matter).

Here are a couple pics after 3 days. This is on top of heavy clay soil.





This is on top of my good garden soil.


Gotta love rye....I bet that's at least 80% germination rate for both soil types. All it needs is moisture and very minimal (if any) soil contact. I had a bunch that spilled in my tractor bucket that germinated and a was growing.

[gingib]

Love following this. you got me excited to plant Elbon Rye next year along with my oats/wheat

[unclefish]

Warning - More nerdy stuff.

A few more rye pics from the garden.

5 days in...the rye is up. It's very purple in its early stages but will green up shortly.




Well over 2 inch roots after 5 days is pretty impressive.

[unclefish]

The plots are looking great with the warm weather and abundant rainfall.



They are eating in it every day.


They are really starting to eat the brassica tops. They prefer kale and radish but the turnips are getting nibbled too.


Still not eating the bulbs yet. Thinking about opening a farmer's market.....





My other little micro plot looks good too and the trail cam says the deer are using it...along with a bunch of hogs.

[drslonghorn]

Just getting caught up on this thread. Your plots look great, I'm going to try the kale and radishes next year. Nice 6 pt, that's a great deer to take! Was curious how you do the smoke as a cover scent. Keep posting, this thread is a great motivator for a lot of us out here, great job unclefish!

[drslonghorn]

Here's a big 6 from our place

[unclefish]

Just getting caught up on this thread. Your plots look great, I'm going to try the kale and radishes next year. Nice 6 pt, that's a great deer to take! Was curious how you do the smoke as a cover scent. Keep posting, this thread is a great motivator for a lot of us out here, great job unclefish!

Thanks.

I actually have a bee smoker and start a fire in it. I smoke all my clothes when I get to my place....hair and cap too.

Then I actually take the smoker with me to my stand. I like for the deer to smell the smoke from a long ways off. There are several homes around my place so they smell it all the time. Sometimes I will even keep it lit and in the tree with me. Have hunted 3 times this year with a bad wind blowing directly into my plot and it has worked every time.

Just getting caught up on this thread. Your plots look great, I'm going to try the kale and radishes next year. Nice 6 pt, that's a great deer to take! Was curious how you do the smoke as a cover scent. Keep posting, this thread is a great motivator for a lot of us out here, great job unclefish!

[unclefish]

Here's a big 6 from our place

That's a hoss!

[drslonghorn]

Thanks for the info, may give that a try. We have several blinds that the deer can come from any direction, makes it hard to hunt. We are experimenting with the ozontics as well.

[Nailhead]

Hey UF. Now that season is over, what's on the agenda for your Spring/Summer plots? Curious what seeds you plan to throw this year. I am trying to stay ahead of the game and get a plan together in the next week or two. Hopefully I can stay ahead of the curve this season and have a good turn out.

[elgato]

UF I'm looking at something called Sumagrow. It's a foliar applicant thats supposed to be great for the soil with superior production from crops vs. chicken litter, commercial fertilizer etc. Haven't done cost comparisons with it vs litter and haven't figured out how to apply in scale for plots but looks interesting. I'll keep you posted on what I find. Gonna try it in my garden for sure this spring.

[unclefish]

Hey UF. Now that season is over, what's on the agenda for your Spring/Summer plots? Curious what seeds you plan to throw this year. I am trying to stay ahead of the game and get a plan together in the next week or two. Hopefully I can stay ahead of the curve this season and have a good turn out.

One thing I'm going to do is really try to manage my chicory / clover plots as best I can (spray for grass). I'm gonna try to get to last into the early summer. They loved the chicory last spring/early summer til the flood hit. I expanded the chicory to about an acre and a half this year. The Elbon Rye should really grow really tall and provide some good organic matter once I mow it....planted it very heavy last fall.

For summer plots I think I'm just gonna plant forage soybeans as early as I can so with the spring green up there will be lots of other choices to let them establish. I've never really had a good crop of them because of drought and deer demolishing them.....but always planted them somewhat late in the spring. This year is my year....lol.

Instead of protein pellets I think I'm gonna feed free choice roasted soybean/corn mix (16% protein, ~7% fat). Its more than a dollar per bag cheaper than protein pellets and is easily available at 2 places on the way to my farm. I fed it initially in my protein feeders before switching to pellets last year. The deer at my place really eat the heck out of it. They will empty it almost twice as fast as protein.

I really need to get in and hinge cut and make some better bedding cover. Its been a couple years since I've done this. Noticed the deer were bedding in a different area this year...maybe because one of my next door neighbors moved in full time and not just on the weekends like previous.

More switchgrass for screening too....still have a lot of seed left from last year....gonna plant it in strategic spots.

[unclefish]

UF I'm looking at something called Sumagrow. It's a foliar applicant thats supposed to be great for the soil with superior production from crops vs. chicken litter, commercial fertilizer etc. Haven't done cost comparisons with it vs litter and haven't figured out how to apply in scale for plots but looks interesting. I'll keep you posted on what I find. Gonna try it in my garden for sure this spring.

Never heard of it so I had to google it. Looks very interesting....lots of benefits....nitrogen fixation, less fertilizer, better yields, better drought resistance. Looks like its a liquid application? Couldn't really find out much on cost or how much is needed, etc...

Any more info you have found would be great. Garden always makes a great test plot!