Spring Update

It's May 23, and everything is green, including the weeds. My food plot is not doing as good as I had hoped. Last fall, around September 15, I put down the Alfa-Rack product from the WhiteTail Institute. We had a lot of rain, but the temperatures were quite cool following the seeding and the germination appeared to have failed. I did not fertilize, however, and should have. Today, I can say that I have about 40% germination. The rest is broadleaf weeds. I have virtually no field grass type weeds. The good news is that the weeds are likely annuals, and mowing (with my brushog) should keep the seed tops cut off, thus causing the plants to die off this fall after frost.

While I didn't get a full germination, I am going to leave this plot alone, and care for it in hopes that it flourishes. I will likely do an overseeding this fall to fill in the areas that are sparse. I did put down 6-24-24 fertilizer yesterday, about 100 lbs/acre. Using an Earthway spreader is a pure joy. My Model 2150 is built like a rock and performed flawlessly. I even put down some 12-12-12 just because I wanted to get rid of it(and use the 2150).

I am now clearing an area that is about an acre in size. I put Roundup on it yesterday to kill off the native grasses. I will re-apply any areas that I missed in a month or so. Then we'll disk it every 2 weeks through the summer, incorporate (by disking) ag-lime at #3200/acre to bring the PH up from 5.5 to something closer to 7. PH is the most critical element. Low PH encourages weeds and clover crops require a good sweet soil, as close to 7 as possible. This fall, we'll put down some brassica mix, likely turnips and winter wheat or rye. That will give the deer forage through the winter. Then, in the spring, we'll disk that under in early June to help build our soil, and plant buckwheat for our warm weather crop. Check back later for an update on that project.

I also have a small 1/3 acre spot in the woods that is a test clearing. I put a clover/chicory mix down and its coming in, albeit slowly. We'll see if it can thrive, more importantly, once the leaves fall, we'll see if the sun it gets from October-May is enough to keep it growing. Our bow stand will be near there as it is a travel corridor.

For the summer, your plans should be to mow your plots, or if you are preparing for something for this fall, or even next year, hit them with Roundup. Glyphosate based products are 'gone' from the soil in 14 days after application making them a great 'green' product. They are not harmful to the environment and they really work great. Killing off native grasses, with their extensive root systems is a must, and makes disking much easier, and insures a clean seed bed come this fall or next spring. Spray now, and again in June, then again in September for a frost seeding (March) next Spring. Or, eliminate the September Roundup application and plant your brassicas mid-August. (We're in Michigan). Using the CareSpray backpack sprayer (from Ebay) really helps make it easy to cover a lot of area quickly. 5 gallons goes a long way.

Good hunting and farming!