Clover/corn food plot

[DaveT]

DaveT,
A good example for us to pay attention to seed depth as we work on these plots. The fact that yours is doing well and only broadcast and rain fall covering it, shows how little depth is needed. The ideal depth is different for different crops and a mixture makes it difficult to be exact. The brassicas, like the clovers need only a 1/4 to 1/2 inch, where the grasses, rye, oats, wheat, etc.
may do better with 1-2 inches planting depth. What we planted last Tuesday, should be up this weekend since we have adequate moisture and still warm soil temps. We'll see when we get back home from Atl.
Treefarmer

You're 100% correct....the tough thing is knowing how to handle the combo mixes that we get up there that have wheat, oat, rye, clover, pea, and rape. The combo mixes are a good value, but its almost like you need to buy and throw the grasses, disc lightly, then go back and throw the brassicas, clover, etc, and either use a light drag, or just leave it uncovered and let mother nature handle it. Learning something from this....one of my other neighbors up there always swears by just discing, seeding, and letting it ride. I guess its no coincidence that he always has the best results with collards, turnips, and such.

[treefarmer]

Just a quick follow up on the Rye planted on 10/8/13. It is up and about 4" tall, looks like a good stand, could even use a little shower. The old antique grain drill is hard to adjust, so I set it to plant a little light, then go back over with the excess seed. That way at least I'll have the plot covered and then part will be double covered as I go back to use all the seed. A newer drill would be much more accurate and if I was doing this on a large scale, for profit, double coverage would be out of the question due to diesel cost.
Treefarmer

[treefarmer]

Clover/corn food plot Day 142

Today is a beautiful day, rye is growing where the clover and corn were supposed to be. 49 years ago I really began learning what it means to improvise. That was at a summer resort near Beaufort, SC, a place called Parris Island. If it doesn't work, you got to do something else to complete the mission, in this case, plant rye where you had hoped to have a stand of clover and a patch of standing corn. The corn was successful, just ask Bambi! Hopefully the rye patch will work as a draw during the season along with an automatic corn feeder.
There were close to 350 pictures under the pear tree this time. Same old bunch of buttheads. There were a couple of different pics with the deer and a possum squaring off. Also the dog and a couple of possums were in a few pics. Another interesting thing we have observed the last day or so are the coons both day and night digging up peanuts in the field we have rented out. The ol' boy that's farming that patch has a lot of competition, 1st it was wet weather, late planting, plus all the critters that are eating there daily, coons, squirrels, and deer.
Pics of the rye, 8 days after planting and the deer and possum under the pear tree.
Treefarmer

[treefarmer]

Deer and Possum

[treefarmer]

Clover/corn food plot Day 149

Noticed some of y'all had commented on the forum about fall weather coming, seems everybody is in favor of a little cooler weather. Our thermometer recorded a low of 51 this morning. Had to wear a shirt to drink coffee on the porch this am.

The rye patch is growing well. We had a very small amount of rain out of this cold front that is working it way through. They experienced heavier rains south and east of us, we had probably what you would officially call a "trace", but it did wet the grass!

Getting closer to opening day and still seeing lots of does around the pear tree and the peanut field. On Friday the 18th, my wife wanted to go ride around and see the food plot as she hadn't seen the rye patch since it was planted. On the way back to the house we drove across a little ridge that is grown up real thick with brush and oak trees. We used this area to feed and hay our cows in the winter, years ago. As we were riding along in the cart, the dog was having a big time running back and forth. As she ran by us, we noticed a spotted fawn laying in the bushes, the dog came within 10 foot of the little deer and it just lay there watching what was going by. We went on to the house and I returned with a camera and was able to get several pictures but none turned out very good. Thinking about the fawn, it had to have been conceived in late March or early April, based on a 7 month gestation.

Pictures this week are the rye at 15 days(compare last weeks pic) and the fawn.(will post the pictures later as there is a notice saying the web page is having an issue?)
Treefarmer

rye.jpg

fawn.jpg

[DaveT]

Just a follow up on those pics of that plot....came out pretty good.... and I think the deer like the young sugar beets pretty well....have seen deer now in every plot and killed deer in most of them already....here's that same plot with and without a couple of does....

131022_003.jpg

IMG_0669.jpg

[treefarmer]

Clover/corn food plot Day 156

Last week I was unable to post pictures for the weekly update due to some sort of technical change somewhere....I want to thank GoodOyster and Crock1 for their help and assistance, in fact Goodoyster just posted last weeks pics last night for me. Hopefully he has got me straightened out for this go around. It's bad to find yourself in positions that you don't know how to remedy, being computer illiterate puts me in that position quite often.

Checking the rye's growth this morning, it is evident that things are getting dry once again. This patch of rye was planted on October 8th and has only had one light rain on it. In fact it was so light, it didn't show in the gage, they call that a "trace of rain". The pond that just a few weeks back was overflowing is back to normal and maybe a little below. The soil in the plot is again as hard as a brick on the surface but there is plenty of moisture below for the rye plants to draw from.

Noticed a big shed snake skin at the edge of the water and grass. To make it sound good, I guess it was a big ol' moccasin (maybe just a water snake of some sort) that I don't want to run into to.

Todays pics (hopefully) will show the snake skin and the Wrens Abruzzi Rye at 22 days and no rain! Also added a picture of some of the red corn that will be made into corn meal in a few days.

29 days till Thanksgiving and opening day!

Treefarmer

[DaveT]

That rye looks pretty good for almost no rain....how big is that field and how much rye did you put down.....I use that same type of rye for roads and such....do you find the deer hit it pretty good?

[treefarmer]

Dave, this patch is just shy of 1 1/2 acres. We put 100 pounds of Wrens Abruzzi Rye on it. We've had good results with the rye in the past, as the deer seem to come to it pretty regular. Rye is more cold hardy than oats and the certified seed we planted were produced just over in Alabama. I feel it is important to use seed that are recommended for our part of the world, rather than something that might come from another region of the country. UF puts out a paper on recommended cool season plantings, available through your county agricultural agent.
Treefarmer

[treefarmer]

Dave, here's a picture of one a few years back that came in to check a bunch of does that were feeding in the rye patch, he was an unusual 6pt.
Treefarmer

[DaveT]

That's a pretty buck....no doubt. Just wondering how the rye does there....It grows great here and a lot of people put it out including me. Like I said, I usually put it in places like roads, and powerlines, where I have a stand and just want the deer to stop for a second to put their head down to it. I usually dont even disc these areas, just throw the rye and fertilizer and it comes up. But for sure, they like the other stuff better, especially early in the season. The other stuff being the combo mix of wheat oat rye peas clover rape, etc.

[treefarmer]

Clover/corn food plot Day 163

Beautiful weather in LA! Could use a little shower now and then, got 1.75 inches on the 1st of November. The rye is growing and thickening up, looks pretty good 30 days after planting, should be drawing some customers by Thanksgiving Day.

The peanut farmer finished picking today and reported he didn't do well this year. Might be a good dove shoot as the ground is littered with lots of small mature nuts.

Lots to do before season starts, changed the location of a feeder in the planted pines south of the rye patch and set a camera on the feeder. The pears in the yard are almost gone and the same old gals and little spikes are still showing up, mostly after dark.

Pics this week will show the rye patch, a view from near the automatic feeder in the pines, looking towards the shooting house and the peanut harvest.

Treefarmer

[treefarmer]

Clover/corn food plot Day 170

Well the temperature got down to around 35º this morning and the wind has been blowing, according to weather folks, around 10-15 with gusts to 20mph. I know it don't take long to get chilled out there today. Tonight is supposed to be the coldest night out of this front, warm up and rain in a few days, we'll see.

Rye is growing well, probably need to put some nitrogen on it to give it a little kick in the pants, wont take much but N is expensive in any form.

Moved the feeder that was on the edge of the food plot last week and set a camera up, the deer have found it but only about 30 pics in a week. Haven't seen any buck sign yet for sure. Saw a freshly broken oak branch where there is usually a scrape, but nothing on the ground. Our woods are so thick that it is difficult to spot rubs unless they are real close to the cart trails. Been living in the panhandle 40 years and still miss the flat woods of central Florida where it was a lot easier to find rubs and scrape lines between and around cypress heads and branches, here it is so thick in most places buck sign goes unnoticed unless you are crawling around in the thick stuff disturbing everything. I'm too old to be doin' much rootin' around in the bushes, them ol' bucks will come to a food plot when the does are feeding during the rut.

Pics for today show temp very early this morning and the one in the day light, shows the rye patch in the background.

Thanksgiving is coming!
Treefarmer

[Bossman]

Yeah farmer, I was gonna make the commit that I bet you wasn't running aroung with your bibs and no shirt today!

[treefarmer]

You're right Brother! But hey, still wearing my flip-flops! This cool spell is refreshing, but it'll get old right quick. At least being retired I ain't got to get out in it if I don't want to !!
Treefarmer