Fall Food (for thought) Plot Thread

[Canuck5]

Nice set up, Triple C!!!!!

 

[papachaz]

The guy in the video, Walter Reeves is Dan Reeves (former Falcons head coach) brother. They are from GA, and for those who don't know, he is the man who used to do the Your Southern Garden show on GPTV, he based it out of "Mr Cason's vegetable garden" at Calloway Gardens. I'm thinking he's either in charge of it or used to be at some point in time.

He is THE garden guru in the southeast, that's for sure!

great thread BTW, I mowed two of our food plots this week, going to try to get them disked or tilled next week. The small one is 1/4 acre, up on one of the highest points on the club, the other is 3/4 of an acre down in one of the bottoms. Not sure yet what I want to plant, I'd like to get one of them started for bow season, may just keep the other one mowed down until the first of sept

 

[Canuck5]

I plant an old log landing in middle ga. about qtr acre ill disc it around labor day then put out about 9 backs of lime then 3 bags of fertilizer. then I put out pennington elite and then purple top turnips and broad leaf mustard. the deer loved it last year. after I plant it I run it over with the four wheeler and it grows pretty good.

And the reason you run over it with your 4 wheeler tires is to do a couple of things.

First, it takes the "air" out of the soil, so that the next time it rains, your seeds don't get pushed too deep into the soil. Too deep and they won't germinate.

Secondly, it helps making sure that you get the best seed to soil contact, which promotes germination, in particular for small seeds like the mustard's (brassica's) and clovers.

 

[Canuck5]

The guy in the video, Walter Reees is Dan Reeves (former Falcons head coach) brother. They are from GA, and for those who don't know, he is the man who used to do the Your Southern Garden show on GPTV, he based it out of "Mr Cason's vegetable garden" at Calloway Gardens. I'm thinking he's either in charge of it or used to be at some point in time.

He is THE garden guru in the southeast, that's for sure!

great thread BTW, I mowed two of our food plots this week, going to try to get them disked or tilled next week. The small one is 1/4 acre, up on one of the highest points on the club, the other is 3/4 of an acre down in one of the bottoms. Not sure yet what I want to plant, I'd like to get one of them started for bow season, may just keep the other one mowed down until the first of sept

I like ole Walter!!!

 

[papachaz]

well it took me all day friday to mow these two small food plots, but I did get them done. Took the son in law over to check them out this evening, rounded the curve approaching the bigger one and low and behold 4 hens and 8 baby turkeys enjoying finding the bugs! Looked like two of the young un's might have been jakes. They didn't rush out of the plot, but they didn't stick around long either...tried to get a pic with the cell phone, it's all I had with me, not much zoom for a 40+ yard pic:

 

[Canuck5]

Oh that's a great pic! And you know that they were probably just waiting for you to finish!

Mowing the plots will help some fresh vegetation grow, but also help you prepare for working up the ground this fall.

 

[Canuck5]

Right now, I'm giving some thought to how much seed do I need and how much fertilizer. I'm just doing some planning with pencil & paper.

In our hunt club, we do have a budget and I do the best we can to stay within it. I've got 21 food plots. Some big, some tiny. Some have 1/2 already planted in perennial clover and some are planted in iron & clay peas, which will freeze out, but I will have something to go in there at the right time. Some food plots will be converted to more clover. Some will be prepared for more I & C peas next spring .... just planning ahead.

So, to stay in budget, I try to put down the right amount of fertilizer and the right amount of seed, within reason. In order to do that, I need to know the size of each plot.

There are 43,560 square feet in an acre. You can measure the plot with a long tape measure or you can just step it off, assuming each of your giant steps are 3 feet.

Length x width and I have an approximate square footage of my plot. Most of my plots are 1/4 acre or slightly larger, so if I want to (or my soil test says to) put down 300 lbs of 13-13-13 fertilizer /acre, I know I need to put down a bag and a 1/2 (300/4 = 75 lbs) of fertilizer on that plot.

Then I make a list and $tart adding everything up. It get$ expen$ive, so I don't want to put more down than I need to.

I don't get too worked up about everything exactly, just as long as I'm in the ball park.

 

[drawedback]

You can also pull your property up on google earth and measure them out. You can't get every little nook and cranny but you can get close. Also you can go to your local FSA office and they will pull up a tax map and measure them for you for just a few bucks

 

[Canuck5]

I knew about Google .... but didn't know about FSA ..... good information!

 

[1gr8bldr]

I try to keep my native seeds out. In other words, never let anything go to seed. I have plots that I only plant in the fall, which "lay" until fall. Two choices, spray a couple of times or mow. This year, due to weather, I waited to late and since it had already seeded, I turned everything over with a turn plow. But now I will have to deal with the competition of those seeds. I hope not to let this ever happen again.

 

[BriarPatch99]

Planted some summer plots this morning ... will replant with fall/winter plants later in the year....

 

[papachaz]

You can also pull your property up on google earth and measure them out. You can't get every little nook and cranny but you can get close. Also you can go to your local FSA office and they will pull up a tax map and measure them for you for just a few bucks

I was going to suggest the ruler on google earth as well. That's how I came up with the size on our two plots.

Can someone give me a rough estimate what a soil sample costs? have any of you guys used one of the kits from Home Depot or Lowes?

Last thing, for now anyway, LOL.....I'm looking at putting the Tecomate Max Attract in the smaller food plot, but I've read everything on their website I can find and nothing tells me when to plant it? should I wait till the end of august or would it be ok in a couple of weeks? I'm planning on putting the lime on top after I disk it, and they recommend 13-13-13 fertilizer, wondering if I should spread both before I disk it

and thanks canuck, yeah it was pretty cool seeing the hens with the younguns. We're also seeing a LOT of rabbits, which I hope is an indication we don't have much of a yote problem

 

[Canuck5]

I was going to suggest the ruler on google earth as well. That's how I came up with the size on our two plots.

Can someone give me a rough estimate what a soil sample costs? have any of you guys used one of the kits from Home Depot or Lowes?

Last thing, for now anyway, LOL.....I'm looking at putting the Tecomate Max Attract in the smaller food plot, but I've read everything on their website I can find and nothing tells me when to plant it? should I wait till the end of august or would it be ok in a couple of weeks? I'm planning on putting the lime on top after I disk it, and they recommend 13-13-13 fertilizer, wondering if I should spread both before I disk it

and thanks canuck, yeah it was pretty cool seeing the hens with the younguns. We're also seeing a LOT of rabbits, which I hope is an indication we don't have much of a yote problem

http://aesl.ces.uga.edu/soiltest123/Georgia.htm If you go to your county extension office and pick up the bags, then give them your email address, I think it's $10. Haven't used the ones from Lowes or HD.

http://www.tecomate.com/content/index.php/regionplantingguide

I would suggest that since the Max Attract has Oats, Triticale, Winter Peas, Clover and Chicory, that I would wait till late September to plant. All those will do well in cooling temperatures and avoid the army worms. The other reason to wait a while longer is because the oats and triticale may germinate before the clover and chicory. If that happens it may shade out the clover and chicory and not let them grow.

As far as fertilizer & lime, go ahead and spread it first and then work it into the top 4" of soil! Right where your root system will be! But you can wait on spreading those, till your ready to plant.

 

[Canuck5]

Planted some summer plots this morning ... will replant with fall/winter plants later in the year....

Looks like an IHC Model Super A? They don't make them like they used to!

What did you plant? How did you spread the seed? Hand crank spreader or a pull behind? Did you run a drag over top?

 

[BriarPatch99]

Oliver 440 '59 ...(Oliver's version of a Super A)

Broadcast by hand out of a bucket ... soybeans, wildlife mixture that my son brought, milo, millet of some sort... clay peas ... I get a better coverage by hand verses a spreader(Grandpa & Dad taught me well) ....

Lightly harrow (2"/3") ... the harrow has a 4" channel with a 4" flat bar welded over the open side drag... so I guess so I do both(harrow & drag) you could say... good moisture so it should be up rather quickly...

Old set of harrows ...don't know what brand... pretty heavy so they cut really well... I do need some new front blades though...

Couple of plots still too wet to get in.. maybe next week or so...

 

[drawedback]

I knew about Google .... but didn't know about FSA ..... good information!

Yeah the FSA can hook you up. While you are thereof you have any right of ways, like powerlines or gas lines you can ask them about project wings. A lot of companies offer to pay out to help on your seed and fertilizer, in return they don't have to pay somebody to maintain the right of way because you are maintaining it for them. It's not a lot of money, but every dime you can save helps out.

 

[papachaz]

http://aesl.ces.uga.edu/soiltest123/Georgia.htm If you go to your county extension office and pick up the bags, then give them your email address, I think it's $10. Haven't used the ones from Lowes or HD.

http://www.tecomate.com/content/index.php/regionplantingguide

I would suggest that since the Max Attract has Oats, Triticale, Winter Peas, Clover and Chicory, that I would wait till late September to plant. All those will do well in cooling temperatures and avoid the army worms. The other reason to wait a while longer is because the oats and triticale may germinate before the clover and chicory. If that happens it may shade out the clover and chicory and not let them grow.

As far as fertilizer & lime, go ahead and spread it first and then work it into the top 4" of soil! Right where your root system will be! But you can wait on spreading those, till your ready to plant.

thank you kind sir!

ok so if i want to plant something that would be there for archery season, soy beans and IC peas? I'm not gonna lime and fertilize the weeds, so i'll just keep it mowed until I decide what I'm going to plant.

I definitely want to do some of that max attract, I'll probably do it in the bigger plot, the smaller one that's up high I want to have something for archery season......

 

[Canuck5]

Oliver 440 '59 ...(Oliver's version of a Super A)

Broadcast by hand out of a bucket ... soybeans, wildlife mixture that my son brought, milo, millet of some sort... clay peas ... I get a better coverage by hand verses a spreader(Grandpa & Dad taught me well) ....

Lightly harrow (2"/3") ... the harrow has a 4" channel with a 4" flat bar welded over the open side drag... so I guess so I do both(harrow & drag) you could say... good moisture so it should be up rather quickly...

Old set of harrows ...don't know what brand... pretty heavy so they cut really well... I do need some new front blades though...

Couple of plots still too wet to get in.. maybe next week or so...

Sounds like a good plan and equipment suited for the job!! We'll need pictures!

 

[Canuck5]

Yeah the FSA can hook you up. While you are thereof you have any right of ways, like powerlines or gas lines you can ask them about project wings. A lot of companies offer to pay out to help on your seed and fertilizer, in return they don't have to pay somebody to maintain the right of way because you are maintaining it for them. It's not a lot of money, but every dime you can save helps out.

Project Wings, is a good thing! We were involved in it a few years ago, but only last so long ...... but still worth it!!!

Thanks for reminding us about that!

http://www.georgiapower.com/environment/stewardship-programs/project-wings.cshtml

 

[Canuck5]

thank you kind sir!

ok so if i want to plant something that would be there for archery season, soy beans and IC peas? I'm not gonna lime and fertilize the weeds, so i'll just keep it mowed until I decide what I'm going to plant.

I definitely want to do some of that max attract, I'll probably do it in the bigger plot, the smaller one that's up high I want to have something for archery season......

Soybeans and I & C Peas would be good for Archery. I'd probably lean heavier on the soybeans, but just do it in a very short time , before archery. They won't last long.