My farm - Where the name "Big Rock" came from.

[John-W-WI]

Jake is watching a YouTube video on how to change the oil on his wheeler.

The oil was changed and we only spilled a little!

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[John-W-WI]

The small fork lift sure is handy.

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[John-W-WI]

Next was some wall cabinets. They are great, because they are so large, but they take a long time to shim and install to keep them square / plumb.

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[John-W-WI]

5 weeks later and the buckwheat is about ready to terminate. It's flowering and will be setting seed soon.

The goal of this planting was soil building, I'll call it a success.

I'll spray/throw/roll (or mow, haven't decided yet) soon and planting brassicas.

This is they high side of the field and the soil is pretty light.

(I call that chain around Jakes neck his "Mr. T starter kit", I don't know where he got his style but it wasn't from me!)


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[bueller]

That buckwheat looks great. Are the deer feeding on it much?

 

[John-W-WI]

That buckwheat looks great. Are the deer feeding on it much?

They are using it quite a bit, but this side of the field is closest to human activity (runs along a 1/4 mile driveway). So we bump them off of it quite a bit. I would imagine it's getting used at night more. I don't have any cameras out so I can't say for sure.

Buckwheat grows so fast I don't think 100 deer could keep it trimmed. When I plant soybeans in the same spot, they usually don't get over about 16" tall.

 

[John-W-WI]

Not bad for a field in the middle of nowhere and 1/2 of it is rocks.

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[John-W-WI]

It's only about an acre, but it will be a great draw this fall.

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[John-W-WI]

The critters are either eating it or knocking it down. What is eating the top of a corn plant, deer?

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[Mortenson]

Yep deer. Nice pics. With all the rain WI is getting you may need that chain to pull out stuck machines.

 

[John-W-WI]

First a little fun.... Jake and Cute Girl were shooting (mostly) sub sonic 22's today. Jake kept grabbing the regular LR shells because he thinks they are better:

 

[John-W-WI]

Here is a strange one....

I put a 5 gallon bucket under the eve a few days ago to get washed out by rain water. Today I looked in it and there was a water bug swimming it the water. Where the hell did he come from? There isn't standing water within 100 yards of this location?

 

[John-W-WI]

On to the real project of the weekend. I finally tried CNC's "throw and mow". I started with a field of buckwheat (with a few others mixed in with it) that was approximately 6 weeks old. I'm impressed how buckwheat grows!

 

[John-W-WI]

I started by seeding brassicas into the standing buckwheat with an electric spreader on the back of the wheeler.

Every bug in the state of Wisconsin was in that buckwheat. And most of them attacked me. I'm normally not bothered by insects, but by the time I was done spreading seeds I was SICK of insects. Bad day to wear shorts! Japanese beetles apparently liked my buckwheat. Not good.

 

[John-W-WI]

I was a little surprised how easily the buckwheat laid down with just a wheeler:

 

[John-W-WI]

Much of the buckwheat was over 4' tall. Much taller than I expected:

 

[John-W-WI]

Something nailed me between my ring finger and my middle finger. I'm pretty sure it was a pterodactyl. That or a deer fly:

 

[John-W-WI]

I planted (3) different seeds. Forage brassica, purple top turnip, and daikon radish. 2 of the seeds were very similar in size, one was much bigger (the forage brassica if I remember correctly). So I went one way with the little seeds, and the other way with the bigger seeds. Made a nice checkerboard pattern so I could tell where I had been:

 

[John-W-WI]

Then (the next day, it got too late to finish) I mowed it all down:



A nice layer of thatch is protecting all of the seeds. We haven't been dry, but it we don't get any rain, I hope this will retain moisture and break down to feed the brassicas:



I'll spread some urea in a couple weeks after it germinates and hope for the best!

 

[Big Snow Man]

Man I planted buckwheat this year and your telling me jap beetle are attracted to it. We don't have them in my woods and don't want to introduce them to the area.