Frost Master or winter peas

[Charles Clear]

Hi everyone! I really want to give some winter peas a try in late august. Can anyone give me any direction? Austrian, frost master, lynx,.....so many choices. In western, Pa. I have great soil to work with. The deer just won't eat my turnip mix, I've planted in previous years. I want to try something different

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I'm going to give Icicle winter peas a shot this year. I believe they are what use to be Lynx winter peas. White flowered pea. Do yourself a favor and mix in some sun flowers at the same time. A pea and sunflower mix gets pounded until it is gone in my area while brassicas go untouched until mid February. The one exception its radish tops.

 

[j-bird]

I have planted true Austrian winter peas and Frostmaster winter peas before and to be honest I have not seen much of any difference as far as the deer use or what survives the winter. And yes I have some survive the winter. I have seen some preference to radish over turnips in my area, but the deer are not what I would consider fans of either. I also prefer winter wheat over rye as it will survive the winter here, but doesn't get as tall. The rye will grow in the cooler temps, than wheat, but I have had significant issues with rotary equipment and rye that I don't have with wheat come the following spring. I suggest you plant a mixture. Plant your peas and something like a soybean or even sunflowers. These are bigger seeds and the beans and sunflowers will die with the frost, but will take some pressure off the peas. Broadcast a mix of radish and turnips as well as a cereal grain like oats and wheat or rye. This provides lots of food choices and some will last into the winter while others won't. The trick is monitoring this mix and seeing what the deer like and what they don't then next year you can focus on planting what your observations confirm and not wasting time with the other stuff the deer wont eat. You can mix all this together or plant in strips or blocks if that will help you monitor things better. Exclusion cages are a big helps as well to tell you what will grow better also.

 

[Charles Clear]

Fantastic! You guys are the best! Thank you so much for your time and knowledge!

 

[j-bird]

Just keep in mind these seeds are different sizes and as such tend to do better with different planting methods. Larger seed like corn, soybean, sunflower and even peas tend to do best by being covered by soil when planting. I was always told that the size of the seed shows you how deep it should be planted. Cereal grains and brassica and clovers can be broadcast into a worked seed bed and the rain will do the rest or packed. I would either plant, drill or work in a manner to get the larger seed covered first. Then come back over the soil with the smaller seed and pack or pray for rain. Most cereal grains and the real small seeds like turnips don't even have to have the ground worked if you wish to delay the planting of those vs the larger seeds. Rye in particular will grow on a damp sidewalk.....I have had it grow in the bed of my truck in wood chips before. Good luck with your plot and document your process and share some pics!

 

[Charles Clear]

Thank you J-bird! I planted some corn without a planter this year by broadcasting and tilling using yall's instructions. It is growing fantastic!