Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Hi folks, new member here and am about to close on 40 acres in kanabec county MN. There is a lot of good cover but about 8 acres of the land is historically hay field. The previous owner stopped haying it 3 or 4 years ago and has been letting most of it just do it's thing. A couple acres he has tilled and planted once but hasn't touched it this year. I have never planted a food plot.
Long story short, I'm hoping to get an acre of food planted yet this year and looking for advice on the best way to go about it. What is known thus far:
1. I have an ATV with 25 gal sprayer and can borrow my stepdads cultipacker. Beyond that and an earthway 2750 bag seeder, that is the extent of my equipment and tools
2. I will not be able to start work until 8/13.
3. I have ordered enough Northwoods whitetails sweet feast brassica blend and Fall forage blend (oats, forage peas, winter wheat and rye grain) to at least go 50/50 with these on an acre.
4. I took soil samples yesterday but dont have results yet.
The areas that were tilled a couple years ago have a fair bit of bare dirt that makes me feel like I'd have a much better chance of gettnig seed to soil contact. The parts of field that haven't been tilled in decades and haven't been hayed in a few years make me question if I'd get seeds to soil and if they'd get enough sun to grow throw the thick forest of existing grass.
I'm looking for advice on process that would offer the best odds of actually getting some food to grow this fall. Throw, roll with cultipacker, spray? Spray, wait a couple weeks, and seed/cultipack in late august? Once I have soil test results should I plan on fertilizing after any germination occurs?
Thanks for any help!
Long story short, I'm hoping to get an acre of food planted yet this year and looking for advice on the best way to go about it. What is known thus far:
1. I have an ATV with 25 gal sprayer and can borrow my stepdads cultipacker. Beyond that and an earthway 2750 bag seeder, that is the extent of my equipment and tools
2. I will not be able to start work until 8/13.
3. I have ordered enough Northwoods whitetails sweet feast brassica blend and Fall forage blend (oats, forage peas, winter wheat and rye grain) to at least go 50/50 with these on an acre.
4. I took soil samples yesterday but dont have results yet.
The areas that were tilled a couple years ago have a fair bit of bare dirt that makes me feel like I'd have a much better chance of gettnig seed to soil contact. The parts of field that haven't been tilled in decades and haven't been hayed in a few years make me question if I'd get seeds to soil and if they'd get enough sun to grow throw the thick forest of existing grass.
I'm looking for advice on process that would offer the best odds of actually getting some food to grow this fall. Throw, roll with cultipacker, spray? Spray, wait a couple weeks, and seed/cultipack in late august? Once I have soil test results should I plan on fertilizing after any germination occurs?
Thanks for any help!
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