The Throw n’ Mow Method

[35-acre]

My first T&M experiment with summer plots has worked out pretty well thus far.

I had tilled this plot the last 2 years and always had trouble getting any decent germination as this plot is on a slope and drains so fast it won't hold moisture when tilled. It was WR and clover in the spring, threw down buckwheat/pea/oat combo, brushogged everything over it, and walked away. MUCH better germination this year than I had last year, and with all the rain we got this summer it has really helped hold on to topsoil. Plenty of weeds, but I'm not bothered by it for a summer plot. The deer are hammering the BW with lots of heads showing signs of browse. But we are fortunate in our area in that there are no ag crops for about 2 miles in any direction, so the deer usually hit whatever I grow. Going to spray, broadcast, roll in August a combo of WR/winter peas/oats/radish. I suspect the results will be pretty stellar!

I'm no expert but I expect your BW to shoot up. Mine topped out about 4 feet. It was 1/3 that height 2 weeks earlier. That stuff grows great!

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[IkemanTx]

Question for all you guys....
I was planning on doing TNM late summer with a mixture of WR, Clover, and tillage radish. I found out a local seed company had a WR/WW/oats/winter peas/turnips for cheaper than I could ship a bag of WR in.
I figured I could just add a few pounds of clover and call it done.

Then I saw they had this for $32/50lb bag

I'm thinking that $32 out the door is a great price for a mix like this.

The site is very sandy, but has good grass/weed cover right now for thatch. It is located in zone 7B in southeast Oklahoma. I plan on spraying and then throwing/mowing right around September 1.

I feel like all this variety would work well for soil building and give all different times of peak palatability to continue drawing on a small 1/3 plot.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

That should work out well if you're just doing a small plot. The only thing I would point out about it though is that if you were to put it out at 50 lbs/ac like it says......that would only be planting roughly 25-30 lbs/ac of cereal grain. I would want my cereal grains to be 75-100 lbs/ac at least.

 

[IkemanTx]

That should work out well if you're just doing a small plot. The only thing I would point out about it though is that if you were to put it out at 50 lbs/ac like it says......that would only be planting roughly 25-30 lbs/ac of cereal grain. I would want my cereal grains to be 75-100 lbs/ac at least.

I am planning to half the bag for a 1/3 acre plot. So, that would be 75lbs per acre


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[IkemanTx]

Of total seed, yes, but not proportionately of cereal grains. CNC is saying there should be 50 to 66lbs of cereal grains alone in a 1/3 acre mix. Then add the trunips, rape, clover, etc. on top of that.

Gotcha... I will go with their "fall blend" then. It is primarily cereal grains with peas and turnips. I could throw that whole 50lb bag of grains (150lbs total seed weight per acre, with a small percentage of peas and oats), then add 3lbs of clover on top. Thanks for the help!


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[Powder]

Gotcha... I will go with their "fall blend" then. It is primarily cereal grains with peas and turnips. I could throw that whole 50lb bag of grains (150lbs total seed weight per acre, with a small percentage of peas and oats), then add 3lbs of clover on top. Thanks for the help!


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Check my math. I had actually deleted my original response but you got to it before I did! :) I think I should have written 25 to 33lbs of cereal grains alone on a 1/3 acre plot. Use the percentage on the label to see just how many pounds of cereal grains will be in the 50lb bag.

 

[Tap]

Ikeman,
Can't comment on the mix as I don't know what works best for your area, but I highly disagree with the planting depth instructions.
Burying small seeds 2 inches deep is a recipe for disaster. Small seeds like clover and brassica shoud be top seeded and packed.
That's the problem with some mixes...large seeds and small seeds planted at the same time (in the same manner) isn't a good idea.
I plant different sized seeds in multiple passes.

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[IkemanTx]

Check my math. I had actually deleted my original response but you got to it before I did! :) I think I should have written 25 to 33lbs of cereal grains alone on a 1/3 acre plot. Use the percentage on the label to see just how many pounds of cereal grains will be in the 50lb bag.

Ya, that big mix would just BARELY cover the grains I need for 1/3 of an acre, but the other seeds would have been heavily over planted.
I would be better off with the primarily grains mix and top sowing clover.

Ikeman,
Can't comment on the mix as I don't know what works best for your area, but I highly disagree with the planting depth instructions.
Burying small seeds 2 inches deep is a recipe for disaster. Small seeds like clover and brassica shoud be top seeded and packed.
That's the problem with some mixes...large seeds and small seeds planted at the same time (in the same manner) isn't a good idea.
I plant different sized seeds in multiple passes.

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Ya, I saw that. I am Throw-N-Mowing it anyways, so planting depth won't matter. I will update here with pics once it is planted, and then again once it has grown a bit.


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[Tap]

Ya, that big mix would just BARELY cover the grains I need for 1/3 of an acre, but the other seeds would have been heavily over planted.
I would be better off with the primarily grains mix and top sowing clover.



Ya, I saw that. I am Throw-N-Mowing it anyways, so planting depth won't matter. I will update here with pics once it is planted, and then again once it has grown a bit.


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Oops. Duh. I got fixated on those planting instructions and forgot that this is a TnM thread...did I say "Duh"?

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[Bill]

Planted 5 small brassica plots two weeks ago all spray, throw, fertilize, mow. All done the same way the same day. 4 were a bust. This one was 1.5 miles from the others and must have gotten a stray shower or two. Moisture makes a differance.

1 out of 5 ain't bad. Actually it stinks, but it beats 0 out of 5

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

I'm confused Bill......How much rain have your plots gotten?

 

[Bill]

I'm confused Bill......How much rain have your plots gotten?

According to the weather man none. But the neighbor has been cutting hay. Said little storms have popped up close enough for him to see rain but never right on us. I'm figuring a little hit this one spot.

We did get 7/10 just the other night but these germinated long before that.

 

[Islandguy]

Planted 5 small brassica plots two weeks ago all spray, throw, fertilize, mow. All done the same way the same day. 4 were a bust. This one was 1.5 miles from the others and must have gotten a stray shower or two. Moisture makes a differance.

1 out of 5 ain't bad. Actually it stinks, but it beats 0 out of 5

View attachment 14179 View attachment 14180 View attachment 14181

Moisture is the key. July 12th I sprayed, broadcast seed (turnip, rape and radish) and rolled an aging clover plot. The clover and grasses were about knee high. We've had apple rain this year. The plot received rain every day for the first 3 days, 5 rains in total up until 2 days ago, some an inch plus. Wish I had Pictures!
Last year we had a drought, throw and mow brassicas were a bust.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

According to the weather man none. But the neighbor has been cutting hay. Said little storms have popped up close enough for him to see rain but never right on us. I'm figuring a little hit this one spot.

We did get 7/10 just the other night but these germinated long before that.

I wouldn't sweat it yet then. It'll take a good bit of rain before fields like that get going. The thatch alone will soak up several tenths of rain. I wouldn't write anything off as a bust until then. That field that's sprouting will likely have a lot more fill in on the next good rain fall as well.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

A couple other things I'll add too that I've noticed about planting like this.......

1) It always takes longer for the fields to establish than what I was formerly used to.

2) Germination will often times come in a couple of flushes. I get one big flush of germination after the first good rain but then I also see another smaller flush often come in on the following rain event.

3) As said before, it takes a really good rain event to germinate a field with good thatch. It can rain a couple tenths and never even wet the soil. That's not a bad thing though really. You don't want your field to germinate off of a small shower that doesn't provide enough moisture to sustain the seedlings through that most vulnerable stage.

 

[John-W-WI]

Another observation I had from tying TnM using buckwheat as my soil builder (not necessarily exclusive to TnM I guess).

Buckwheat is a very good weed suppressor. When I mowed the field there was very little that could compete with the buckwheat. Hopefully the weeds don't spring back now that I "released" them? Time will tell. I made the decision not to spray, now I'm thinking I should have. Oh well, life goes on.

-John

 

[35-acre]

My fall seed started to take. My field looks like I would expect a week after knocking down the buckwheat. The winter rye is sprouting. Brassica and kale not yet in the field.

My second plot has both coming in already but it is smaller and has more moisture and less full day sun.

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[pointer]

A couple other things I'll add too that I've noticed about planting like this.......

1) It always takes longer for the fields to establish than what I was formerly used to.

2) Germination will often times come in a couple of flushes. I get one big flush of germination after the first good rain but then I also see another smaller flush often come in on the following rain event.

3) As said before, it takes a really good rain event to germinate a field with good thatch. It can rain a couple tenths and never even wet the soil. That's not a bad thing though really. You don't want your field to germinate off of a small shower that doesn't provide enough moisture to sustain the seedlings through that most vulnerable stage.

After reading those three points, I can agree that is what I saw last year with my throw/roll try. It took a while for things to get going, but once they did it was better than the year I disced up the plots. I'm hoping to just be able to add an inexpensive amount of seed, along with whatever the plots produce, and roll it all down to keep the process going.

 

[Powder]

When using the TNM method with a decent thatch, are you as concerned about timing the seeding to a good rain? Or do you do it when it's convenient knowing the seed will be there waiting for the next good rain?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Originally my plan was to wait until around August 10th to plant but we have several days coming up with rain in the forecast so I think i'm going to give it a go tonight with my brassicas if time allows. The mix im using: 1# DER, 1#PTT, 1#PASJA HYBRID BRASSICA, 1#BARKANT FORAGE TURNIP, AND 2#GHR. The plot is about half an acre so I think I'm going to keep a small portion of seed to fill in my sugar beets or the T&M brassica plot if it comes in spotty.