The Throw n’ Mow Method

[Rit]

Don’t take this the wrong way but when I look at your pics the first thing that jumps out at me is the amount of bare dirt and the cracking of the soil surface. This is where we lose focus sometimes in worrying about things like buckwheat. You’ve got much bigger issues to address right now. You need a heavy grass crop and small frequent additions of nutrients. Something like millet or even natural crabgrass would be a better choice than buckwheat in your situation IMO. Your soil surface needs to be covered over and the entire top layer of soil stabilized…. that needs addressed first and foremost. People always hack on "weeds" but they accomplish this job of soil rebuilding in really crappy conditions better than just about anything we can plant. That's what they're designed to do. That's they're job.

That’s conventionally planted seed with no rain planted late in medium clay. That same area will be planted in WR, clover, and radish in the next 10 days. The mix was buckwheat, oats, field peas, clover, triticale in an attempt to start building the soil. I had just enough moisture to germinate the seed and didn’t see rain of any kind for almost 6 weeks.

Surprisingly the buckwheat and triticale still did fairly well. With the WR there won’t be bare soil next year.

 

[Rit]

For you seed to soil contact guys. Cleaning my KingQuad today that I use to water my trees and shrubs . I have to drive through WR, Oats, and clover that went to seed. Found them all growing inside of the skid plate. Planting 2 acres of TnM today. Pictures to follow.

 

[Rit]

I had no intentions of planting my 1 3/4 acre boomerang plot today. But when I went to bed last night there was no rain in the forecast. Well about 3:00 AM all hell broke loose and we were absolutely dumped on including some hail. My seed was still sitting on the trailer outside. I really had no way to dry the seed and because of the rain I feared it would either germinate or mold before I planted it. So I went to town.
Here is the East section of the boomerang plot before.
After
Northwest section before
After

I put down 175# WR, 8# of Radish, 3# crimson clover and 3# Ladino. I also had about 6# of leftover AWP from last year and threw that in for good measure. The before photo on the Northwest section of the plot looks void of WR but that photo was after a few passes with the tractor spreading seed. A lot of WR was hurt during the making of this film.

One thing for sure there was a lot more green under the WR than I anticipated. Mostly clover but some grass, goldenrod, and ragweed. I wasn’t going to spray but now I am going to zap this plot with glyphosate tomorrow. Just seems there is too much competition that I couldn’t knock back with the rotary cutter.

I planted this plot September 4th last year so we are quite a bit earlier. I wanted more growth on the WR. We will see how this works out.

 

[Rit]

Here is an example of how thick some of the thatch was before I started. This is a before I mowed over it photo. Pretty thick. At this point I had already broadcast my seed. I wanted to see how much seed actually made it through this thick thatch.



Hard to see in the photo but I cleared away a basketball size section of the thatch. I was actually blown away at what I found. I mean like a big chit eating grin blown away. It was it’s own little ecosystem. Somewhere on this thread I posted dried cracked terrible looking soil in this same area. Well this is year two of throw and mow and the start looks fantastic.

A few post up crimson mentioned how bad the conventionally planted soil looks. Well this picture is about 50 yards from that field. I had bugs, worms, and moisture. I wouldn’t call it soil but it had a compost feel to it. And maybe just as important I had all kinds of seed down there. By far my favorite part of TnM yet.

 

[roymunson]

3 acres of seed is planted. Forage peas, wheat, daikon radishes with some brassicas broadcast over it as a sweetener around the blind.

Triple 19 on everything, then seed, then cultipacker.

I wasn't thrilled with my thatch as the plots had been mowed prior to spraying, and we did a couple things backwards, but if we get the rain we're supposed to get, I think we'll be ok. It was a good day.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I didn't quite understand your point. Do you not agree with trapping, or do you just not like Duke traps? I've had bad luck with coon issues and good luck with duck traps. Bait them with a marshmallow and pour a little maple syrup into the trap for a little scent attractant. I've caught coons only with it. Never any non-target animals.

I just havent had the same luck with them as other style of traps. Not sure why, I'm not the most experienced trapper and that may be why.

 

[Rit]

When I said that I had bugs under my thatch a majority of the bugs were pill bugs. For a small section that I checked there sure seemed to be a lot of them. My middle child was in heaven when I showed her all the Roly Poly we found. I wondered what it meant for my soil. So I did some checking today. Another pleasant surprise.

 

[scott44]

My brassicas are coming along good after much needed rain.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

scott44,

do you know if the deer are eating your brassica or suppressed clover that is bouncing back?

 

[roymunson]

Scott, those things exploded in a 2 week stretch. wow!

 

[scott44]

scott44,

do you know if the deer are eating your brassica or suppressed clover that is bouncing back?

My guess is the clover that's under there maybe some of the radishes but I usually don't see brassica till later. That is an alfalfa strip next to the brassicas that that really hammering right now.

 

[Semisane]

When I said that I had bugs under my thatch a majority of the bugs were pill bugs. …….. I wondered what it meant for my soil. So I did some checking today. Another pleasant surprise.

Thanks for posting that Rit. I did not know whether those little dudes were good or bad either. I too collected a lot of them when I was a kid.

 

[Mortenson]

Got my throw and grow plots to germinate in mid July. Here's what they looked like on 8/4. Tomorrow I'll take a look and decide if I should toss out another pound of seed. Pretty happy thus far. I may gamble again and use no added nitrogen. They've usually done pretty well using the dead clover and O.M.

 

[Rit]

Got my throw and grow plots to germinate in mid July. Here's what they looked like on 8/4. Tomorrow I'll take a look and decide if I should toss out another pound of seed. Pretty happy thus far. I may gamble again and use no added nitrogen. They've usually done pretty well using the dead clover and O.M.

View attachment 19944View attachment 19945

What was the seed mix? You can gamble all day the plants will let you know what is deficient.

 

[Mortenson]

Dbltree mix of rape, purple tops and groundhog radish. I just meant I don't care if they show a little N deficiency late season. They'll get utilized regardless. If they show signs early on then I'll spin on some urea.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Are pill bugs the same thing as sow bugs and or potato bugs? That is what I have always heard them called but all three could be different but closely related for all I know.

 

[Tap]

I just havent had the same luck with them as other style of traps. Not sure why, I'm not the most experienced trapper and that may be why.

I didn't have great luck with Duke traps until I started pouring a tablespoon or so of maple syrup on the marshmallow bait. It seemed to need a little something extra and syrup did the trick.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I didn't have great luck with Duke traps until I started pouring a tablespoon or so of maple syrup on the marshmallow bait. It seemed to need a little something extra and syrup did the trick.

Thanks Tap, I'll have to give that a shot this fall.

 

[Rit]

Has anyone had success with TnM Alfalfa using WR as a cover like you would establish a clover plot. Just looking to add to diversity. I have a strip that is 10 Yards wide by 600’ that would be perfect for a strip of something.

The field already has an acre of clover. Just looking to add a little something else to the pie.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I like chicory.