bueller's blotter

[bueller]

Looks real good Bueller. Don't you love it when you see them using something you've planted ??

Sure do. Sometimes I wonder if I would enjoy sitting in a stand watching the does and fawns feeding in my food plot during June more than sitting in the same stand come November.

 

[bueller]

Spent some time up at the cabin over the holiday weekend and snapped a few photos.

My best looking pear tree, a Summercrisp from SLN. I believe it was planted spring of 2011. I've been light on the fertilizer, none this year, but that will change in the coming years. The cage is 5' tall.

Things do grow well in this sand IF they get enough water to establish themselves AND get lime + fertilizer. This is a ~5 year old elderberry in my foodplot that gets the benefit of lime, fertilizer, and on occasion supplemental water. The top of the 5' cage is just under that browsed branch on the right side. This thing towers over the others planted from the same bundle that don't get the benefits this one does.

 

[bueller]

My hybrid poplar and dappled willow screen is looking good. 32 of 38 cuttings planted in the screen came to life. Every one of the 32 that sprouted have survived. The six that never did anything were all dappled willows. I took a couple pictures from outside the enclosure but they didn't turn out very well. The tallest HP are now about 18" tall. The best willows have about the same growth but in a multiple stem bushy form. I also planted a few of the dappled willows with no ground cover or protection from the deer. Surprisingly these have the same amount of growth as my best willows planted in the black plastic screen. What I did at planting with these was removed the sod and a couple inches of dirt with a shovel and popped the cutting into the hole in the ground.

 

[bueller]

My buckwheat plots continue to reach for the sky. The are now over 36" tall, growing about 12" each of the last two weeks.

 

[bueller]

The deer are browsing the buckwheat fairly heavy still. Saw them in there several times while taking the little ones on ATV rides this weekend.

 

[bueller]

And it's not just the doe and fawns taking notice.

 

[bueller]

I like to toss in a small amount of turnips when I plant buckwheat. Most of the plot is dominated by the buckwheat and the turnips struggle or are non existent. But the turnip seed is cheap and the plants do well along the outside and anywhere else the buckwheat is thin.

 

[bueller]

And as the buckwheat matures more light will begin to reach the underlying turnip plants and some of these guys should get BIG.

 

[bueller]

I'm a big believer in water holes. Not only do they provide something for the deer and other wildlife but they are great for pictures. From my Pops' place.

 

[bueller]

I was in no hurry to add a waterhole at my new place since there is a ditch 100 yards from my plot that is always a couple feet deep. But when I found a 30 gallon "pond" 50% off I couldn't resist. I installed it along my food plot, ~25 yards or so from my tower stand. A trail cam pointed in that direction showed that the deer found it within 24 hours of it being filled and they have returned every single day since.

 

[scott44]

Good stuff! Thx for sharing

 

[bueller]

When did you plant your buckwheat beuller? Everything looks great!

Six weeks ago, May 23rd.

 

[bueller]

Yes, right around memorial day. As you know we usually catch a late frost or two after that but the buckwheat doesn't seem to get harmed at that early stage.

 

[bueller]

I tried berseem clover once and it was a failure. I did not plant it with buckwheat. That's my only experience with annual clover.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

On the sandy soil you have bueller, I think the only annual clover worth trying would be crimson. Berseem prefers consistently moist ground. On a separate note, I did get pretty good stands of Korean Lespedeza at my folks' place.

While i do not have sandy soil...far from it actually...i have got to say that i have been having very good success with crimson clover....i really like it. it is very versatile and performs many functions for a plotter. great deer food in spring/summer/early fall. great N fixer. prolific reseeder so you can get successive stands if you let it go to seed. great OM builder in a no till plot system. fast growing and can server as a cover crop. My crimson clover that planted with winter rye, oats and MRC last fall actually didnt winter kill even though we had a harsh and cold winter here (not quite as bad as you guys get it though), but we had decent snow cover for most of the really harsh cold so i think that helped. I would say to give it a try if you get the chance.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Bueller - We did the same thing at our camp last year - throwing in some turnips with our 1 acre plot of buckwheat. Like you've found, we saw the turnips get size where the BW was thin and after it went to seed due to more sunlight. Some even made it thru to this past spring .... couldn't believe that !! Nice looking plot and water hole. Gotta love BW for the easy greens and OM added for building the soil.

Phil - Glad I took your advice on the crimson clover. It's doing great at camp. We'll use it regularly now. Thanks for the pointers.

 

[bueller]

Sounds like I may have to give crimson clover a shot one of these years

 

[wiscwhip]

Great looking plots bueller! Especially on that central WI sand! I really wish I could have talked my old man into letting our plots get this much ground cover/mulch in them.

Our plots looked more like this(or worse, if that is possible) every year due to overworking the ground with steel.:mad:

By the time I finally convinced the old man that discing this sand every year was only hurting our efforts, he had put the place up for sale.:(

 

[bueller]

Great looking plots bueller! Especially on that central WI sand! I really wish I could have talked my old man into letting our plots get this much ground cover/mulch in them.

Our plots looked more like this(or worse, if that is possible) every year due to overworking the ground with steel.:mad:

By the time I finally convinced the old man that discing this sand every year was only hurting our efforts, he had put the place up for sale.:(

Thanks. I've gotten to the point where I rarely even mow my plots anymore. I found that the "junk" covering the soil/sand sticks around longer if its not shredded by a mower.

 

[wiscwhip]

I would agree bueller, the chopped up stuff even breaks down too fast to help that soil much. After I finally got to the point where I convinced the old man to just spray it, broadcast the new seeding, and then roll it down, it was too late. We no longer had to worry about it 2 years later, so I never got to see any real turn around on that sand which had been abused by steel for 20+ years prior. I would have loved to have built one of those roller/crimper implements to be used behind an ATV or SCUT, they look like they work wonders on the larger scale operations where I have seen them used.