Diversity

[scott44]

Milo starting to come on strong!

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Looks good!

 

[Boll Weevil]

Final update on this little patch before it completely dries down. Pleased with how it turned out and will look forward to a repeat next year. Some of the sorghum turned into a rocket to get above the competition...not huge seed heads though.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Anybody have a new cocktail they're trying out this spring? I am going heavy on the soybeans this year (got a bunch for free) I will still however be trying some new things in one plot. The deer hammered my sunflowers over mid to late winter. I wasn't able to find a single head on the ground this spring and all of the stalks had the heads ripped off of them.

I have 1/2 acre that I am going to be planting with sunflowers, peas, and swede. I have never planted swedes before and my spring planted peas were a bust last year. I dont know if the deer ate them or there was just to much competition from the other crops in that plot. This will be traditional tillage into a plot that was clover, peas, oats, rye, radish, and turnips last year. I'm excited to get an early start this year.

 

[Tree Spud]

My plots were primarily soy beans last 2 years. Overseeded with red clover and WR last fall. Gonna let the WR & clover take over for next 6-8 weeks.

Have had some grasses and other broadleafs invade so I am going to deal with them mid June when i knock the WR down.

I have 2 pots the are 3 & 4 acres each. Going to a mix of brassicas, turnips, clover, and beans, WR along with some taller stuff. I had real good success with Winfred Forage Brassica in a smaller plot last year.

 

[Baker]

Adding about 1 lb/acre of okra to my blend of sunn hemp, cow peas, soybeans, buckwheat, sunflower and maybe a pound or so of milo---got 1000 lbs of milo for free.Gonna plant it in every un planted opening I can get the drill down

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Nothing new or exciting with me. I am falling back to the basics for a couple years, fall planted winter rye and clover, then toss in a small dose of PTT, and GHR in July, and repeat until the weeds get too bad. I can usually get 3-5 years from this mixture. It’s cheap, easy, and very effective.

 

[SD51555]

Anybody have a new cocktail they're trying out this spring? I am going heavy on the soybeans this year (got a bunch for free) I will still however be trying some new things in one plot. The deer hammered my sunflowers over mid to late winter. I wasn't able to find a single head on the ground this spring and all of the stalks had the heads ripped off of them.

I have 1/2 acre that I am going to be planting with sunflowers, peas, and swede. I have never planted swedes before and my spring planted peas were a bust last year. I dont know if the deer ate them or there was just to much competition from the other crops in that plot. This will be traditional tillage into a plot that was clover, peas, oats, rye, radish, and turnips last year. I'm excited to get an early start this year.

I've launched an all out carbon assault on my clover plot. I'm up to a 4-bushel rate of barley seeded into my white clover. I'm putting the C:N ratio and whole-system approach to work to see if I can drown out sedge with an early and stout rate of a high carbon cool season nitrogen user like barley.



I ended up with some flax in a blend I overseeded last year. I really liked how that fit into the system as a subordinate plant. This year, I bought a 50lb bag of flax and with full rates as low as they are, I can add that to every inch of open space I have for the next 5 years, as well as send out ziplock bags to the chosen few at very little cost. They're hard to see, but there are lots of blue flax flowers mixed into my clover.



Flax is a cool season broadleaf. So me, ever pushing the envelope, fired up the polish airplane seeder last weekend and put down a rate into all of my clover and even some of my cut open timber spots.



I started counting flowering species in my plot last year, and I got up over a dozen if I remember correctly. The amount of bee and bug life is off the charts, and that spot was hotter than any other place on my property. I see more grouse there, more song birds, and of course deer.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Tried out my roller crimper on Saturday after work. The added weight really helped. I went with early maturing soybeans, winter peas, sunflowers, squash, clover, and swedes.

I don't have the confidence in the crimper just yet so I sprayed most of the plot after crimping. I left a smallish portion of the plot un sprayed to see how it turns out.

 

[TreeDaddy]

i am interested to hear more about SD's spreader

I have trouble with sunflower seed in solo spreader due to size of seed

Perhaps a better option?

bill

 

[yoderjac]

i am interested to hear more about SD's spreader

I have trouble with sunflower seed in solo spreader due to size of seed

Perhaps a better option?

bill

I recall another thread where he was pitching it that had videos. I typically use a 3-pt broadcast spreader for higher volume of larger seed. It also works well for me if I'm planting a mix that includes larger seed. When it comes to broadcasting smaller amounts of small seed like brassica without using large seed as a carrier, I find it difficult to set the 3-point broadcast spreader. It it a cheap spreader. They do make much more accurate broadcast spreaders for 3pt or ATV like Herd, but they are too pricey for me. That is the niche where I use the solo. There are multiple ways to skin the cat, and depending on what equipment one has, I'm sure there are niches where the blower type spreader may be useful.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I don’t have a problem with sunflowers through my earthway


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[SD51555]

i am interested to hear more about SD's spreader

I have trouble with sunflower seed in solo spreader due to size of seed

Perhaps a better option?

bill

I do all of my big seeds by hand out of a 5 gallon bucket. I did my share of spilling seed on the ground trying to get it into an earthway, only to have to fill it 4+ times. Fling enough seed by hand, and you can cover just as well as an earthway. I've got a pile of broken earthways laying in the woods somewhere. They usually sailed into the brush as far as I could throw them. If you need hand/bucket broadcast practice, I recommend using pell gypsum.

For small seeds, that blower of mine cannot be beat. It throws farther, more evenly, and at a rate that can be dialed so low, you could spread a cup of clover seed over an acre if you wanted too. You can also open it up wide and go once you get a feel for the calibration. I just did a blend of flower seed, sweet clover, and flax into my select cut areas. No walking among the downed trees looking for a broken ankle, I just walked the perimeter and pointed that blower into the pile. I also whipped up a bucket mix of sunflower, sorghum, and buckwheat and hand flung that into my medium white plot.

 

[TreeDaddy]

I do all of my big seeds by hand out of a 5 gallon bucket. I did my share of spilling seed on the ground trying to get it into an earthway, only to have to fill it 4+ times. Fling enough seed by hand, and you can cover just as well as an earthway. I've got a pile of broken earthways laying in the woods somewhere. They usually sailed into the brush as far as I could throw them. If you need hand/bucket broadcast practice, I recommend using pell gypsum.

For small seeds, that blower of mine cannot be beat. It throws farther, more evenly, and at a rate that can be dialed so low, you could spread a cup of clover seed over an acre if you wanted too. You can also open it up wide and go once you get a feel for the calibration. I just did a blend of flower seed, sweet clover, and flax into my select cut areas. No walking among the downed trees looking for a broken ankle, I just walked the perimeter and pointed that blower into the pile. I also whipped up a bucket mix of sunflower, sorghum, and buckwheat and hand flung that into my medium white plot.

I feel better after reading first sentence^^^^^

........Did sunflowers last weekend by hand out of solo spreader without the top........

bill