In Search of Chocolate Cake

[farmlegend]

I’ve seen a number of pics of soils with the “chocolate cake” appearance, evidence of well-aggregated dirt with healthy microbial activity, mychorrhizal fungi, root exudates and all.

This project of mine, covering nine acres of ground, began with long-term heavily tilled rowcrop ground. I’m trying to make it healthy, living dirt. After three seasons of multi-species cover crops, the going is slow.

Pulled dirt for some soil tests yesterday. Ground is still very compacted, and in many spots I couldn’t get the probe to sink in, even with all 151 pounds of weight on it.

On a positive note, infiltration seems to be somewhat improved, there is less ponding out there, and I did find a couple earthworms.

Here’s to year four of the project.

 

[farmlegend]

Didn’t load with the rest.

 

[Diesel5610]

We are a year behind you in the same quest. Progress is going at about the same speed as yours. Better filtration, more worms and better plant growth with each passing year so far. We stopped fertilizing when we started. Seems to be working slowly but surely.

 

[bigboreblr]

2 plants that might help. Canola and daikon radish. Daikon seems to be great substrate for organic matter. Does well in kimchi. Canola is an impressive root maker. Hemp is too.

There is no shame on needing fertilizer or tillage from time to time. I am reclaiming almost junk land log landings. Soill isn't the best in the area overall. A few light doses to get some decent growth, then use that growth for organic matter to improve the soil.

Also, some food for thought. We grow stuff to be consumed by animals. PErhaps some of your growth should not be wasted on animals eating it. I think in so-so soils or high animal count areas, growing some stuff animals dont eat is good soil health. Crimson clover is a good example.

Selective herbidicdes could be better too. Killing off all plant life is got to do a number on the biological activity in a land.

IF you got some foodplot space to spare. Maybe growing something that more or less stays intact. Some species folks call weeds not only feed animals, but make some seriously deep rots. ragweed has a real impressive taproot.

I've seen some great soil health in red and in brown.

 

[farmlegend]

2 plants that might help. Canola and daikon radish. Daikon seems to be great substrate for organic matter. Does well in kimchi. Canola is an impressive root maker. Hemp is too.

There is no shame on needing fertilizer or tillage from time to time. I am reclaiming almost junk land log landings. Soill isn't the best in the area overall. A few light doses to get some decent growth, then use that growth for organic matter to improve the soil.

Also, some food for thought. We grow stuff to be consumed by animals. PErhaps some of your growth should not be wasted on animals eating it. I think in so-so soils or high animal count areas, growing some stuff animals dont eat is good soil health. Crimson clover is a good example.

Selective herbidicdes could be better too. Killing off all plant life is got to do a number on the biological activity in a land.

IF you got some foodplot space to spare. Maybe growing something that more or less stays intact. Some species folks call weeds not only feed animals, but make some seriously deep rots. ragweed has a real impressive taproot.

I've seen some great soil health in red and in brown.

Thanks for the comments.

My dirt is clayish in most spots and quite compacted everywhere. It tends to be on the wet side, and radishes don’t do very well on it. I had Daikon radish in my mix in the last two seasons, and the radishes got no bigger than cigarettes.

A lot of common cover crop seeds perform poorly on wet ground. I had black oil sunflowers, sunn hemp, buckwheat in my mix last year, and none of them made an appearance at all.

Some weeds, as you noted, throw down tremendous rootage. I was particularly impressed with the thick, woody roots layed down by marestail.

 

[farmlegend]

A few pics of this spot and surroundings.

 

[RGrizzzz]

Do you have any flax in your mix? Green Cover loves the stuff.

 

[farmlegend]

Do you have any flax in your mix? Green Cover loves the stuff.

Flax was among the 18 seeds drilled into it last year, and none of it showed up. Flax is rated as “poor” by Greencover in wet soils.

 

[bigboreblr]

Subsoil the land. Get a subsoiler and back the trctor as close to the pond area as you feel comfortable, then run it up the hill. Digging a drainagle channel along the side or across the middle may help some too.

Ladino and dutch white clover are one of the better drought tolerant food plot plants out there.

Having a easily obtainable source of cereal grains is good too. IF you flood out bad, you can reseed with some oats or rye.

I used to have flooding in my backyard which has apples trees and a 1/2 acre foodplot. I dug drainage channels and pretty much been day n night for flooding stress. Clover's limit is around 5 days flooded.

Compacting is a limiting factor in no-till clay soils. Seems commercial AG folks who do this method have to till between 5-7 years due to compaction. Only other method is a good subsoiling. Loosen up things, but keeps the bacteria in the soil, and not flipped over. Light tillage is used every 2-3 years.

Brother in law's been doing no-till / min till for years. He hires aircraft to seed rye into soybeans.

With bad soil flooding issues, there is something called a torpedo subsoiler.

Also, can you do anytihng about the water level? Clean up the drainage stream a bit? Dig out the stream, then make a 2nd stream around it to make a small island. MAke it brushy and you may get a great buck bedding spot. Even a 1/10th acre one can work well. In the drier summer, go in there with a backhoe and dig the original strm and put the soil on the bank that'll be the island. Then dig out most of the 2nd stream downstream first and put fill in island side. Level is out or make a mound section where the deer would bed. Drive the tractor out and finish the 2nd stream section.

 

[jsasker007]

Alsike clover and maybe some millet. Not sure if Buckwheat does well with moist soils but I would try some just to see how it does.

 

[farmlegend]

Alsike clover and maybe some millet. Not sure if Buckwheat does well with moist soils but I would try some just to see how it does.

Japanese millet saved my ass last year. It performed magnificently. Black oil sunflower, grazing corn, flax, kale, lespedeza, mung beans, radishes, safflower, kale, sunn hemp and buckwheat all failed miserably.

Alsike, most whites, and medium red clovers also do well.

Buckwheat is generally not good; it needs goldilocks-like growing conditions. I include it in the mix each year because I like buckwheat, and it does OK about one year in three.

Spring oats do well, fall oats are poor. Winter wheat and rye, broadcast over it all in late August or so, are also usually winners.

Trying faba beans, chickpeas, African cabbage, Endure Chicory, and Boston Plantain this year. Along with some balansa, fenugreek, arugula, and a few others, all of which purportedly perform well in heavy dirt.

That pond in the above pics is from an adjacent wetland project.

I sent three soil samples from different zones in these plots to Ward Labs this morning for soil health analysis. Curious to compare results to my 2022 test to see if there's any movement.

 

[jsasker007]

Alsike has worked for me in the spots that get pretty wet in the spring. It's really about the only thing I've tried that can take being wet for that long. Might have to try some millet this year. Sure doesn't help when the beavers sneak in and flood it for a few weeks before I know they did it. You ever try rice in the water itself? My dad and uncle used to put the rice seed in little balls of mud and sling them out into the water.