Kicked off 2016 planting yesterday

[mikmaze]

yikes, that last one still looks better than what I was using..........

I was hoping for a 7.5 footer, but they are like hens teeth around here.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Could always find a 9.5 or 10 fter and pull some discs off. They seem to go fairly cheap cause they are a little large for most food plotters and frankly need some weight to be that wide and dig much on new sod areas. But adding that weight really makes it too much for anything but a real tractor and if you have a big tractor typical matching discs usually are not 3 pt.

So I got one really cheap, had some banged up discs but picked the best ones out and left off the outer two each side when putting all back together. The extra frame out wide adds some weight too. Just another way to be frugal.....spent less than 1/4 of a KK box frame disc which are good and I kinda was looking at Dirt Dog brand too before I ran across this one.

 

[mikmaze]

that would have been an option as well, IF I could find even something like that. pouring coffee in in an attempt at gettng my internal furnace firing, and central nervous system moving a little quicker and off to kill some mile a minute weed, et al. then off to get the disc.

 

[rocksnstumps]

You'll be happy with what u found. I have several KK implement, good value and even better if u find a used one in nice shape. Just mentioned for others reading thread about other options.

Now lets see some fresh dirt pics!

 

[mikmaze]

fresh dirt will be tomorrow, just go home with it, ytook the disks off and loaded in the truck to get it home. Gotta check for zerk fittings, if none, any way to install some? grease is key to keeping things alive imho.

 

[mikmaze]

well got it back together, and worked this plot up nice, 3 passes as the seed bank grasses were up to 2 feet tall. came ungodly close to turning a fawn into fertilizer, but stopped in time. Put in 50 lbs soybeans, 15 lbs dwarf corn, and 50 lbs of feed corn to try to hide the beans and give them a fighting chance.

 

[bueller]

well got it back together, and worked this plot up nice, 3 passes as the seed bank grasses were up to 2 feet tall. came ungodly close to turning a fawn into fertilizer, but stopped in time. Put in 50 lbs soybeans, 15 lbs dwarf corn, and 50 lbs of feed corn to try to hide the beans and give them a fighting chance.

Looks real good

 

[Bill]

well got it back together, and worked this plot up nice, 3 passes as the seed bank grasses were up to 2 feet tall. came ungodly close to turning a fawn into fertilizer, but stopped in time. Put in 50 lbs soybeans, 15 lbs dwarf corn, and 50 lbs of feed corn to try to hide the beans and give them a fighting chance.

Gotta love Jersey dirt. In MO when I disk my clay, if it's wet I make dirt balls that dry into rocks, if it's dry it would take a few more than 3 passes to look like that. Guess it's the Garden state for a reason.

 

[mikmaze]

Thanks guys. It's been a lot of work to get to what you see. That field hats at fallow for approximately 35 years until I decided to wrestle it back into a plantable plot

 

[mikmaze]

someone out west, please send rain............

 

[mikmaze]

so, I drove past this plot last night about an hour and a half before dark, a doe was out in the plot eating the seeds that did not get quite buried....... no patience I suppose to wait for the crop to come.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

That soil looks like it works up real well - nice and " fluffy ". You ought to be able to grow just about anything there !! Nice job.

 

[mikmaze]

thanks bows, the soil is quite a bit varied through the property, that is one of the finer areas. Others tend to have more clay, one, and only one spot, is higher in sand and is my only option for alfalfa.

just ordered my late summer seed, fall plots. 10 pounds of daikon, 25 ptt, 25 lbs raw crimson clover. should be here sometime next week. only other seeds may be some fun stuff, short season pumpkins perhaps, might even do a birdseed plot, cheap 25 lb bag of birdessd just broadcast and straight blade disc over the top. After that, it would be till the end of september when it is time for winter wheat. or rye.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Mikmaze - After we planted ptt, groundhog radishes, Appin turnips, DER, and Pasja forage rape last year, that same plot was working up beautiful this spring. I believe because of the radishes drilling down into the soil and the 2 kinds of turnips and other brassicas adding organic material to the soil, the soil became even better. It was our best piece of ground this spring. We had planted buckwheat there the previous spring, which added more organic material to the soil when it decayed down. We had some volunteer buckwheat come up with the turnips and radishes, but it only added to the plot. This year we have a mix of alfalfa, red clover and timothy in that plot. With the improved soil, the alfalfa & clover should be good for 3 to 5 years.

Point is, we noticed an improvement in that plot's soil after the BW and brassica were planted there. We have BW planted in another spot to repeat the soil building. Deer and turkeys love the BW and the soil ends up winning too.

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

Bows why plant timothy in a deer plot?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

It's a small component in a 3 part hay mix sold by Welter's. When timothy is young, it has a sweet taste to it ( I've chewed it myself ) and I've seen deer eat it. It'll serve as a " nurse " for the clover and alfalfa as they get established. When time comes to mow the plot, it'll add some OM to the plot too. The clover and alfalfa in the mix are supposed to be persistent varieties, so we hope for several years of production from that plot - primarily the clover and alfalfa. It's Welter's #2 Super Hay Mix. We could have bought just clover and alfalfa to plant the plot, but we liked the idea of a 3rd component for variety and the extra cover it provides.

We also have many turkeys around camp. The extra cover from the timothy will give the turkey poults some place to hide as they chase hoppers and other bugs. We noticed how turkeys and their young showed a liking to rye and oats as they matured in years past ( we presume for the taller cover ), so we went with the 3-part mix. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[mikmaze]

taller cover is why I planted oats and kale in 2 plots, oats and ptt in another.... and for the thunder chickens.

 

[mikmaze]

woohoo, half inch last night, more now, and still more rain on the way later....... come on corn and beans, git to growing!

 

[mikmaze]

some real rain yesterday, inch at least...... might make it to the property tomorrow am just to get a look, now I need to find some cheap high N fert.

 

[bueller]

some real rain yesterday, inch at least...... might make it to the property tomorrow am just to get a look, now I need to find some cheap high N fert.

We have a couple inches of rain predicted over the next couple days. Time to spread some urea!