Lucky on the freeze ..maybe

[Brokenbear]

Well after 8 to 10 hours daily of temps 3 days in a row down to 24, 26 & 28.. so far the brassicas seem to just have a little "leaf tip burn" and not in all places ..

That has to be either wind or more likely the cold came so fast the ground warmth saved the day ...I hope ..as main rifle season is 8 days off and above freezing in the forecast ...of course forecasts and 6 bit$ will get you a senior decaf at the golden arches ;-)

Bear

 

[jsasker007]

They should start tasting sweeter after a couple of frosts. I had close to 5 acres wiped out in about a week after the frost made them more desirable.

 

[jsasker007]

Should add that the tops were wiped out in 5 days and not real sure how much of the bulbs in the ground were eaten.

 

[Brokenbear]

Old as I am this is the first year planting groundhog radishes so I am unsure of how the greens and root will react to cold but PTT's have always been a staple ..never will forget one spring thaw after a particularly nasty winter and I came to our 3AC plot of predominately PTT's and the ground was litterly covered with what appeared to be 10's of thousands of empty softball covers !

 

[bigboreblr]

I grew those daikon tillage radishes two or three years ago. I think there is a touch of a learning curve on deer eating new things. They were nibbled on here n there during NY's rifle season in November. Around Christmas time, they started to get into the roots.

Got to admit it kinda grossed me out. Seeing deer pull out and eat those rotted nasty things. My whole backyard smelled like rotting cabbage, kimchi late winter / early spring. Wife is very patient with me and all my fiasco's, but she said no more radishes because of the smell.

A local feed dealer also plants wheat, corn, and beans in the area. Down the road he harvested wheat this year, then put in tillage radish. Maybe mixed with some rye too, or it's volunteer seed. Drive by it here n there, don't see much browsing on them over there. Its just far enough where my does wouldn't really be over there. From my memory, its the first time he has used tillage radish anywhere I see the fields they use. Mother-in-law babysits their daughter. When I get a chance I will ask him more about it.

I think they're good to use, but would not monocrop them, unless I had plenty of other acreage to use for something else. Good deer feed, not sure if it's good to hunt over. Again, I think there's a learning curve for new food introductions. Folks have said different things about them. Also, how well they taste can be effected by rainfall and available nutrients. If you have a lot of a certain nutrient, it can effect taste.