My next idea - The Yard Plot

[SD51555]

So, I did some cleanup a few years back to move an old pile of barn soil/debris/garbage. I also had a burn pile to clean up from the stumps and brush leftover from the cabin site prep. I turned that into a nice little 1/10th acre plot to scratch my itch to do, see, and walk during times I couldn't be in the woods. When I prepped the spot, I just cleaned everything up with a skid steer and hit it with my chain harrow a few times to smooth it out. Picked all the rocks, bottles, and random pieces of iron and barb wire, and I was on my way. Never did till or kill the quack, and it took three years, but it got it back.

Time to give that plot the great reset and start fresh. I wanna do it in the spring so I don't need to mow it all summer to keep the burdock down. That means I'll have to do two crops. Here's what I'm thinking, and keep in mind, this is just a hobby plot. It's not hunted over, and the deer smoke it quickly in October. This would also be a standby garden plot if I ever needed it. But for any other purpose, this is just to have something to look at that is pleasing to the eye and keeps the soil covered, and puts animals out there during tea or whiskey time.

June 1st cocktail: Purpose is to keep the soil covered and get it primed for the late summer planting.
Japanese millet
White sweet clover
Collards (like 1 cup)
Flax
Sunflowers

August 15th cocktail: The new blend going forward
Alfalfa
Fixation balansa
Yellow sweet clover (if it looks like it's gonna play well with the rest in the nurse plot)
Chicory
Plantain
Awnless winter triticale (if it comes up this spring and looks good)
Flax
Collards

Then hopefully keeps this going as a one day throw and mow. Have that goal in my head to be able to do all my plot work in one day each year.

 

[Bill]

Your climate must be more cooperative. When I plant on August 15th it doesn’t rain for a month or more. Yet I keep trying

My only thought for real is if the deer smoke the alfalfa it may winter kill. Had the farmer next door rent a field and put alfalfa in spring planted. He did a late mowing and it never came back up the next spring. Unless that’s ok, then throw it down.

 

[Foggy47]

Pretty small area. Is that alfalfa gonna compete well with those other crops? Ever think about some screen between this plot and your cabin? Maybe some "windows" for viewing?

 

[SD51555]

Your climate must be more cooperative. When I plant on August 15th it doesn’t rain for a month or more. Yet I keep trying

My only thought for real is if the deer smoke the alfalfa it may winter kill. Had the farmer next door rent a field and put alfalfa in spring planted. He did a late mowing and it never came back up the next spring. Unless that’s ok, then throw it down.

It only gets hot up there for about a month. By August 15th, you better be germinated because after labor day heat units cut in half, and it could be snowing by October 10th. It can also be 75 on November 10th, so you just gotta roll with the averages and hope for the best.

I don't know how this will go. It's almost the exact same blend as my nurse plot, except I'm pulling out the hairy vetch and switching from rye to awnless winter triticale.

 

[SD51555]

Pretty small area. Is that alfalfa gonna compete well with those other crops? Ever think about some screen between this plot and your cabin? Maybe some "windows" for viewing?

I have to keep it open so the deer don't bed up there and they maintain some daytime spookiness. I don't want the deer in that too much when I'm trying to get past there to get to my north blinds. So far it's worked really well in that they only hit it in the morning in the daylight, and then all night long.

 

[JAW]

I have a similar plot next to my cabin that is used strictly for viewing purposes. I believe in MN (zone 4a) that millet and sunflowers would need more time to fully produce seeds. I planted sunflowers and sorghum last year in a different plot; they looked great in September, but weren't fully developed by mid-August. I planted in late May, if my memory serves me right. If your climate is warmer, then your crops may mature before mine did.

 

[SD51555]

I have a similar plot next to my cabin that is used strictly for viewing purposes. I believe in MN (zone 4a) that millet and sunflowers would need more time to fully produce seeds. I planted sunflowers and sorghum last year in a different plot; they looked great in September, but weren't fully developed by mid-August. I planted in late May, if my memory serves me right. If your climate is warmer, then your crops may mature before mine did.

I don't expect mine to make it to maturity. I'd expect the millet might make it to a seed head, the white clover won't bloom, the flax will be solid, and the sunflower will get browsed out. Right now I'm thinking I'll just throw and roll it. If I can get a good termination on the millet, I think the rest will make it through.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Ever thought about adding some asparagus plants at your cabin? I don't know if they can survive that far north, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

I've planted a bunch by my house and have a number of wild plants growing as well. They seem to do pretty well when I plant them on random field edges and they don't seem to stop any competing vegetation from growing nearby. You could add a row to your experiment section and plant your wildlife mix right around and in with them.

Maybe add a random row of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. as well. You could get some bonus free fruits and vegetables while also giving you something to tend to when you don't want to mess around in your woods.

 

[SD51555]

Ever thought about adding some asparagus plants at your cabin? I don't know if they can survive that far north, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

I've planted a bunch by my house and have a number of wild plants growing as well. They seem to do pretty well when I plant them on random field edges and they don't seem to stop any competing vegetation from growing nearby. You could add a row to your experiment section and plant your wildlife mix right around and in with them.

Maybe add a random row of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. as well. You could get some bonus free fruits and vegetables while also giving you something to tend to when you don't want to mess around in your woods.

You bet. I've got some wild in my ditch.

I'm planning on putting in a big asparagus bed this spring. I'm planning to start my own plants from seed, but not because I'm trying to be cute. It's gonna be too late for crown planting by the time I can get the bed built. So I wanna do my own started plants instead of crowns. I'd love to see 30 starts in this bed. My neighbor owes me some skid steer time for a few loads of logs I gave him last year. I'll have him move all my stuff as soon as the ground is stabilized. We'll get that built in a couple hours.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I've never tried planting asparagus from seed, but clearly it works in nature. Last spring I picked up a couple asparagus 6 packs in the small plastic containers that tomato and pepper seedlings are sold in.

In the past I had a little trouble with extremely slow growth the first couple years, but last year's planting seemed to do better than prior attempts. I laid down a thick layer of straw around each plant and that seemed to really help.

 

[bigboreblr]

Sounds like a good plan. I do clover and plantain in my backyard. I have some crabgrass in there too.

I pushed back my brush edges last year and spread clover and oats. The oats survived mowing every 2-3 weeks. Have some growing in there this spring without reseeding.

My home is all open area, so no woods to walk back into. Despite the fact the driveway goes to the backyard with daily traffic. I still get deer traffic thats not too bothered by me. Over here it's mid morning, around dark, and them middle of the night stuff. No dogs here, just a Siamese vole grim reaper.