SD51555
5 year old buck +
That is exactly what's happening at my place. I saw my first bloom last weekend already, and it's going to go another 6-7 weeks from here before I mow. I always try to mow first weekend in August.
The Sweet Clover Thread
- Thread starter SD51555
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SD51555
5 year old buck +
If it's standing and looking good in August, I might also consider leaving it. I've never had a bumper crop of balansa before. I'll have to wait and see. I'd love to see the deer spend that much time out there trying to chow that down. There'd be lots of extra deer pellets for amount of time it'd take. I could always spread rye out there after the chowdown. I had a little luck with that mid october seeding last year. I'll try to get a pic of that this weekend if the mosquitoes don't carry me away.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I’m pretty happy with the fixation right now. Deer swimming in it and rye.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
Central SD is getting rain. That means sweet clover as far as the eye can see in some places. I saw it from the plane as soon as we came thru the clouds.
I didn’t get a picture of the bee boxes, but I saw a couple that had to have north of 100 in one spot. Some areas had hundreds of acres of solid YSC like that.
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I didn’t get a picture of the bee boxes, but I saw a couple that had to have north of 100 in one spot. Some areas had hundreds of acres of solid YSC like that.
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matinc
5 year old buck +
It's interesting this year the normal gulf of Mexico moisture stream is back and the solid west flow the last two years fron the pacific is over. Got three inches last night 76 mhp winds and a gully washer to boot. I just believe this is why your crops are cranking thus year
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
That’s looks awesome my friend
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Yes, the record early warm up plus abundance of rain has certainly made lots of stuff grow like crazy. It makes me wonder how much these conditions might have given an advantage to some plants compared to a normal spring?
SD51555
5 year old buck +
All bloomed out now.
The invasive daisy is dangerously close to being swamped by the clover.
The scourge that is hairy vetch is flying across the plot and will have this all laying flat in another month or less. Don’t ever plant this shit unless you plan on spraying or tilling.
I think a group of bears are having a dance party in here. Lots of it is already matted down.
The chicory flowers are opening up now.
Even got a little sweet clover to come back, but I’m betting 99.9% of last years seed is still dormant.
Between the hairy vetch lodging and the animals trampling out here, I think I’m gonna have to try the hillbilly crimp this year. Too much of this will already be on the ground.
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The invasive daisy is dangerously close to being swamped by the clover.
The scourge that is hairy vetch is flying across the plot and will have this all laying flat in another month or less. Don’t ever plant this shit unless you plan on spraying or tilling.
I think a group of bears are having a dance party in here. Lots of it is already matted down.
The chicory flowers are opening up now.
Even got a little sweet clover to come back, but I’m betting 99.9% of last years seed is still dormant.
Between the hairy vetch lodging and the animals trampling out here, I think I’m gonna have to try the hillbilly crimp this year. Too much of this will already be on the ground.
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SD51555
5 year old buck +
I’m planning to throw winter triticale in here before I crimp it. Fingers crossed for how clover heavy this was this season that it’ll be ripe for a grain crop to punch through. I just don’t know if I’ll get seed to soil contact.
I need to pull back that jungle and see if last years residue has been consumed.
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I need to pull back that jungle and see if last years residue has been consumed.
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Yes, looks awesome! Ready to feed those cereals.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
Thanks fellas. I'd love to say this is exactly what I planned to happen, but it's certainly not. I mix a bunch of stuff together with some intentionality and throw it out and watch to see what happens. I wanted another crop of rye and sweet clover, and I don't have hardly any of that. Still, I'm very pleased it's still very diverse and there's no problem children other than the hairy vetch. There's a number of 'problematic' weeds, but I've bested most of them. Thistle is a good example. Thistle doesn't endure on my place, one to two years and it vanishes. The oxeye daisy is one to watch. I've never had that yet, so I'll keep an eye on it. I read through @bigboreblr 's link on weed conditions, and I realize I need to get to spreading gypsum on some areas elsewhere. Quite a bit of curly dock coming in one section of one of my plots.
I'm gonna push a 4 bushel rate of Fridge triticale next, along with sorghums and jap millet. The difference this year is there will be tons of soil moisture, and I might just get some luck getting other stuff germinated.
And some of the bumble bees seem as big as chicken nuggets out there. There are some monsters. It takes a lot of faith to walk among all those bees, but it's also very therapeutic. I like to think they know I'm the good guy. I've got a couple more neat pics I'll put up in here tomorrow if I remember to get it posted.
I'm gonna push a 4 bushel rate of Fridge triticale next, along with sorghums and jap millet. The difference this year is there will be tons of soil moisture, and I might just get some luck getting other stuff germinated.
And some of the bumble bees seem as big as chicken nuggets out there. There are some monsters. It takes a lot of faith to walk among all those bees, but it's also very therapeutic. I like to think they know I'm the good guy. I've got a couple more neat pics I'll put up in here tomorrow if I remember to get it posted.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
My buckwheat came through the rye I crimped but I see no evidence that the clover has come up. I think smash seeds and heavy crop residue may not be the best combination.
It’s all trial and error. I was hoping to get away from herbicide but I’m leaning towards a lighter planting of cereal and a post crimp application of spray may be necessary.
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SD51555
5 year old buck +
That's actually a really good idea. I had been wondering about that myself. There are bees (plural) per square foot out there, and it would be a real bad kill if I did that midday. I'm gonna take that advice and wait until they are off for the night to get in there and flatten it.
