The Throw n’ Mow Method

[Bill]

Well my plot isn't doing as well as I had hoped. It's been 3 weeks since I knocked down the buckwheat. We've had good rain and I wanted to check on the winter rye and brassica. I wish I would have sprayed the field after knocking down the buckwheat. I have a lot of weeds that came up. The rye is coming in

Spraying may have helped. Can't really tell when I zoom in but is there clover coming in also? Kinda looks like it but I can't be sure..

 

[35-acre]

That's some pretty rough looking dirt you're having to work with 35 acre......I'd keep top sewing cereal rye before a rain until it covered the field pretty thick.....You really need a couple heavy crops of biomass over the top of all of that. Could just be the lighting but that top picture looks yellowy....Have you added any fert or lime? Sorry if you've already said this, the details of everyone's fields kinda run together on me.

Yeah, this dirt is rocky and not much for topsoil. So the throw and roll is what I need to build that layer of biomass. And I literally throw the seed by hand.

The yellowing is still the dead buckwheat. A lot of weeds came up. There isn't much tatch right now. So do you think just top seeding with more rye will work? I wasn't planning to ride over what's growing as I'm afraid that will harm what's already sprouted. I have found without having the seed get pressed into the soil it doesn't work out well; generally I just ride over it with my atv.

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[35-acre]

Spraying may have helped. Can't really tell when I zoom in but is there clover coming in also? Kinda looks like it but I can't be sure..

Yes, that is clover but wild clover. I did not plant it. I have all kinds of weeds (goose grass, wild grasses, and so on. Most of the green is weed.

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[Bill]

Yes, that is clover but wild clover.

Clover from the seed bank is a good thing. It was there before and thrived so it can again. I have an acre plot that all I did was spray gly and it came up naturally. mostly white clover but the deer eat it...

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

35 acre.....What state are you in?? I'm asking so I know how much of a planting window we have to work with. Here in south Alabama I can plant all the way through Nov.

 

[35-acre]

35 acre.....What state are you in?? I'm asking so I know how much of a planting window we have to work with. Here in south Alabama I can plant all the way through Nov.

New York

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[Crimson n' Camo]

Hmmm……I was gonna suggest to just let it go for a little while and let some of that weed growth come on before attempting anything else. Not sure how late y’all can plant up there though. You should still be able to plant cereal rye a month from now shouldn’t you??? From the looks of things I’d say that you probably want to at least try to drag in the seed.


What you’re seeing with the buckwheat is why I’m not a big fan of folks using it to try and produce these initial crops of thatch on really poor plots. You need numerous cycles of heavy grass crops before growing something else to get the soil surface in a different condition. I would look to something different in the summer…..natural vegetation would not be a bad choice……,you might go with something like millet if you just want to plant something……Even another idea, and which might actually be your best bet for the next 4-5 years……is to plant that field in some kind of small seeded summer grass…..maybe something like bahiagrass……then kill it off later on down the road. I know some guys will find that as an odd choice but I’d rather have some nice soil built on that field 5 years from now and worry about dealing with the grass at that point….rather than still looking at rocks and hard soil.

 

[35-acre]

Thanks. I just want to make sure I am doing this right and am definitely looking at this for a long term approach. But I need just a bit of clarification... Are you saying to plant more rye? I certainly can and I like hearing to drag it in. That soil is hard and breaking it up a little by scratching seems to help. I just want to make sure you aren't saying to plant something else? There was a bit of oats and barley in one of the bags. Obviously overall this didn't come in as well as I had hoped.

For next summer I like the idea of millet. I prefer to have something to offer the animals (Or bees), even if it's not a great offering. Millet seems better than the grass with that in mind.

I have to say the buckwheat was impressive. The deer loved it and so did the turkeys. It gree so well. I was happy to see what it left behind but I hear what you're saying; I'll be happier with something else. So I will go that route.

Thanks again.

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[TreeDaddy]

Hmmm……I was gonna suggest to just let it go for a little while and let some of that weed growth come on before attempting anything else. Not sure how late y’all can plant up there though. You should still be able to plant cereal rye a month from now shouldn’t you??? From the looks of things I’d say that you probably want to at least try to drag in the seed.


What you’re seeing with the buckwheat is why I’m not a big fan of folks using it to try and produce these initial crops of thatch on really poor plots. You need numerous cycles of heavy grass crops before growing something else to get the soil surface in a different condition. I would look to something different in the summer…..natural vegetation would not be a bad choice……,you might go with something like millet if you just want to plant something……Even another idea, and which might actually be your best bet for the next 4-5 years……is to plant that field in some kind of small seeded summer grass…..maybe something like bahiagrass……then kill it off later on down the road. I know some guys will find that as an odd choice but I’d rather have some nice soil built on that field 5 years from now and worry about dealing with the grass at that point….rather than still looking at rocks and hard soil.

provocative as always

I have considered sorghumxsudan hybrid for this purpose

easy to grow and tons of biomass

bill

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Thanks. I just want to make sure I am doing this right and am definitely looking at this for a long term approach. But I need just a bit of clarification... Are you saying to plant more rye? I certainly can and I like hearing to drag it in. That soil is hard and breaking it up a little by scratching seems to help. I just want to make sure you aren't saying to plant something else?

Yes, just cereal rye right now. Oats are hopeless in that situation for any kind of planting method like this. If you don't get a good stand established and pamper it through next spring, you'll be looking at the same thing again on the next round with bare soil.....

 

[LEWI B]

provocative as always

I have considered sorghumxsudan hybrid for this purpose

easy to grow and tons of biomass

bill

Have used Sudan sorghum for the last three years in good soil and bad soil.
In bad hard rocky ridge top plots Sudan sorghum is the only thing I have been able to grow in the summer for biomass.
If the SS gets a little rain it will be five to eight feet in two months. In good soil areas the SS will be eight feet plus in two
months.
Have found in my situation, high four to low five ph and almost no organic matter, SS grows well with only urea applied at
fifty pounds per acre. Starts off slow till it reaches about 12 inches then turns dark green and heads for the sky.
In my limited experience SS is much more aggressive than sun hemp in a mix. I will lime and soil test these plots after
two or three years of SS, clover, and rye.

 

[Barndog56]

15 days after broadcasting my brassicas. Due for about an inch of rain tonight, so should be in real good shape.

Marestail in my future cereal grain spot getting close to setting seed.

So I bought a 'manual bush hog' and went to town.

Plot is now ready to spray and broadcast winter rye and red clover in 2 or 3 weeks, depending on rain. Thick grass at ground level, so think I will skip the mowing and just let the dieing grass hold in the moisture.

 

[Bill]

Brassica's look good.

But

So I bought a 'manual bush hog' and went to town.

That's what I call a cruel tool. That's to hang on the wall next to the concrete trowels and never move it again. :)

 

[Semisane]

The cat is now out of the bag. Barndog56 is a swinger.

 

[Barndog56]

The cat is now out of the bag. Barndog56 is a swinger.

And it earned me a couple of blisters........

 

[TreeDaddy]

Who are your buddies in the photo?

bill

 

[Barndog56]

Closest to camera is Zeke, a 6yo bloodhound we adopted who weighed 227 pounds when we got him! He's down to 120 after two years. Farther away is Sookie, an 8 month old English Mastiff, who already comes in at about 110 pounds. Not pictured is Maya, a 5yo chocolate lab.

In that pic they are searching out the pea pods. They are also quick to dig up any turnips that survive through the winter, and are sure to find any piles of deer poop in the plot.

 

[seadonist]

I went to the lease yesterday, still unsure of how I wanted to tackle this field so I brought my Groundhog Max with me just in case. After walking the field and digging around in the grasses, I decided that the root system was so dense that my seeds would probably not be able to compete, even after the gly application had done a good job of killing off the area that I want to plant so I hooked up the Groundhog to my atv and set it as high as I could while still getting tillage. I estimated that I had it set between 1-2". After tilling, the only spots that had bare dirt visible were the wet spots in the field that my atv tires rutted up some from making turns. Everywhere else in the field just looked like I rolled over it with a cultipacker but the grasses were loosened up well. Next I'll broadcast my seeds and fertilizer, mow the field and then cultipack it. We'll see how it turns out...

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Well, went out today to check things out after some rain during the week. All the grass and weeds are definitely dead and the Plot Screen is starting to come in much better than I thought it would since I planted it a month later than recommended. Got my stand hung while I was there also. All I have left to do is plant and put down urea on the Plot Screen.

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[S.T.Fanatic]

Being new to Throw and Mow I'm not sure what to think yet. My germination looks really spotty. They have been fertilized and we got another good dose of rain last night. I guess time will tell.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Closest to camera is Zeke, a 6yo bloodhound we adopted who weighed 227 pounds when we got him! He's down to 120 after two years. Farther away is Sookie, an 8 month old English Mastiff, who already comes in at about 110 pounds. Not pictured is Maya, a 5yo chocolate lab.

In that pic they are searching out the pea pods. They are also quick to dig up any turnips that survive through the winter, and are sure to find any piles of deer poop in the plot.

Brought a smile

I couldn't imagine habitat work without my bull terrier and great pyrenees

plots,hinging,planting baby trees..... they never leave my side

bill