PatinPA
5 year old buck +
Do you always soak them in water first or was that just because you haven't gotten rain. I've tried sunflowers before with no luck. I even went around poking them into the ground with my finger.
The Throw n’ Mow Method
- Thread starter Crimson n' Camo
- Start date
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
This was my first try with soaking. I also put out seed I hadn't soaked. Should be able to see if there is a difference. I experiment and play a lot.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I really like that idea of buying beans from the grocery store to add to the mix.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Cheaper than seed beans and guaranteed no invasives. Grows just as well.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I've actually tossed in bird seed when planting and I was low on a diverse mix. Sunflower, millet, safflower, etc. all grew.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I nuked the crap out of my "diversity plot" this spring. I haven't re planted anything yet. I'm waiting until mid august to re plant in case I need a second herbicide application. I WILL be doing tillage to get as good of a seed bed as possible. My last go at crimping gave less than desired results. I think moving forward, spraying everything and using some tillage is the right move to start off fresh with my TNM style plots.
I'm optimistic that things will be much easier moving forward after a restart.
I'm optimistic that things will be much easier moving forward after a restart.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Tillage might bring up a new flush of weeds!
Could till and wait a month. Plant and spray at that time without new tillage.
Just thinking out loud.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
My efforts at crimping sucked. Only worked on certain things and at certain times. Went a different direction after a couple of tries.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
We were blessed with rain last night. It had been more than 400 days since we had a 2 inch rain. AND... we have chances of rain for several more days. So I added to my TnM; forage collards, proso, and milo. 
Not my field but I love the look of it. Lots of wheat didn't get cut this summer. It was too short for headers and or so poor that it was insurance claimed. Many just notilled beans into it. Love the look! Bet it's great for birds!
Not my field but I love the look of it. Lots of wheat didn't get cut this summer. It was too short for headers and or so poor that it was insurance claimed. Many just notilled beans into it. Love the look! Bet it's great for birds!
SD51555
5 year old buck +
Did it come slowly enough that it could soak in? Amen fella either way!
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Thanks! Heavy rain last night, then sprinkles all morning. We NEED runoff. So many ponds went dry, got dug out, then stayed dry another several months. Cowboys need a break from hauling water!
Vikingman1981
5 year old buck +
Guys I started reading from the first page in this thread and made it to 20. I'm trying to find out what is best to do for my situation. I planted about an acre of white clover and turnips towards the end of August. The deer hammered the turnips, they were gone by rifle season. The clover wasn't established yet but I frost seeded more clover in March. I sprayed cleth twice this spring/summer and mowed once. I have a beautiful stand of clover now. I really want to plant turnips again but don't want to kill off the clover. In your opinions do you think I should spray the clover with gly, broadcast turnips/brassica, mow then roll? I'd like to ideally keep all the clover but have turnips growing within. I know gly can set back not kill clover when sprayed lightly. I'd love to hear your thoughts on planting turnips into an existing, thick clover plot.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Search users Foggy47 and Wild Thing. Lots of posts on this exact question.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Vikingman.....you don't say where your land is located. Makes a huge difference in how you proceed. If your in the north....check the thread "Clover outcompetes my need for diversity" (or some such title as that.). IN that thread we talk about the need to terminate the clover to get the brassica to grow......but also plant clover at the same time we plant the brassica. IN so doing....the brassica will grow first and suppress the clover....until the following spring. Takes a bit of planning....but it can be done. The beauty of this plan is you are always suppressing weeds while growing more nitrogen and biomass for the future.
Different geographic areas (and soil types, etc) will behave in other ways......so you need to Taylor a program to fit your land. Many of us are still working on it....but closing in.
Different geographic areas (and soil types, etc) will behave in other ways......so you need to Taylor a program to fit your land. Many of us are still working on it....but closing in.
A farmer near me has all of his fields looking like your last pic here, but with weeds instead of the wheat. He's stopped tilling, and in the spring his fields go wild with weeds and grasses. Then he sprays it and drills into it. He's probably the last one to plant in the area but his crops catch up to the tilled fields every year. No irrigation on his fields but even in this drought they look as nice as the ones that are watered every day.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
What camo n crimson does. He double cropped and healed soil. Now he says he lets rye and clover just be all summer. Let’s whatever weeds grow. Then he throws and mows a new round of rye and clover the next fall and uses whatever nature grows to heal the soil.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
^ A few sound posts above. Sure lots less work than the way I used to do things. Tillage seems crazy to me now. Today I spot sprayed some thistles and mullein.....and then drilled some radish and soybeans into my clover to use up some old seed and see if I can grow beans in clover. Kinda doubt it.....but I bet the radish will grow. Experimenting is fun. Always something to learn. Much of it "the hard way" for me. lol
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I use weeds a lot too. Easy and in my estimation they'll be exactly what the soil needs. I've got a buddy who farms 15,000+ acres in the sands of western KS. He let's fields set "fallow" every 3rd yr or so and NEVER tills. Weeds are as good as anything at putting down roots, mining minerals, amd shielding the soil.
