What a difference a month can make

[j-bird]

What a difference a month makes. Was out today and took some pics. The top photo was take 3/15 and to show the difference in color between winter wheat and winter rye. You can see they are both green but not much actual growth to either. The lower pic was taken today. The amount of food there now is just awesome. in some places it is nearly knee high. The yellow flowers are from the turnips that survived the winter. This area will be killed & tilled for a summer annual plot in a few weeks. Clover and alfalfa are actively growing and showing browsing by the deer already so the deer have plenty to eat at the moment. I am not seeing any preference by the deer regarding the rye or the wheat - but the left side shows no sign of the radish while the right side shows how the turnips are now growing. So either the radish didn't survive the winter, or the deer ate them all.

 

[scott44]

Great comparison pics!

 

[j-bird]

Not sure how common or if anyone cares, but this is some details of the turnip that is "bolting" that survived the winter here. I was surprised because the bulbs all seemed soft and rotten just a month or so ago, but as you can see there was still some life left in them. The bulb of this one even had a hole in it like a bug had tried to eat it. The bulb was roughly the size of a golf ball.

 

[j-bird]

Great comparison pics!

I like those types of pics as I tend to be pretty impatient and we tend to post photos of the prime example and in many cases and times it doesn't look that way. Anyone who saw that plot back in march would have said, "that ain't gonna feed squat!". Well a little sunshine and some warmer temps and now the deer cant eat it fast enough! I realize many of us understand this, but those that are just getting into it (I was there once) can get frustrated or discouraged - IT ALL TAKES TIME! And I also thought it really demonstrates how important plots can be at targeting different times - especially outside of hunting season if you are truely trying to improve the health and numbers of deer.

 

[nwmn]

yum, that looks good enough for me to eat! so GREEN wow! I bet them deer are feeling fortunate for such an easy food source.