HuntinGUS

That's a great looking plot Rick.

Did you do anything to keep the deer out while it was growing?

Rick James

Nope, thats the beauty of brassicas. The deer won't touch it until it has been hit with a couple hard frosts, then they hammer it until it is gone. This plot was being used from middle of October till March or so.

HuntinGUS

WOW I did not know that.Thanks for the info. Keep us posted on your progress. I have learned a lot about food plots from following your threads.

Rick James

Man am I excited. Plot #1 and #2 are completely disced up now. Still have to brush hog off plot 3 and spray roundup. I am sitting at the office right now with the car packed outside waiting for a chance to hop in the car and head down there for a food plot work and scouting weekend with my best bud. Plans are to wake up tomorrow, spread1/2 ton of lime on plot #1 (1.3 acres), and then brush hog and roundup plot 3.Then back to the spreader for another 1/2 ton of lime on plot 2 and another 1/2 ton on plot 3 (both of these are about 1/3 acre). Then I get to mowmy clover and chicory patch at the south side of plot #1. Then it will be back in 2 weeks again to disc up plot 3 when the roundup application has really kicked in and killed everything. Then I will let everything rot down and maybe respray with roundup towards the end of July to get ready for a target seeding date ofAugust 6th for both the clover/chicory mix, as well as the brassicas. This should allow some time for everything to rot down good from the new plots that are being disced for the first time, as well as the lime on the new plots to kick in and begin to change PH levels.

I will post pics of the disced and limed plots this weekend as well as PH readings for each plot. It will be interesting to see how much PH level has changed on plot #1 since the full ton of lime that went on it last year. Before liming (3rd week in July)last year it was between 5.5-6ph, and after liming when I seeded it in August it had increased pretty quickly to 6.5 to 6.75. I am hoping for an even 7 by time I seed that one this year.

Rick James

Alright, so here are some pics and update of the work this weekend.

Plot #1 is now disced up, and we spread 1/2 ton of lime on this one as well. This plot is approx 50 yards by 130 yards. This is also the same and the only plot I did last year in my previous thread. I also sprayed 32oz of roundup on this because it was disced up back in May and some weeds started to spring up. I also have a strip ofclover on the right side of this picture that I plantedlast August, we got that mowed this weekend too. Hopefully that clover can choke out some more of those weeds if we keep mowing it. The roundup we applied this weekend should kill everything off and we should be ready to rake and seed beginning of August.



Plot #2. Disced up, 1/4 ton of lime. This is about 35 yards by 50 yards in size. This one will be a real nice plot, there are a lot of terrain features that funnel movement near this plot.







Quick videos of this plot:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v283/ringostar40/Cabin%20and%20Property%20Pics/?action=view&current=MOV03281.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v283/ringostar40/Cabin%20and%20Property%20Pics/?action=view&current=MOV03280.flv

And last but not least is plot #3. This one isabout 70 yards by 45 yards in size. We brush hogged this andsprayed on Saturday with 32oz of roundup. Then today we spread 3/4 ton of lime onit as well. This is the spot I can see from my cabin. When I was done mowing and liming today we had a nice buck come across this where we were spreading lime only an hour before.



And one more of me looking like a mummy on the trusty simplicity with my new spreader laying down some lime........[8D].



I got one heck of a sunburn this weekend but it was a ton of fun and I got to spend some time with my best bud (APAJaws) as well at the cabin. Will post an update in a few more weeks with pics of plot #3 once it is disced up, and raked.

I am aiming for a planting for August 4th or 11th depending on weather. This weekend I bought all my seed as well. I have a 1 acre bag of MO Biologic Maximum, 1 acre bag of Tecomate Monster Mix clover/chicory mix, and 1/2 acre of MO Biologic Full Draw. I will have seperate strips in each plot of different seed, just not sure where I will put which seed yet. Can't wait to see these in about 2nd-3rd week of October..........

BowHuntingFool

Well done Rick, your plots look like they're ready to go! Great pics!

SamPAhunter

Your plots and prep look amazing man!! I know your hard work will pay off. I personally love making and planting food plots. And then if you kill a deer on one of them it makes it feel even better. Could you please put your full location in the post so I can sneak in and hang a stand LOLHave you ever tryed mixing the FULL DRAW with GREEN PATCH PLUS? I did this one year and got a great plot. Im also going to try some of Biologics trophy oats as well as the premium perenial and a Biomaxx plot sometime here.
Good Luck cant wait to see how the plots turn out this year

farm hunter

Lots of work Rick - looks Dryyyyyyyy there - heh?

Nice pictures - I really like to see what others do.

FH

Rick James

Yes, lots and lots of work. We put in 12 hours last weekend alone, not including the time my dad put in discing plot #1 and #2, and his brush hogging #3. It is VERY dry there, I am glad I didn't plant this spring. Hopefully the dry soil will help get the stuff that I sprayed w/ roundup very dead and starting to rot down good so we can get a good clean weedless seedbed to plant. Only problem I have seen with the dryness is the clover I just cut, it's probably too dry to have cut it that short. Hopefully the clover will survive. If not, I will overseed it this fall. Then hopefully we will get some good rainfall in August/September once the seed is in the ground.

farm hunter

white clovers are really really tough on the whole - and if it was well established - it should come back strong. Sometimes after a dry period there is a lag for regrowth when mowed, but if you don't have alot weeds, and or bare soil - the clover should still be king. Give it some time before overseeding - no sense throwing seed (money) away.

FH