I have a terrific opportunity on my hands now. My plans for the Big Oak Farm are coming together and in 2015 I’ll be taking some major steps to develop my hunting property.
A little background first. I bought this property, 80 acres total, in the fall of 2013. This farm had been abandoned and foreclosed on in the early 1900s for reasons that are not clear. The plot finally landed on a county land auction in 2013 and I bought it.
The property was 100% wooded and as with most foreclosed properties, the county has sold off the logging rights numerous times but always with the exception that oak and hardwoods may not be harvested. The last logging took place in the early 1990s. So I have a rolling property with nice oak trees on the ridges and some very interesting other tree species including two ironwood thickets, but the rest was mainly dense softwoods like aspen and birch. As an added bonus, I have a small creek that runs though the property and it flows year-round.
The big change for 2015 started back in December when the dozers showed up. I have cleared 2 food plots, the South Plot is about 3.5 acres and the North Plot is over 4.75 acres. Now keep in mind, these areas were 100% dense aspen, birch, and underbrush, so what I do NOT have is 8 acres of level, clean corn or ag ground.
What I DO have is 8 total acres of tree-cleared, if rough ground that will need considerable work to make it reasonably smooth and plantable. I will need to pick some rock and just generally beat it into shape. You’ll be hearing much more about this angle later, I’m sure.
Time and equipment are both limited. I have an ATV, a 4 foot disc harrow that has the digging tines, and an ATV-mounted sprayer. I also have a tow-behind 100 pound broadcaster. That’s about it. I do have the ability to get the neighbor rancher, a personal friend of mine, to lend me a tractor and a disc, so I can do a little heavier disc up if needed.
So here’s my game plan for 2015 and I’m interested in opinions or other comments about my ideas.
1. South Plot First
First, I plan to focus on one plot at a time because I’m afraid that time divided will mean two many things done by halves and no whole accomplishment. I’m going to start on the 3.5 acres south plot by working it up, clearing it of debris, and generally beating it into shape for planting.
I will take soil samples in the spring and get tests done, but I know that the PH will require lime. I’m sure nutrient levels will also be low.
I’m anticipating a massive bloom of weeds, so I will spray the plot at intervals to kill it off as it greens up in the spring. My hope is to have the plot in reasonable shape by late May and be able to give it one last spray down of Roundup and then prepare it for planning.
Planting: Right now, here’s my prelim plan.
Early season – In late May or as soon as possible, I was thinking about planting the whole plot in a mix of 75% red clover and 25% white clover. To this, I’m going to add a light dose of forage oats as a nurse crop to shade and protect the young clover.
My goal here is to get a perennial crop growing and to get the clover started fixing nitrogen ASAP. I want to have clover as a consistent food source and good stands of clover are always attractive in this area. To minimize yearly planting, I want solid stands of clover that can be left for 3-4 years at a time.
Mid Season – In mid-July, I will spray and till a strip of about .75 to 1 acre down the center of the plot and plant a brassicas/peas/turnip/radish mix of my own creation. The idea here is to get a taller-standing mix of high-nutrition crop that will attract the deer in the late season and provide a high protein/sugar food source even into the early winter.
2. North Plot gets the minimal treatment. But what’s the best approach?
On the north plot, I’m less clear on what to do. Right now, my plan was to keep it mostly fallow. Spray it as needed to keep brush from growing back up, but right now the plan is to just keep it open for next year when more serious work can begin.
I won’t have time this year to give it the beauty treatment by clearing rock and broken tree parts, leveling it nicely, etc. It’s going to be rough-rough new ground no matter what. My main concern is that it not slide backward.
I’m open to other ideas! What’s the best way to “maintenance mode” this nearly 5 acres with minimal time/energy? One idea that was floated was to just lightly disc it and plant 100% forage oats and let that serve as a cover crop, but even that approach may be too labor intensive for this year.
I’d love to hear feedback and other ideas for approaching both plots.
Grouse
