My fall plots are all in the ground and it’s all done for 2017 except for a little bit of growing and a whole lot of hunting.
After the constant work of the spring and summer, this is a nice point to take a breath and think about what I’ve learned this year.
1. Yep! Deer STILL love a good clover plot. Everybody wants to talk about the “glam crops” these days. No doubt, the soybeans and corn bring in the deer, but they are also the most time and cost-intensive crops that most property managers will ever grow.
My deer are currently HAMMERING a 1.5 acre plot of Mega Clover Plus clover blend (5 clover species plus chicory) that I fall-planted last year. They just can’t help themselves, it’s kind of like the salad bar at the steakhouse. There might be bigger and better things coming, but the deer have to at least have one pass through that young, tender clover and chicory every visit.
Clover is the gift that keeps on giving for another reason–it lasts. My oldest clover plot will be 5 next spring and only then will it be ready for replacement. Spray your clover and keep the grass at bay, mow it, and it’ll just keep doing its thing and that frees up my time for the more work-intensive crops.
2. It isn’t IF it’s going to break. It’s when and do you have the tools to fix it when it does? Food plotting is, essentially, small-scale farming and no matter what equipment you have, something’s going to bust. Sprayers are going to clog, tires are going to go flat, bolts are going to break, spark plugs are going to foul.
When you’re food plotting, you’re usually in a time crunch. Trying to get something planted before it’s too late, trying to spray before it rains tomorrow, and so forth. Equipment breakdowns really hit hard.
This year I proved to myself over and over again the value of having a good set of tools on-site. For example, on one occasion, the lever that controls the 3 point hitch on my tractor actually broke off. Fortunately, I was able to disassemble the dash panel on the old John Deere and we shortened, redrilled, and tapped the old lever. We reinstalled it and the wheels were turning again an hour later (Thanks Tegg!). Without a great set of tools that would not have been possible and it would have cost me a week of much-needed growing time on my biggest brassicas plot.
Then later that same day, I put a rock through the front tire on the same tractor! Luckily the planting was done at this point. Up she went on a jack, gather some big blocks of wood, and both front tires came back to town with me for replacements.
Of course, if you live at your property you have a big advantage in this department. I’m fortunate that I have a pretty safe location so I can leave tools at my property, but if you can’t do that, I’d suggest a couple of tool boxes that stay packed and ready so everything you need gets brought with ever time you go to work.
3. Don’t plant more than the recommended amount of seed per acre! And for cripes sake, know your seeder settings!
This one is especially embarrassing because I tell EVERYONE I sell seed to not to over-plant. Over and over again, I repeat this advice to every customer.
So what did I do to my brassicas plot this year? Well, of course, I planted too much freaking seed in too small of an area!
In my defense, it wasn’t for the usual reasons of not calculating the size of my plot and measuring out the appropriate amount of seed. I laid out too much seed because I bought a new broadcast seeder AFTER I had planted last year’s crop and I mistakenly used the seeder setting from the old seeder when I went to plant this year’s crop with the new unit. Guess what happened? You got it, the old seeder’s setting #7 was equal to the new seeder’s setting #4. I only realized that after making 2 passes and then it was too late.
Don’t be that guy! Calculate your plot area by actually measuring it. Yes! With a tape measure! Not one of us in 100 can accurately look at a plot and estimate acerage to within an acceptable margin. Don’t even try.
I use a shoulder bag broadcast seeder for everything except my biggest plots because it’s reliable and accurate. Yes, it’s more work, but I’ve never made any mistakes. And I’m telling you, even better is to apply at half the recommended rate and go over the plot twice. Had I done that, I would have seen my mistake even with the messed-up setting issue.
I hope you had a great year of managing your property and I hope you can benefit from my learnings.
What did you learn this year?
Grouse
