Growing stuff with little time, some equipment, and no experience..

[LiftAndShoot]

Hey GS -

So, here's the thing - several times over my GS history (since moving out here and getting entrenched in my FIL/Family property) I have lamented my inability to be down at the property, hunt, etc. Having my first daughter, and then 11 months later having my second - working full time (so does my wife), long work commutes, and the property being a 1.5+ hr drive - none of it has helped. But, in the last handful of months things have settled down. My work implemented flex time, I've trimmed other hobbies, my FIL is a bachelor again - all this lead to the wife and I having some heart-to-hearts about my hobbies and the necessity of keeping up with the family place. Punchline is - my availability is going up. Not hugely, but more of a 1x/week for the foreseeable future in terms of can-get-there.

Now, why did I bore you with that preamble? Well, I've been talking to my FIL a lot about his designs and what I'm allowed to do/not do down there. And, generally speaking, as long as I'm not interrupting his plans, he couldn't care less. Told me today - 'Pick any field or fields you want. I'm not planting anything - go nuts.'

I've kind of fallen in love with all of the potential of the place. We've cut ponds that now have tons of catfish and koy (some bass). We've put up feeders and stands, we run game cams. It's awesome. What I'd really like to do is learn the art and science of planting and growing...something. I don't care if it's cotton, corn, alfalfa - anything that can put value back into the property in terms of fun or keeping the cycle going. My problem is - I know exactly jack diddly about planting or whatnot.

So, what I'm working with - we already covered the time. In terms of space - I think I have upwards of 8 acres to play with. Not all of it is connected, but that's how much I'd have ready access to. For gear, we have a 28hp kubota tractor with a front bucket, a 95hp kubota with a bat wing, a zero turn of some variety, a large-class CAT Exc., a 2 seat gator, and a bunch of other small stuff. The property sits on a major non-seasonal creek that we use to pump water into the ponds, so water is available, if tough/expensive to reroute.

Budget - that one is a little tricky. My FIL tends to bankroll a lot of projects. He wont just outright pay for something he doesn't care about, but I can usually loop him into some new gear or idea if he thinks he can get involved or whatever. I don't have a lot of money but I am obviously not unwilling to spend some on whatever I might need.

That's where my 'haves' run out. Knowledge is my biggest gap. Now, anyone who works for me knows I have a philosophy - don't just come to me with a problem. Have at least an idea of what you think you should do - if it's wrong, good on you for trying and I'll try to coach you out of it. So, my thought would be - first, get soil from the individual fields tested to find out what I'm dealing with. Then, cut them as low as I can with the bat wing. THEN, go through and...spray the fields? Round-Up the whole area? After the test and the kill-off, I should have a field ready for whatever the soil supplement I need in terms of making them ready to receive what I want to plant.

So, where did I go wrong? What am I missing that is absolutely necessary (knowledge notwithstanding) and what is wrong with my assumed plan? Obviously a million things could go wrong. But, I'm trying to organize it in my head. Also, a bunch of steps down the road, but if you were starting, or restarting to learn planting fields and had a deer-habitat property (it's also just rife with hogs) - what would you do in terms of grow-stuff-that's-idiot-proof?

Alright - hit me with the good, the bad, and the ugly..

LaS.

[Drycreek3189]

Your plan, as far as it goes, is good. If it were me, I would research what varieties of food plots that I wanted to plant in what location. After your soil test, apply whatever amenities the test suggests, disc them in, seed at the prescribed rates, and pray for rain. It’s a little more complicated than that, but all you need to know won’t be learned in a few posts on here. Hell, I’ve been plotting for 15 years and I’m still learning, I hope ! Peruse the QDMA website for more info on food plots and specific crops.

I should add that if you put lime in the ground today it wouldn’t change your ph much for 4 to 6 months. Just pick out a few spots to plant Elbon rye or wheat in for this fall. You can get your feet wet with that.

[newmathewsfan]

If you only have 8 acres or so to work with, there probably isn’t much opportunity for a crop of anything that will pay worth a darn. If it was mine to work with, I’d sow wheat/oats in the fall/winter and probably put it in hay grazer in the summer. The winter wheat serves 2 purposes, food plot for deer and then you can always cut and bale it in the spring. Hay grazer would serve as a money crop if you sell the hay as well. Fertilizer and rain are essential for much success though.

[LiftAndShoot]

If you only have 8 acres or so to work with, there probably isn’t much opportunity for a crop of anything that will pay worth a darn. If it was mine to work with, I’d sow wheat/oats in the fall/winter and probably put it in hay grazer in the summer. The winter wheat serves 2 purposes, food plot for deer and then you can always cut and bale it in the spring. Hay grazer would serve as a money crop if you sell the hay as well. Fertilizer and rain are essential for much success though.

Great stuff from both, and I appreciate it. I think I mislead when I said, 'put value back in.' There's no desire to 'make money' by learning and by doing, here. Planting the fields would serve to do something like...provide something I could cut and bale (like your example) to feed to the property animals. That kind of thing.

[MRWHITE87]

MILES! As often as I've been to the ranch its crazy I meet you here. Shoot me a PM. I've had the feeder by the fish shack up and running for a few weeks now, and hope to get that little plot just west of the "road" to the creek sprayed dead for a fall planting in the next couple weeks.
If we can get coordinated, that place can be a HAVEN in mo time!

[Killer]

Don't go exotic with your seeds on your first food plot go with the standbys; Wheat, oats and clover.
You can not go wrong with these. Put out a complete fertilizer after you get it up.

The things most important in a food plot:

1. good seed bed
2. good seed
3. proper seed depth
4. planting right time and/or rain
5. fertilizer and soil ph
6. rain

If you get those right somthing will come up.

[LiftAndShoot]

MILES! As often as I've been to the ranch its crazy I meet you here. Shoot me a PM. I've had the feeder by the fish shack up and running for a few weeks now, and hope to get that little plot just west of the "road" to the creek sprayed dead for a fall planting in the next couple weeks.
If we can get coordinated, that place can be a HAVEN in mo time!

Levi! I didn't know you were around here! I assumed you didn't bowhunt. If anyone remembers any of my rants, Levi is the guy that I don't actually mind being down at my FIL's place because...you know..he works.

I sent you a PM.

For others; I have the steps outlined that I think is the right way to go, but there is a LOT of vegetation in the fields I want to plant. So - how do you actually cut and clear down to the dirt? What I mean is, if I weed-kill the whole field, what equipment do I/we need to get the deadfall out of the field?

[Razrbk89]

For others; I have the steps outlined that I think is the right way to go, but there is a LOT of vegetation in the fields I want to plant. So - how do you actually cut and clear down to the dirt? What I mean is, if I weed-kill the whole field, what equipment do I/we need to get the deadfall out of the field?

Spray it, wait a few days for it to dry out some, then disc a pass or two around the outside of the field. Light a fire against the wind and watch it burn.

Burning it off makes it much faster/easier to turn over if its really grown up.

[texas shag]

ready El Gatos (Rusty's) thread "a year in the life of a farm" on this sub-forum. Place aside about 6 hours to read through the whole thing. Rusty has imparted so much knowledge about food plotting and managing a property on that thread, you will likely have your first 20 questions answered by simply reading it.