Hey guys, After I saw someone post a link to greencoverseed.com I was playing around with a mix and now I am wondering what you guys would suggest. I am looking for a clover mix with a wheat oat or rye cover until the clover establishes. I would also like the option to add rape/turnips either at the initial planting or broadcast into the standing plot in late summer. Any suggestions on specific types of seed to put into this mix? Has anything worked really well for you? Thanks
I put out winter rye with WI Chicory Plus (clover and chicory) in August last year. The Rye took off but as soon as the deer found it they mowed it down. The clover also came in but neither sky rocketed because of the lack of rain. I ammended soil based on test etc... It did well but it's a mud pit because the deer have eaten anything green in the plot. Hopefully the clover and chicory bounce back this spring Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've tried brassicas three years in a row now and the deer don't touch them. Pretty sure I'm going to take them out of any mixes I do from here on out. Consider throwing some peas in there too. I put some 4010 peas in my blend last summer and the deer absolutely hammered them. I am going to be planting them a lot thicker this year in a winter wheat, winter rye blend I think.
The deer hammer our brassicas every year before they really get established Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've got a neighbor that says the same thing, even though he shot our biggest buck two years ago. He planted sugar beets last fall and liked them better. I planted turnips three hundred yards west of his pasture and deer hammered them. Go figure, lol.
I figured after year one that they just didn't have the time to establish and figure out what they were. Year two I was getting a little frustrated because that's what the great majority of the mix was and still no dice. Last year I didn't plant as much expecting year two results again and sure enough, ate everything around the brassicas. Think i'll stick with small grains, peas and clover for now. They're easier to care for (kill, till, etc.,.) the following year anyhow. Sorry for the sidetrack.
For you guys that plant brassicas, have you ever spring planted them? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How does a good clover plot compare as a deep winter plot compared to turnips/radishes/rape? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They spend far less time in the lush vegetative state, preferred as graze forage and go into reproductive state where they shoot out a large single chute that flowers and produces seed. As far as forage, I'd say if the turnip mix was rated as an 8/10 then the clover would rate a 6.5/10. In late winter both will frost burn down but the brassica mix will generally have bulbs available and the rape is about as cold hardy as anything.
I have 2.5 acres to deal with and I would like a optimize the seed as much as possible so there is an early season food source and a winter food source which hopefully lasts until spring (hopefully) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There's a black forage soybean that would work well. Along about the end of august you could walk through and broadcast a brassica mix with bob oats or winter wheat or cereal rye and an annual clover. The beans will still be a part of the winter food source that way if they don't get eradicated by deer by then.
