Let's get this season started!! This past weekend my wife Terry and I headed down to the farm. Jenna had a wedding to attend and work and Allen was lucky enough to have things going on as well as doggy duty. We both took Friday off and headed down early Friday morning. The plan was to get everything unloaded as necessary and then hit the fields mowing paths and spraying. Naturally I didn't test out my sprayer before we got down there, it's only a year old and it should work right? Nope. Had everything set up and decided to flip the switch with just water in it to test and only got a dribble. Tore the pump apart and all the baffles had puckered up and warped, likely from not doing a good enough job cleaning it out with fresh water last season. So we headed to TSC in Athens where they had no parts and new pumps that were in stock were over $100 
. A call to Rural King in Parkersburg confirmed parts and a good selection of pumps in stock. We met up with my sister, who recently moved into her new apartment, and took her for a ride to complete our mission. Go figure the day was essentially wasted but it was a good day visiting and eating dinner together.
Terry and I got up at a decent time on Saturday and made our way to the S end of the farm. The plan was to have her cut paths while I ran out and sprayed the first plot. Of course since we hadn't been there in a couple months everything was a jungle and we had a decent tree down over the main path. Chainsaw did a good job chunking it out of the way and as I continued to head to the first plot I decided to just lead the way for Terry to cut as I had to stop and cut back briars most of the way. Finally we finished the path out to the pines so we headed over to the Sanctuary Plot to spray it. Sunday we seeded it with brassicas and clovers/alfalfa mix and topped it off with T19 and lime. I decided not to mow the plot and let the dying thatch cover the seed.
Next plot was the Old Saw plot, due to an old sawmill (remnants) being there. Sprayed it Saturday and then on Sunday we planted the exact same thing only I added some winter wheat, winter rye and barley. I have high hopes for this plot getting it in earlier than last year. Fingers crossed! Again, this field we did not mow and hope the dying thatch holds in that moisture.
Third plot we sprayed on Saturday is a new one. I will call it the Tractor Path plot as it sits up above the path leading into the big holla. I't small, maybe 30 ft. x 40 ft. but I think it will just give them a little extra browse near bedding. Sunday we planted it with the winter wheat, winter rye, barley and added a decent amount of soybeans. Hopefully the thatch here isn't too thick to allow all that seed to reach the ground. We ran over it many times to really try and pack it all down without mowing.
Fourth plot is the Old Corral Plot and was my project I had really hoped to get in, it's in an old corral area behind our barns. Once we got there on Saturday I decided we had better mow this first. The thatch was so incredibly thick with grasses and I felt with what I intended on planting I had better knock it down first. I sprayed after hoping the grass left and all the rest would still soak up the chemicals. Sunday we planted this with the winter wheat, winter rye, barley, soybeans and added the clovers/alfalfa mix. This plot I really believe we can hunt in almost any wind direction as there are perfect spots for pop up blinds on both E and W sides as well as treestand locations to the N near some thick bedding. Once I got done running all over it you could not see a single seed or soybean for that matter so I really think this one will work. I'm praying so anyway!
Fifth plot I had planned to put in is Allen's Corner, where he has his treestand set up and I had planted last year. The plot worked well for what it was last year but as I got in there I noticed the farmer had gotten a lot further into the corner leaving us less area to work with. Planned to do it so we did it but it may work out better than I had thought. As I sprayed Saturday I noticed there were some gaps in the corn right there. Sunday when we got there to plant I confirmed there were a few good openings where rows got real wide and some seed had not grown. So there are brassicas (only) planted here and into the corn. I've had success with doing that in the past and as the farmer cuts the brassicas usually bounce back OK. We shall see though. You can see Allen's treestand in the background here.
. A call to Rural King in Parkersburg confirmed parts and a good selection of pumps in stock. We met up with my sister, who recently moved into her new apartment, and took her for a ride to complete our mission. Go figure the day was essentially wasted but it was a good day visiting and eating dinner together.Terry and I got up at a decent time on Saturday and made our way to the S end of the farm. The plan was to have her cut paths while I ran out and sprayed the first plot. Of course since we hadn't been there in a couple months everything was a jungle and we had a decent tree down over the main path. Chainsaw did a good job chunking it out of the way and as I continued to head to the first plot I decided to just lead the way for Terry to cut as I had to stop and cut back briars most of the way. Finally we finished the path out to the pines so we headed over to the Sanctuary Plot to spray it. Sunday we seeded it with brassicas and clovers/alfalfa mix and topped it off with T19 and lime. I decided not to mow the plot and let the dying thatch cover the seed.
Next plot was the Old Saw plot, due to an old sawmill (remnants) being there. Sprayed it Saturday and then on Sunday we planted the exact same thing only I added some winter wheat, winter rye and barley. I have high hopes for this plot getting it in earlier than last year. Fingers crossed! Again, this field we did not mow and hope the dying thatch holds in that moisture.
Third plot we sprayed on Saturday is a new one. I will call it the Tractor Path plot as it sits up above the path leading into the big holla. I't small, maybe 30 ft. x 40 ft. but I think it will just give them a little extra browse near bedding. Sunday we planted it with the winter wheat, winter rye, barley and added a decent amount of soybeans. Hopefully the thatch here isn't too thick to allow all that seed to reach the ground. We ran over it many times to really try and pack it all down without mowing.
Fourth plot is the Old Corral Plot and was my project I had really hoped to get in, it's in an old corral area behind our barns. Once we got there on Saturday I decided we had better mow this first. The thatch was so incredibly thick with grasses and I felt with what I intended on planting I had better knock it down first. I sprayed after hoping the grass left and all the rest would still soak up the chemicals. Sunday we planted this with the winter wheat, winter rye, barley, soybeans and added the clovers/alfalfa mix. This plot I really believe we can hunt in almost any wind direction as there are perfect spots for pop up blinds on both E and W sides as well as treestand locations to the N near some thick bedding. Once I got done running all over it you could not see a single seed or soybean for that matter so I really think this one will work. I'm praying so anyway!
Fifth plot I had planned to put in is Allen's Corner, where he has his treestand set up and I had planted last year. The plot worked well for what it was last year but as I got in there I noticed the farmer had gotten a lot further into the corner leaving us less area to work with. Planned to do it so we did it but it may work out better than I had thought. As I sprayed Saturday I noticed there were some gaps in the corn right there. Sunday when we got there to plant I confirmed there were a few good openings where rows got real wide and some seed had not grown. So there are brassicas (only) planted here and into the corn. I've had success with doing that in the past and as the farmer cuts the brassicas usually bounce back OK. We shall see though. You can see Allen's treestand in the background here.
