No Till Food Plots - So Easy

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Running Vitalize is a true blessing - the reason?! The friends we had made along the way. Mr. Tim has been a customer from day 1. He is a massive supporter and friend as well. I couldn’t be more thankful to have him as a customer but more so, as a friend. Congratulations on an absolute Ohio slammer!!

 

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Merry Christmas!

A life without grief would produce love without meaning. Hug, kiss, and tell your loved ones you truly love them.

Please enjoy this Christmas with your friends and families. Food plots, cover crops, gardens, and fields will be ready for us again this spring. For the next few days, truly focus on what matters most. Family, faith, good food, and plenty of laughter.

Wishing you peace, joy, and a very Merry Christmas.

 

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Grandpap was 87 here and still is a fantastic memory for me. And every bit of the man I still try to live up to today.

Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to donate several acres worth of Vitalize Seed to an organization out of Missouri that helps elderly individuals who can no longer easily enjoy the outdoors.

With full support from my partner Jared Michael, we provided the seed, covered the shipping, and asked for nothing in return other than to be kept in the loop.

Recently, they shared this podcast episode with me and spent time explaining what the program truly is and what it means to the people they serve.

What came back has been a blessing.

Hearing that several folks were able to harvest what may very well have been their last whitetail deer over a Vitalize Seed food plot hit me in a way I did not expect. I have found myself holding back emotion just typing this, especially this time of year.

I cannot help but picture the old man in this photo, my Grandpap, looking down and smiling. Thinking about how proud he would be. We were blessed to get him on several hunts toward the end. We never brought home venison, but we brought home something far more important: memories, time, and moments that last forever.

Thank you to Rod and the entire team for what you do. And thank you for the opportunity for us to give back.

This group does not house people as a place to die; they house them as a place to continue living.

Thank you for reading. God bless, and enjoy the start to this new year.

Link to podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-the-dream-outdoors/id1547204718?i=1000742567152

 

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This was a really fun project I did this past year and it absolutely blew me away!

 

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At Vitalize Seed, we’re big believers in frost seeding and diversity. One of my favorite strategies is frost seeding our Annual Clover into heavily browsed or hammered Carbon Load plots. I also love using Premium Clover+ as a frost seed option over already established clover and chicory stands.

Annual clovers bring a lot to the table: rapid establishment, aggressive early growth, strong and fibrous root systems, excellent browseability, weed suppression, and nitrogen fixation. That fast growth helps protect soil and compete with weeds while slower-establishing perennials get their footing. As the annuals naturally fade out, you’re often left with a cleaner, healthier perennial clover stand underneath.

In diverse systems, clovers can also benefit neighboring crops by sharing nitrogen that was biologically fixed. This transfer happens after browsing, clipping, root turnover, and through microbial and fungal pathways in the soil. That nitrogen is primarily in organic forms, meaning soil biology has to do the work of converting it into plant-available nutrition.

When soil biology is active, this process can significantly reduce the need for additional fertilizer while supporting a lush, resilient food plot or cover crop.

 

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There is always a risk of leaving gaps in a clover stand.

I frost seed our Annual Clover mix to fill gaps in annual plantings like Carbon Load (I only do this on the most poor soils and or when Carbon Load has been browsed extremely hard due to proximity to bedding). It keeps coverage tight and growth moving forward after winter and browse pressure.

I use Premium Clover+ in orchards, bee and pollinator patches, and clover and chicory food plots to keep perennial clover flourishing year after year.

Same concept. Different tools. Always filling the gaps.

 

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Why biology beats blanket NPK

Many traditional fertilizers like 13-13-13 rely on highly soluble nutrient salts. When we say salt, we are not talking about table salt. In chemistry, a salt is a nutrient made of positively and negatively charged ions. The key difference is solubility. Fertilizer salts dissolve quickly into the soil solution, creating high ionic concentrations that can interfere with water and nutrient uptake at the root surface and, in some cases, disrupt normal root exchange and exudation with the surrounding biology.

This is very different from materials like lime (even though lime is technically a salt by chemistry definition), which dissolve slowly and help buffer the soil rather than force nutrient uptake.

No Till Nurture works differently. It supplies nutrients in organic and biological forms, includes humic compounds that help stimulate microbial activity, improve nutrient retention, and support soil structure and water holding capacity. As microbes mineralize nutrients, plants access what they need without relying on high salt concentrations.

Because nutrients are held in organic and biological forms, there is also a heavily reduced risk of volatilization and erosion losses compared to surface applied, highly soluble synthetic fertilizers.

Salt fertilizers rely on concentration to drive uptake. Biological systems rely on exchange.

Small amounts feeding the soil system outperform high salt rates fighting the soil.

Healthier soil supports stronger roots and better performance all season long.

 

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Successional planting works because balance, timing, and continuity matter.

1. Nitro Boost starts the system.
Fast-growing legumes and companion species establish quickly, fix nitrogen, and release root exudates that activate soil biology.

2. Carbon Load follows to balance the system.
Diverse fall species add carbon, protect the soil surface, and create the carbon-to-nitrogen ratios microbes need to function efficiently through fall and winter.

That stored carbon fuels microbial activity, improves residue breakdown, and supports the next Nitro Boost planting.

As this system repeats year after year, soils shift.
Carbon inputs and living roots increasingly favor fungal relationships, improving nutrient solubility, nutrient uptake, soil aggregation, and drought resistance.

Succession and soil building aren’t a single planting.

They’re a long-term strategy to increase fertility and create resilient, high-performing, high-quality soils.

This approach scales across row crops, food plots, gardens, and pastures by aligning species selection, fertility management, and residue management with long-term goals.