The Turnip Patch

This past summer I had a suggestion made to me from my hunting mentor who brings wild game for my table, about what I could do with a patch hand seeded a year ago with deer plot products. There were some perennials rooted, but not enough to thwart the weed population that had a good foothold. I am not a proponent of chemical burn down, nor do I wish to plant GMO seeds.

A great organic cultivation method that was implemented to eliminate the biggest share of weeds was super heated, dry soil turned over with a disc once,left to sit a week ,or so before it was disced, and planted with turnips the middle of August.

Two weeks after planting

The plot had previously been used by a cropland renter a few years for a small addition to the adjacent farm field. However, more times than not the crop was pre-harvested by our wandering wildlife. Certainly, no pay back on investment of seed, time, machine fuel, etc...

I didn't find the giant foxtail that proliferated in the patch this past season to be a total detriment to the location.

Observations provided information of deer bedding, trails passing in all directions, and they fed on the sparsely sprouted clovers, knocking down the surrounding foxtail. Having walked the patch many times,and hunting out of the giant  foxtail, I found glacier planted rocks of various sizes scattered over the surface, a few of those were also translocated to facilitate a smoother surface for us two foots to traverse.

Farming over some big buried rocks brought them closer to the surface during tilling.

 I finally  had enough with one that was very evident; so I took some measures to move it totally out of the way.

As I moved the soil around the  perimeter of the rock, the shape reminded me of a tooth.

My mind started playing with the paralells between my activities, with a child's experience of losing their baby teeth. Admittedly the technique I needed was a bit more heavy duty to get the geo-dentistry accomplished. It took a few tugs to get it lifted up and out of the hole.

After I let my mentor know of my accomplishment...he mentioned there was another rock further on that made the disc jump out of place when he was busy tilling. I will look into it next spring when it's time to think about preparations for planting once again.I haven't seen that one yet.

Sadie Says,"Good Crop"!

We haven't had an abundance of moisture, but the turnips have turned out really nice. The variety that was planted is human friendly. I have raided the patch a couple of times for myself, and then a couple of times I found some for people I know who didn't have some to harvest of their own.

Now, the deer and turkeys can join in  harvesting the greens and bulbs to supplement their diets.

Cold temperatures keep popping up. Soon the grass may go dormant, the deer will lose one of their last nitrogen sources that I see them dining on as they eat outside my window. I wish they would pay more attention to it during the summer when I need to mow it to keep it in order. I should be thankful they have a head start on next season.

On our last visit to the "Turnip Patch", I saw evidence of some nibbling going on, an encouraging sign since this would be my first time to have such an opportunity as this to see just how they will react.

Eventually, I want to plant perennial deer plot mixtures in this area.

I have become acquainted with the Whitetail Institute forage products  in my sample plots - the imperial clover and mixtures with clover and alfalfa have been a great draw. This year was the first year that I saw the deer actually pay attention to some chickory...could be it was a source of moisture for which we were greatly lacking.

I am excited to see activity even if it isn't first hand at the moment.

My trail camera has been keeping an eye on another location where another addition to the Timber Life list of animals has made itself visible.Check back for more to be shared on that subject in the future...

Deer Food Plots

Last Summer I planted some sample Deer Plot seeds from the Whitetail Institute of North America.

I prepared my little 10'x10' plots by tilling, adding fertilizer and some quick acting lime since I had already waited one season to get the work done. Talk about anxious to see what they would bring...

The rain had been sparse so the weed populations I wanted to eliminate didn't sprout before planting.They waited until this year 2010, after all the snow and almost non-stop rain to make their appearance. I will have some work to do getting things back in shape, but even with everything not being pristine I have seen the aftermath of grazing. Daytime activity has been limited to mature Does and their fawns; the cover of nighttime allows for a buck or two to visit. The only evidence I've seen of the buck activity is the hoof /dew claw imprints left in the mud.

The pictures posted here were taken September 24th,2009, unless otherwise noted - plants were two months old. A healthy growth after getting some moisture.

 Imperial"Double Cross"

Imperial"Chickory Plus"

Imperial"Clover"  August 31,2009 a month old

Imperial "Chic Magnet"

During the planting stage I placed a 5' tomato cage with 6" openings in the center of my plots monitoring growth compared to feeding activity. In the late Fall the cage in the Chic Magnet plot ended up pulled out and smashed. I can only imagine that it caught a buck's antlers who was after the tender growth in the middle. It didn't really dawn on me until I was taking a walk into the timber via the food plots last winter and saw it laying on the ground covered by snow.

Imperial "Extreme"

Imperial"Alpha Rack Plus"

Imperial "Winter Greens"

Imperial"No Plow"

The No Plow wasn't planted until September 24th, 2009, it didn't have a chance to sprout. I didn't pursue another planting, instead I am grooming the space for a mineral lick using The Original Deer Cane Liquid Ready-To-Use. It has been down for at least a month and no evidence of use has been seen. It has received a lot of rain. Timing may certainly be a consideration in the need for supplementation according to information I located at the Quality Deer Management Association. I am going to wait until next Spring to add anymore supplements, but with the traffic patterns changing due to the  the seasons, they might find it and come back in the future.


I must apologize to Ben G., one year since his comment postings. I was having some pretty long days at the time , my cognitive reasoning was impaired and I removed them from my post. In an attempt to make things right I have kept his second comment to re-post with my update.

Ben G. has left a new comment on your post "My Deer Food Plots are Growing":

This sounds like quite the experiment. I would be curious to see how a plain old alfalfa plot would compare to one of your packets. Any way I look forward to the results.
I'm trying to convince a buddy of mine to do a food plot on his land.

Maybe your results will sway him to plant a plot or two.

So, Ben, were you able to get your buddy to put a food plot on his land?

In summary I would like to increase the areas for food plots. At this point I can see the advantages of having all these that I have planted. However, when I groom my first larger area I believe I will be going with Alpha Rack Plus not far from the mineral lick location...

This is a consumer review of the Whitetail Institute and Deer Cane Products. I will not be receiving any monetary reward for expressing my opinions.

My Deer Food Plots are Growing

At the Iowa Deer Classic 2008,I had the opportunity to visit with representatives of several companies that provide their own seed blends for us to plant to provide increased nutrition for the deer we hunt. The company I chose is WHITETAIL INSTITUTE , because they provided small seed packets that plant 10'x 10' plots. In my need to know, I wanted to see what blend the deer in my neighborhood would show the most interest in eating. I have planted 6 of 7 packets I received. Last summer I staked out my plots and used my brushcutter/weedwhacker to keep the surface clean of weeds and grass. This summer I was able to get the ground tilled, fertilizer and lime added. The plots sat for several months so I could follow the suggested Fall planting schedule since I missed the Spring deadlines. I applied a quick lime since I didn't have a full season to let the regular lime sit and become an active ingredient immediately to make a difference in the health of the crop. The NO PLOW packet is the last one I have left to do...I am working on an area right off the yard, south of the new house we are building. I want to be able to watch the deer from the kitchen sink, patio, family and utility rooms. I plan to spend a lot of time in the family room in the winter since that is where the fireplace will be...NO television, but sitting arrangements strategically placed for enjoying the views,reading, or knitting. When I cultivated my present little plots, I didn't take into account the lack of windows I will have facing in that direction. Now,I will need to get my trail cameras working to catch whatever deer traffic passes by these little tasty treats. Pondering my dilemma, I mentioned it to hubby, and he said we could plant a big deer plot in the pasture to the West of our house if I wanted to next year. It was definitely a surprise to me! A much welcomed chance to see what kind of animals we have wandering the timber through the summer... ;) Next Post : Deer Plot Progress