Spot not accessable by machinery.

[loneranger]

Say,,You knowledge filled food plot people,,I have about a quarter acre of area down by a creek, I have been round-up,ing weeds out of last fall and this spring. I had frost seeded some clover on it some yrs ago. This late summer, what can I plant with few tools. Is there any alternative to the "No Till" bagged stuff? Or is that about the best?Thanks,

 

[Daver]

Can you get an ATV to it? If so, you could disc/drag it and still plant clover or brassicas. Although I have not yet planted ay quantity of rye, my understanding from others on this site is that it grows readily and it may be an option to try too.

 

[dbltree]

If you keep nuking it with RUP eventually your going to end up with a pretty bare soil surface.

Best bet is to scratch it up with something as Daver mentioned but you can get away with nothing more then your sprayer if need be.

Brassicas can be seeded onto bare soil and they will germinate provided we get rain...no problem now but in late July to mid August when they should be seeded...rain can be scarce.

For a fall planting I would...

spray periodically, watch the weather for a high chance of rain in late summer and surface seed brassicas or

wait a little closer to September and surface seed oats, rye or wheat (or a mix)

You can also seed the grains into the brassicas if they don't come up as thick as you hope.

In late winter you can frost seed clover and chicory again.

More n one way to skin a cat!

 

[loneranger]

tHANKS FOR THE ADVICE! I can't get any kind of vehicle there so a rake is it. I'll try what you said come fall.

 

[Daver]

Speaking of raking an inaccessible spot... (confession time)

I once had my 2 sons and 4 of their friends rake an area much like what you are describing for the same reasons you list. We were having a campout at our farm and I put them to work for an hour and got the whole looking sharp, without any machines!!

You may just need to schedule a campout at your place or something like that.

Oh, the resulting food plot... my son shot one of his deer out of it this past fall. I reminded him about the rake job the previous spring and asked if it was worth it now...he just smiled a big smile.

This year though... I have an ATV and can get to it nicely with that and have already dragged it and planted it. It doesn't take much an opening to get an ATV in there.

 

[FarmlandQDM]

[ QUOTE ]
I have about a quarter acre of area down by a creek, I have been round-up,ing weeds out of last fall and this spring. I had frost seeded some clover on it some yrs ago. This late summer, what can I plant with few tools. Is there any alternative to the "No Till" bagged stuff? Or is that about the best?Thanks,

[/ QUOTE ]

With a creek along one side to use as a firebreak, I would do a prescribed fire in August and then broadcast rye the day you burn after the area has cooled. The photos below are from a mature stand of mostly tall fescue we burned last July.

We then hand seeded german millet onto the black area the same day of the burn. By September there was a great stand of millet.

No herbicide was used, the fire provided the fertilizer, and the result was a very cheap, simple and affective foodplot. Our objective was to provide a foodplot/coverplot for quail but you could do exactly the same thing in the location you described for deer by broadcasting rye.

Use the creek as a firebreak for one side and handrake or leaf blow your firelines in the timber outside the perimeter of your small opening. Your local county conservation board likely has a few backpack water squirters you can borrow if you feel they are needed, if they don't, buy a couple cheap handheld herbicide sprayers at Wal-Mart and fill them with water and a little dish soap.

Fire is a great tool for habitat management if you know how to use it.

 

[Daver]

Wow, great idea there Farmland and nice execution too. I have never even thought of planting German Millet before, but I would definitely be interested in doing more to spur the quail on my place. Is this an expensive seed, did you just broadcast the seed on the scorched ground or in some way drill it or till it in, etc?

Does the German Millet also benefit turkeys and/or deer? I am sure if it was a quail helper that the pheasants would appreciate it too.

 

[dbltree]

Great idea Rob!

I always forget about the "fire option" but it's a good one for sure.

German millet isn't very expensive if I remember right Dave...cheap way to enhance your quail habitat for sure!