I've been on a similar program with my lawn maintenance. I always mulch especially in the Fall when the leaves are falling. I've read a good bit about this on other websites like Dirt Doctor. They were adamantly opposed to chemical fertilizers stating that they killed the helpful microbes in the soil. I'm assuming the same holds true here?

Our biggest field at the hunting club stays fairly wet and its been one of our best plots…..the clover does especially well there. I don’t know if its wet to the point you are dealing with but when my buddy use to hunt the land years ago he would have years when it was too wet to plant in this field. We planted it last year in the rain using throw and mow. Had you been trying to till that day it would have been a mud bog.

How long can the soil stay wet and the microbes still live?

How big is the field that you're talking about?

I’m not sure.



The field here at my home property is a little over 2 acres and the big field at the hunting club is a little over 3. Everything else is 1 acre or less.

I might throw this out there too. Aside from the benefits in soil fertility……this type of approach to food plotting makes fall planting much, much simpler. I’m sure there are several on here that can attest to that after this last fall. Cereal grains and clovers work very well with throw and mow.

CNC you said you put out 50 lbs of 33-0-0 at planting and 100 lbs six weeks later. Do you mean product/acre or lbs nitrogen/acre? Or is that all the fertilizer you applied?

What are the Spring clovers to sow? Crimson? Aren't the perennial whites best to frost seed in the Fall? White Dutch is pretty cheap and does well here.

Yes and no……They’re correct in that chemical fertilizers likely have a negative effect on some of the natural processes that we’re trying to produce with microbes and such. However, its not feasible to think that you can take a field we’ve been tilling and using synthetic fertilizers on for years and just go cold turkey without them through the use of cover crops. There’s just nothing there in the soil to fuel those crops in the beginning. It’s got to be a gradual reduction of inputs over time as the soil becomes more fertile. I still don’t know if we’ll ever be able to completely wean off of N if we want to produce the kinds of winter yields many of us need on small acreage to keep up with browsing. It’ll likely always be a little bit of a balancing act for us between different philosophies.

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CNC. I agree with most of what you have to say but will have to disagree with you on this. I've gone cold turkey on traditional fertilizers the last three years and I have healthier better looking plots than ever. I use mostly sea minerals, but have also put out raw non pasturized milk, and will be using worm tea this year as well. This method focuses on feeding and growing the microbe population in the soil and letting them feed the plants. And a side benefit is that it cost a lot less as well.

This was taken 1/16. It's had less than 100lbs of traditional fertilizer in total the last 3 years. It is also a throw and mow plot of oats.

New to the throw N mow,and have a few questions for the experts... studying up now for fall planting. I'm going to use cereal rye,oats,crimson clover,and trying to decide on which of these to add rape,turnips,or radishes.
I'm also wondering seed rate (lbs.) per acre for each to use for this method.
From the other thread I noticed it was as simple as the name suggests (throw N mow) but can I spray say a few weeks prior of throw N mow? What is you suggestions on this? I don't like weeds.

I’m all for mimicking natural processes as much as possible and weaning off synthetics. I haven’t tried any of the things you mentioned but wouldn’t be opposed to testing them. Have you sent in any soil samples to see how these products effect your nutrients, pH, etc???

I'm fixing to send in my samples before spring, but I test the BRIX level of my plants, which is a very good indicator of the health of the plant. If you have a high BRIX you are doing something right...mine still has room to get better but it's probably higher than most folks who use traditional fertilizers even though their plots may be really pretty and green, which doesn't always tell the whole story. If your BRIX is high they will walk across your neighbors to eat yours. Checking the BRIX is really testing the soluble sugar content of the plant which is directly related to it's health. It's a really good and simple way to check the quality of your plots.