^^^^^^^

Just called Farmer's Feed in Montgomery......They're located just south of the bypass as soon as you turn onto 331. They have Elbon rye for $12 per bag....if you buy a ton or more it goes down to $11.

That’s the big field way back there in the back of the pic. This is a lane leading to the big field. Walk right here please ……….

I see some Lickcreek philosophies going on here.

A big helping of Lickcreek mixed with a side of dgallow and sprinkled over the top with a dusting of BSK……….Heck, you may even catch a hint of some Don Higgins in there from time to time.

The current topic be……”Improving Huntability”…….There’s principalities in this Smokey!

Im glad you spoke up about that they killed my other prices.

Harold, you can't show pictures like that without the recipe. I just ate a pear from one of my tree's at break while ago, fine eating.

I did show the recipe....little bit of this, little bit of that....adjust to taste as you go. There was no measuring in the making of these pears.....

One thing I like to do is not cook the pears to mush. I like for them to still have a light crunch to them. The amount of sugar just depends on how sweet you like them and how heavy you want the syrup to be. You don't add any water to them....there's a ton in the fruit that cooks out. Once it gets going, simmer it with the lid off to cook some of the water off and then start adding sugar to sweeten and make the syrup. That little bit of sugar you see in the pic is not all I added. It was just the little I added to get it started. Slowly simmer and cook them down to desired texture. A dash of the three spices I showed makes it start smelling like Christmas. Go easy on the cloves.

Is Wintergrazer 70 cereal rye, as opposed to ryegrass? I wasn't sure.

Yes, wintergrazer 70 rye is cereal rye. That's Penningtons brand.

Thanks for the help.

No problem.

Time Lapse on Day 9…………

Looking good!

I'll PM you my address for some of those pears!

Thanks!....I don't think my boys will let me give any of the pears away. They said that was some good stuff.....almost as good as Nana's.

CNC,

About to try your T&M for one of my plots. Question is - what's the seed rate you use? I posted a pic of the field above. Do T&M patches need more seed because of less germination? Also, that patch (pictures above) has grown up a good bit since that photo. I may disk it to break the soil and need to go back over it with a bush hog to make sure all the vegetation is cut into a thatch. Does that sound reasonable? Thanks.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I think you already know this but I would just disk it lightly knowing that you’re only trying to break that surface crust and not necessarily trying to turn the vegetation under. You could probably just broadcast your cereal grains before you did anything and then come back once you’ve done the disking and mowing and come over the top with any little seed and fert. You may not need to mow at all after pulling a disk over it. It will probably lay most of the vegetation down pretty well and create your surface thatch. You might could pull a drag across it again afterwards if you think it would help the seed bed.

I don’t add any more seed than normal but my soil is in a well conditioned state now. For someone just starting with less than ideal conditions….it may be best to up the rate a little for poor germination. I’d use 100 lbs/ac of cereal grains as a baseline…..That’s what I plant most of my areas in. This year I’ve went back and added a little more to certain areas of the field that I know get more browsing pressure. The back corner where deer enter the field the most gets absolutely hammered. I upped the seeding rate in that corner. I also added a little more to areas where water has a tendency to start flowing if we ever get heavy rains.

I have sprayed fields 4 weeks ago and got a good kill, except blackberry briars are yellowed. If the seed doesn't make dirt contact, but lays on top of dead weeds, will they still germinate?

No, not really…..For best results you really need the seed right down on the soil surface or very, very close. Seeds have a little bit of stored energy in them and as long as they stay moist they’ll send out a little root searching for a place to take hold. You don’t want that little root to have to search very far. I broadcast clover and brassicas over the top of thatch because they're so small that the rain will work them down to the soil. Cereal grain though really need to be placed under the thatch somehow. It’s not hard to do though. Even if you already have thatch on the ground….a drag of some kind is enough to agitate seed down into it and get it covered over.

On a side note to this conversation……one of the benefits of not tilling is that you leave old root systems in place from the last crop that the new seedling roots can follow down into the ground. It’s easier for them and takes less energy to follow the old root channels than for them to forge new ones. These channels are also lined with decomposing OM and nutrients…….You don’t have to “break the soil up” when roots have already done it for you. One of the main foundation principles of soil health is keeping a living root growing. They serve a purpose sort of like the 2X4 studs in your walls…..They help maintain the structure of the soil and the “tilth”. Soil is not meant to be a tightly compacted together wad. It’s supposed to be porous….

They'll sprout, but wont grow and then die, but guys the rain will wash the seed to the dirt. I didn't even drag over my fields this year. I sprayed about 3 weeks in advance and the grass laid over and was pretty thick. I was worried I messed up, but I spread my seed and the seed made its way thru the thatch to the soil. There was some that didn't but I knew the rain would wash the other to the soil. I'll try and take some pictures and get CNC to post them