Anyone started......

[msbadger]

Their food plots?...this year I have to scale back a bit due to time and the land deal.....but I had purchased more than enough seed from my seed guy and will be doing some planting...right now when the snow is melted and we are having some extreme frost heaving I start laying down lime....it naturally gets worked into soil and because we are having little rain with no snow melt run off I'm not losing it to either such run off....this gives me a little head start on the late spring plantings...seeing it takes time for the lime to "bind" with the soil and raise the PH.....

[buckhunter21]

Nope not yet but I'm getting antsy.  I'm in west-central WI so have to wait a couple more months here.  I have everything ready and good to go though for the most part...Just have to finalize a couple plots and pin-point what exactly I'm going to plant for sure.  Probably going to frost-seed in late march/early April sometime with some clover.  Has anyone ever done this?  First time for this guy! 
 
How big of plots does everyone have and what do they plant?  Also, where are these located (as far as midwest, south, etc.)?

[Jdbllung]

Haven't started yet, I'm waiting for my soil samples to come back on a new area I gained access last season.  I have to dig a trench to divert some water first off, then worry about everything else.

[whubbard]

Actually disked up my annual plots last week.  Few things in the off season get me as pumped and excited as working my land for whitetail habitat.  I actually picture myself perched over each field at full draw while planting them.  So much fun, it never feels like work.

[DeanoZ]

Nope...still got snow on the ground in Northern Vermont.  But ya'll just rmeinded me I need to get a soil sample and get it analyzed before I do anything else!

[deerdown]

Still too much snow and frost unfortunately.  2-3 months away B4 we can start to do much here in Northern Ontario.  Myself and a buddy are going to try and do some frost seeding for the first time this year as well.  From my understanding in our neck of the woods clover has the best success rate in this type of seeding.  Hopefully it works out farily well.  I am going to try and frost seed into a cut hayfield to get some more legume content in their for the deer as an extra to the plots.
 
We planted 2 separate plots last year for the first time and had some pretty good success and fun!  Higher ground plot (1 acre) was planted with soybean and bottom land plot (1/2 acre) with wintergreens.  Beans did quite well but wintergreens could have been better .. only about 1/3 of the seed we put down really took off.  It was a very wet summer / spring so I'm not losing faith in them yet.   Planning on trying some more brassicas this spring and beans again for sure.  Also going to give 2 seed blends from backyardwildlife a try .. mix of perennial and annuals type deal.
 
Getting anxious!

[buckhunter21]

deerdown, i've always wondered how wintergreens 'took' since i was thinking of planting them this year or next.  do you think it had to do with the wet spring?

[Demoderby4]

Im relatively new to the whole food plot thing, i have learned a lot from a few guys and gals on here! But what do u guys mean frost planting seeds? Prob a newbie question [:D] but just thought i would ask!

[buckhunter21]

Hey no worries that's what we're here for!
 
Frost seeding is basically a non-traditional way of seeding an area without the use of the traditional equipment.  For us in the north, you basically wait till the time in the spring when you get that freeze and thaw thing going on...Usually when the snow is off before it starts to warm up.  From what I understand this will only work well with seed that just requires just  the minimal amount of soil to seed contact (clovers work well, etc...I don't believe it would work very well with corn, oats, and any other seed that needs to be planted an inch or two down).  Basically, you spread it on the ground where you want to seed (usually a plot that is already there, but I've heard you can do it on a new plot as well, but it may not produce as well since sometimes it needs that traditional equipment to get started).  By the motion of the ground freezing and thawing, it opens up holes and cracks in the soil where the seed falls into, and from there grows your seed!  Like I said, it's not the best way to seed but it works especially if you want to overseed an older plot!
 
Let me know if you have any other questions, or if this doesn't make sense!

[deerdown]

buckhunter .. I do think the wet spring had something to do with my wintergreen results.  I think the ground was a little too wet when I seeded and again afterwards with all the rain.  The section that did take grew very well and I was very happy with the results. 
 
Another buddy of mine plants his greens in the late summer providing tender new growth for hunting season but I think I prefer a spring plant.  The deer usually mow down his greens b4 they get a chance to grow very big - good for attracting but spring planting gets you more tonnage.  It took several hard frosts b4 the deer started to ravage my greens last fall, but once they did they were gone in about a week (only had about 1/8 of an acre worth).  I'm definatley going to plant some more this spring ... they're like candy for the deer, just hope it's a little drier.