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Plot Project...ideas greatly appreciated.

SaskGuy

Active Member
I love dbltree's posts in this forum, so I'll throw one up in step by step format. Plot is going in only about 200 yards from my house, won't be that big, 1/4 acre and change maybe but I'm looking forward to it..alot. Running through a stretch of jackpines...chainsaw, harrow....I need more gear.
aa_003.jpg
 
North of the pines one gets into a mix of spruce and aspen with thick underbrush. About 50 yards north of the plot is a hayfield, simply grass so not that heavily used, just travelled along the woodline 1/2 mile to the east to 160 acres of alfalfa.
This is about 75 yards from the field edge.
aa_004.jpg
 
So....I dropped about 30 aspens, cleared some underbrush and basically this is what I had to work with. This is just a portion of the plot, which is irregularly shaped due to conifer stands.
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So..I'm not sure what to do. I don't think i can get those stumps out, I'll get them as close to the ground as possible, drill into them, pour some round up in the hole and let them die. The brush roots will be easy to get out. I drug the harrow around some and it really tore up the native plant life and some roots. However...b/c this is virtually "forest" there are yrs and yrs of leaf matter etc. on the surface. I'm not sure if I should rake it off or try work it in as a compost. I also disassembled an old discer and drug a chunk of it back so I may be able to turn the soil, depending on the root syttem underground. I'm not too antsy yet, things aren't beginning to green, I've got lots of time. I know I'll need to get in and round up the spot before planting a time or two.

I guess at this point my largest concern is the copius amount of organic manner on the soil, do I remove it or try and pound it in? I'm going to go with some "secret spot" for my plot. In the direction of this photo..it's woods, for a couple miles. I always get a good one or 2 on the trail cam back here each yr, why not plant a spot and hope they use it? Any ideas for what to do with the leaves, etc?
 
saskguy,
I be right there with my equipment..new toy on order is a skid loader with wide tracks and a hi flo hyd to run a fecon head or feller buncher.
check out

http://www.fecon.com

watch this video and imagine the results!

http://www.fecon.com/media-room/action-videos.asp

I would do just like your doing and then it it hard with roundup.Then come back in and maybe plant max attract 50/50 in aug.I plan on starting a hiddden plot in the middle of my timber harvest soon.
will follow with pics.
 
I think you would want to incorporate the organic matter into the soil.

You mentioned there were conifers in the area, if there are a lot of pine needles in the clutter they may lower (I think) your pH so a soil sample would be in order.

The 'Bonker
 
Bonker, there are conifers in the area but very little for needles in the organic manner. I've avoided those areas and am attempting to work a strictly deciduous area. I know a soild test is smart, but there is nowhere to get lime here anyways so I'm banking on the fact that the farmer's get stuff to grow.

Fullrut2......haul that stuff up. lol. I contemplated a cat, but $ is why I opted out. Thought that I wouldn't be out much if it didn't pan out. I'm thinking of planting Mid to late June.. We've been pounded by frost as early as Aug.1 in recent yrs, rarely does it get to mid Sept before a killing frost hits.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pharmer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Any chance to burn? </div></div>

Thats what I was thinking. Burn it, it will green up quicker and you can spray it quicker. Good Luck.

Dean
 
Wow looks like you have your work cut out for you ! The old leaves are too mixed with dirt and peat like ?? I was thinking burn too but hate to see it get away from you. Could you disk around the edges and burn ??
 
No chance to burn, not legal and scary as heck. This thing is smack dab in the middle of a very large chunk of timber..yes on the leaves being almost peat like, I dug under it, not very far hit the soil, it's "grey wood" soil muck like everything else around here. Loamy as hell, grows a good garden. lol
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fishbonker</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think you would want to incorporate the organic matter into the soil.

You mentioned there were conifers in the area, if there are a lot of pine needles in the clutter they may lower (I think) your pH so a soil sample would be in order.

The 'Bonker </div></div>

I agree with Bonker in that PH is likely to be your first hurdle, but you can haul pellet lime in there and spread it by hand.

I wouldn't worry about the stumps...they'll rot in time.

Consider some alsike clover or red clover which would do a little better in acidic soil.

Brassicas will do well except they would need nitrogen and that surface litter decaying will need even more. Sounds like your soil is decent though.

Great to see the snow is gone at least...now we have to tink of something you can plant that...bears don't like!! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
I think I'll go ahead and rake of the organic matter I loosened up with the harrow. There is enough still there that I wasn't able to break down with the harrow to work in, just don't want to work too much in if I don't have to. Hope the little section of disc will turn it over, that will get me one step ahead.

Dbltree, I chose abn annualmix b/c I dodn't want to monkey around with a pernennial if it doesn't pan out. Also, anythign perennial would be mostly a nutrition plot, I want something they are interested in after the frost hits and the snow flies.
 
I just keep coming back to this post, sorry. I've been doing some research regarding grey wooded soil. it appears it's biggest downfall is a lack of nutrients. I could fertilize of course, but I also have this ?. I have access to alot of very "well rotted" manure. Is bringing a few truck loads of it in via atv cart and pounding it in with the disc going to be worth the time?

Sheesh, open up an area of woods, get to work, there's a alot of work, maybe I should have just left everything as it was?
 
Your going to want to rake that out. It's a lot of work up front, but could be very beneficial to you in the long run. I'd agree with Dbl and go with a clover, maybe add chicory to it, although with your winters it might die off on you. The deer will hit those clover plots year round.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: midwestfoodplots</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Your going to want to rake that out. It's a lot of work up front, but could be very beneficial to you in the long run. </div></div>

I'm a little confused, should Sask rake off the litter so the seeds make better contact or rake it off because the litter is not good for the soil? If he could till in under would you leave it on?

Thanks.

The 'Bonker
 
I've been researching like a bugger. I have learned that wood ashes contain a considerable amount of lime. I happen to have alot of them, would it be worth hauling them back and spreading them? To set the stage. A small plot of ground specifically for deer here is unheard of..I'd be laughed out of the ag supply store if i went in and asked for some ag lime. talked to a couple local farmers, they said they knew of nobody using it..or had an idea where to get it if needed.
 
I talked to an agronomist, he said skip the lime, it won't be that acidic. he decided it based on tests he did on nearny soil that is now alfalfa fields. I harrowed the heck out of it again to break up the leave, grass, peat matter and raked most of it off. I'm going to drag the garden tiller back in there and mix what remains of the organic manner with the grey wooded soil underneath. Most of the roots seem small enough to just rip out, there are definately some large ones I know, what's my best bet to remove these....axe?
 
Either an axe/hatchet or a chainsaw loop and bar you don't care about. I've used ratcheting pruners for roots before too.

Either way its gonna be work.

The 'Bonker
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Either way its gonna be work.
</div></div>

Diving into solid timber, i knew it would be. Agronomist also warned me to expect every deer within a couple miles to visit that hidden plot...he said it like a bad thng, I took it as a good one.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Saskguy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Agronomist also warned me to expect every deer within a couple miles to visit that hidden plot...he said it like a bad thng, I took it as a good one. </div></div> Better start making it bigger then. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
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