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Looking for advice on a spring food plot in Northern Virginia. I anticipate two small plots roughly 40 yd X 40 yd each.

Had decent luck with oats in the fall, this is my first spring at this location. It's mountainous terrain with plots cut out of the woods. One is along a small power line and the other over my septic system. Still need to do a soil sample on each.

Spring plots might be tough if you don't have a way to control weeds. I do so by planting roundup ready soybeans. They will get eaten to the point of being killed and not produce much grain. But, it'll be a weed free slate to plant into this fall.

If the oats plots have a bit of bare soil now, I'd over/frost seed some clover into it ASAP. That would allow you to use a grass specific herbicide as well as mowing for maintenance.

Might want to look into using buckwheat. It's pretty good as smothering other things out and will only last 90days giving you something to plant into come fall.

A lot of suggestions might hinge on what type of equipment you have access to...

Great insight, thanks. I have worked on a plot with a friend and the spring weeds are in fact an issue. I'll go with the clover.

I talked with a grazing specialist about getting a clover monoculture (roughly) established in an old pasture. His suggestion would probably work for you as well. Spray with glyphosate once the grass is green and about 6-8" tall. A couple weeks later broadcast the equivalent of 50#/acre of buckwheat and cultipack or mow the dead grass. Buckwheat is a 90 day plant, so in 3 mos it's dead anyway. Then in early fall/late summer broadcast oats/turnips to the dying/dead buckwheat and mow or cultipack. Oats/turnips shouldn't last through the winter. Then that winter frost seed the plots with your choice of clover. He stated he's seen this work very well for getting a lot of clover established in an area without doing tillage.

I'm planning on trying this on a couple of small, hard to reach plots this year.

I plant sunflowers for early summer to late summer food plots. My deer love the bulb before it starts flowering. I would like to hunt doves there too, but I can't compete with the big corn fields a few miles away. miles

I deal with weeds too. Tried the round up ready beans, was not overly impressed with them.

Back to clay peas. AMazingly enough if I get em up and fertilized they kind of shade the grass some, and then as the weeds get up the weeds protect the peas some middle of the summer so that if we get a few rains they come back again.

I have wild sunflowers in that one plot too, so we know the deer work on them also.

Problem for me, spraying now, we are already green etc... will only kill early weeds. Have to wait to May to kill all, by then its usually to late to plant anything and hope for it to grow. And if it does come up its eaten off quickly.

I had good luck in central NC with Imperial NoPlow. This performed much better than soybeans or my attempt at clover.

Sure, there were weeds. But the Imperial product still did well.

Iron and clay peas work well for me in East Texas for my spring/summer plots.

Too late for your original question, but here's a powerline in Henry County VA that I planted in late April with Hancock Spring and Summer mix. The sample came back with ph-5.0, fertilize at 50/75/75 lbs/acre NPK.

I decided to plant it because the power company came through with a forestry mulcher in February and leveled it. I don't have a lot of equipment so all we did was pick up the chunks wood and rocks and spray it in early April. Then in late April I mowed it and ran a tooth drag over it a bunch, liming, fertilizing and seeding along the way. By Memorial Day it was up about a foot. By July 4th it was up about 4-5 feet and the millet and sorghum was topping out. This past weekend the millet is browning up and the sunflowers are about 4-5 feet tall. The deer and turkeys are all over it. Labor day weekend I'm going to broadcast Hancock Fall and Winter mix into it and mow/fertilize. Then next spring I'm going to try a perennial grazing mix.


Early April:


July 4th:

Try mixing some japanese or brown top millet in with the sunflowers. The dove are all over the millet in my plot.

Spring, wheat with a clover of some type.

Not sure how it will work over your septic system/drain field since I believe the Ph there will constantly changing.

Tell me about buckwheat, as I have never seen any. I have heard a couple of people say to plant it for bees (honey), but do not know if it will grow good here or not, nor when to plant. It is mostly Northern people that I hear talking about it. Neighbor had a field planted in partridge peas a couple of years while in some government program, and there was lots of blooms but I was not raising bees at the time so I did not check it out, but it was heavy cover and I could see deer bedding in it even if they did not eat the peas. miles

I planted buckwheat in a spot that I was having a lot of trouble with washouts. The plan was to wait till the buckwheat came in good, then broadcast and cultipack a clover mix into it.

It almost worked. The buckwheat came in fast and grew like crazy. Then the deer found it and wiped it out almost overnight.

It's just about time to plant winter food plots.

What time of year? Spring, Fall, Summer? I know we plant fall wheat and oats, where up North they plant them in the spring. I can't seem to find anything about planting it here. Nor where to find seeds local. Shipping might be a deal breaker. miles

One of mine went in 2 weeks ago since I Had time. Won't have time until back from AK again, about October so the other acres will go in then I suppose.

Really wanted to round up the rest of them before I leave, but that may or may not happen.

PRM-You should think about getting that ground ripped up asap and putting some winter rye cereal grain . It will last all winter and into the late spring. Once late spring comes plow it under as a green mulch and soil builder. Then plant buck wheat let it come up a little them mow it once and let it go to town for the rest of the summer. Buck wheat is a scavenger and will add phosphorus to your soil which can be hard to pick up. It is also a weed suppressant and adds organic matter to the soil and decomposes very well. After you turn the buckwheat into the ground around Labor day come back and put in a mix of winter rye, crimson clover, and forage radishes. Clover will come in first and help suppress any still present weed while giving a chance for the rye to come in. Lat fall the clover will slow down and the rye will catch up as well as the radishes. The radishes will provide late season forage during the gun season after the temps drop and you get a good frost the sugars will rise in the radishes and the deer will start to dig them up. The radish tops will die off in the winter and here the rye will stay green all winter and into late spring.

If you want a sudo set it and forget it plot do the buckwheat thing and then put a clover in and keep it mowed. The deer like it in its immature stages when its tender as opposed to the 2 foot tall stuff.

You can experiment with other crops on trial basis in small sections to see if the deer in your area like it before you do the whole plot with it. I would always leave something like the rye in the ground so you have something to compare with.

Most of all of the above can be done with minimal equipment.

Good luck

Early April in the Martinsville VA area. I get it from Hancock Seed - Just over a buck a pound and free Shipping (25lb bag).

I'm mixing it 10% into my fall brassica plots this weekend and Labor Day weekend as a nurse crop.

Wildone's advice is solid. You can also do what he says without tillage using a cultipacker if you want to fork out the $800+ bucks for one.

Nice plot!

I,m enjoying all the info here.
I got about 3 1/2 acres in northern IL. that I've always wanted to do "something" with to maybe feed some deer and just make it look better.It adjoins the 6 acres my house is on and is a border to a creek and farmland next to me.
Where do you guys buy your seeds?
I'd like to try that Buckwheat in spring followed by rye,clover radish "combo" next year.
Right now its full of 6 ft tall weeds....should I burn it this fall? next spring? I was told to NEVER till it as I'd be just planting the stuff I want to get rid of.
Like I said I'm enjoying this post.