Williams Creek Farm of SW Iowa

[cbw]

Had 3 trumpeter swans come within 50 feet of me on the pond. Unfortunatly, my phone had died. Came back later and got some pics of the pond. With the 2" rain, it raised the water level above the moss so it looks much nicer than it usually does.





We are thankful for the rain. This is the first time water has reached the culvert in about a year due to the drought.



In this one, you can see the cabin on the hill on the upper right of the pic. If you look closely, there are two outhouses underneath that big cottonwood. :-)



Here is the pond view taken from the cabin deck.

 

[omicron1792]

Full day yesterday...
* Planted 50 hybrid willows for a road screen
* Planted 25 plum trees
* Had a coon curled up on a tree stand
* Flagged our CRP, so our renter knows where the CRP ends, and his field begins
* Saw 3 trumpter swans on one of our ponds
* Friend brought his 4 kids and caught some monster bluegill from one of of our ponds.

Iowa DNR has been a great source for trees and shrubs.

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We got about 2" of rain the past 3 days.
* Using willow stakes from DNR Nursery
* The Hybrid willow is going in a spot by the gravel road where the road is about 10ft above (you can see the road in the background).
* We also edge feathered right along the road this spring.
* I'm planing one row in the felled trees.
* In this area, I did not do any prep on this spot.
* I'm putting cardboard around every other willow to see compare how it works to keep some of the vegitation back.
* Spaced them 3ft apart

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Toosl for this job:
* 3ft measuring stick (1x1 stick with marks ever 6" This has been a great tool for measuring our hedge cuttings--3 flips and you have 9ft, and you can measure the width of the tree)
* Srap cardboard cut into pieces
* Rebar fence post to poke through he cardboard
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* Placed a second row along our side-by-side trail.
* Sprayed the reed canary grass last week with gly.
* Placed cardboard around every other stake
* I should have ordered at least 25 more (probably 50 more). Will do so next week.


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Saw this furry fellow (raccoon) curled up in a cottonwood deer stand. I should have had a gun with me. :-) This stand is special to me--it was the first time that I shot a buck with my bow and recovered it before the coyotes got to it.
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Zoomed out -- stand on right, licking branch on left.
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For our plum planting, it is an an area we are trying to get some thickets started--right below the biggest pond on our property. Timber on one side and pasture on the other.
* The ground was saturated
* Lots of brome. I sprayed with gly earlier in the day, and came back 2 hours later to plant the trees
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* Used a dibble bar for the holes
* Placed cardboard or newspaper around all of them
* Did not measure distande--looks like they may be too close together
* We plan to come back and put cattle panels around them to protect them from the deer.

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Great post!

 

[cbw]

Love seeing the beautiful reflection in the water.

And anyone able to ID this duck? Swam within 20 yards of my dad fishing.

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[T-Max]

Love seeing the beautiful reflection in the water.

And anyone able to ID this duck? Swam within 20 yards of my dad fishing.

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Looks like a coot maybe?


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[cbw]

Looks like a coot maybe?


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Doing some more googling when I got home, that was thinking as well.

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[cbw]

Summer Food Plot Program

Yesterday, we planted half of our summer plots. Love going no-till. We have had an TON of rain, including just two days ago. But we were still able to run the drill without getting it plugged up.

Each season, I try to test a few different methods. This summer, we are testing:
* Drilling green using Vitalize Seed mix. Then using our water-heater-converted-to-roller-crimper to crimp.
* Letting last year’s fall plots go until late July, when we will mow and plant a fall mix. (Pretty sure someone on here recommended, maybe SD?)
* We planted several clover plots last fall (mostly timber plots), so we will be mowing the nurse crop back sometime this week.
* One pasture, we turned a couple acres from brome to clover with a nurse crop of WR and brassicas last fall. The farmer who rents the pasture will be turning his cattle into it this week. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this field turns out, as the WR is currently over 5ft tall.
* The farmer who harvests about 100ac each year does typical corn/soybean rotation. This year, it is beans. So because there is no corn on the farm, I’m putting a couple plots into 70% milo (grain sorgham) 20% left over soy beans + 10% Austrian peas (~2 acres total). We will be using a herbicide for this planting (GLY + 2,4D) to burn down. Plan to spray tomorrow and drill the middle of June.

 

[omicron1792]

I have tried both ways and my clover plots do better when I don’t mow them till late summer. It seems like the taller dead grains shade the clover and help it survive. Probably just a southern thing.

 

[cbw]

I have tried both ways and my clover plots do better when I don’t mow them till late summer. It seems like the taller dead grains shade the clover and help it survive. Probably just a southern thing.

Thanks for the feedback! Interesting. Maybe we‘ll mow half of them and compare results this summer.


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[omicron1792]

Summer Food Plot Program

Yesterday, we planted half of our summer plots. Love going no-till. We have had an TON of rain, including just two days ago. But we were still able to run the drill without getting it plugged up.

Each season, I try to test a few different methods. This summer, we are testing:
* Drilling green using Vitalize Seed mix. Then using our water-heater-converted-to-roller-crimper to crimp.
* Letting last year’s fall plots go until late July, when we will mow and plant a fall mix. (Pretty sure someone on here recommended, maybe SD?)
* We planted several clover plots last fall (mostly timber plots), so we will be mowing the nurse crop back sometime this week.
* One pasture, we turned a couple acres from brome to clover with a nurse crop of WR and brassicas last fall. The farmer who rents the pasture will be turning his cattle into it this week. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this field turns out, as the WR is currently over 5ft tall.
* The farmer who harvests about 100ac each year does typical corn/soybean rotation. This year, it is beans. So because there is no corn on the farm, I’m putting a couple plots into 70% milo (grain sorgham) 20% left over soy beans + 10% Austrian peas (~2 acres total). We will be using a herbicide for this planting (GLY + 2,4D) to burn down. Plan to spray tomorrow and drill the middle of June.

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It will also be Interesting to see how that mix does. I’ve never had good luck with soybeans in a mix like that. The rest of it will grow like gang busters for sure!

 

[omicron1792]

Most of my grains I planted with the clover have been eaten or have kind of faded away.

 

[cbw]

Most of my grains I planted with the clover have been eaten or have kind of faded away.

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How many lbs per acre were your grains? Ours look MUCH thinker. We over seeded WR in Sept at about 50lbs/acre.


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[omicron1792]

How many lbs per acre were your grains? Ours look MUCH thinker. We over seeded WR in Sept at about 50lbs/acre.


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So I put up to 200/acre in my annual plots. But I put less and less yearly in my perennial clover plots now. Maybe 50-75/acre. I also don’t use just rye anymore. I think I did 25 each of rye/wheat/oats. The deer live in these plots though.

Also this is way past life cycle of fall planted grains. Here are my annual plots today.




I should have already planted them but just haven’t had time. Plan to do next week

 

[omicron1792]

I pretty much follow Craig Harper for my clover plots. He thinks people mow too much, and recommends one late summer mowing.

Reaching Clover’s Golden Years: Lengthening the Life of Clover Food Plots

Stop by Mossy Oak for some in-depth insight on how to manage your clover plots year-round, with info and advice on the best weed control products and strategies for clover.

www.mossyoak.com

 

[cbw]

Checked on the hybrid willow stakes we planted a couple weeks ago. Tested several methods for weed control:
- sprayed the orchard grass with GLY a week before planting (vrs doing no herbicide)
- poked them through a couple layers of newspaper.
- cut up some boxes ~2’ by 2’ and cut a hole to poke them through

LEARNING:
So far, nearly all are sprouting. The newspaper has almost disintegrated. Cardboard is working the best — on both the area we sprayed and where we didn’t spray. The cardboard also helps to identify where we planted. I think we just need to make sure as the trees get thicker, the cardboard hole doesn’t choke the tree.






And great seeing some oak regeneration in an area we did some edge feathering.

 

[cbw]

So I put up to 200/acre in my annual plots. But I put less and less yearly in my perennial clover plots now. Maybe 50-75/acre. I also don’t use just rye anymore. I think I did 25 each of rye/wheat/oats. The deer live in these plots though.

Also this is way past life cycle of fall planted grains. Here are my annual plots today.

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I should have already planted them but just haven’t had time. Plan to do next week

Gotcha! That makes good sense.

 

[cbw]

I pretty much follow Craig Harper for my clover plots. He thinks people mow too much, and recommends one late summer mowing.

Reaching Clover’s Golden Years: Lengthening the Life of Clover Food Plots

Stop by Mossy Oak for some in-depth insight on how to manage your clover plots year-round, with info and advice on the best weed control products and strategies for clover.

www.mossyoak.com

Good article. Thanks!

 

[SD51555]

You've got a hairy problem brewing. Just a few makes for a nice blend. But give that a couple years without being dealt with, and it's gonna get out of hand.



The green cover guys did an extended video on HV and various methods. They ended up needing herbicide to get the vetch under control. What I don't believe happened is a follow up a year later to see if/how bad the volunteer seed was. They let it get big, and I am sure there was viable seed laying out there. And HV has some decent resistance to germination to outlast a growing season and still come back. It can be beaten, but it requires stuff we don't like to talk about on forums.

 

[cbw]

You've got a hairy problem brewing. Just a few makes for a nice blend. But give that a couple years without being dealt with, and it's gonna get out of hand.

View attachment 64868

The green cover guys did an extended video on HV and various methods. They ended up needing herbicide to get the vetch under control. What I don't believe happened is a follow up a year later to see if/how bad the volunteer seed was. They let it get big, and I am sure there was viable seed laying out there. And HV has some decent resistance to germination to outlast a growing season and still come back. It can be beaten, but it requires stuff we don't like to talk about on forums.

Thanks, SD. I can confirm that it is HV. I noticed it in a couple plots where it was in the mix we planted last fall. I watched the GC video. I’ve got some contacts at GC, so maybe I’ll drop him a note to see if they had any challenges with volunteer.

Will definitely keep an eye on it. It will be interesting to see if drilling into it and rolling it like we did made a dent or not.

Here is the mix that we drilled last fall (I’ll see if I can find the label for % when I get to the farm later this week)

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[Buckhunter10]

Thanks, SD. I can confirm that it is HV. I noticed it in a couple plots where it was in the mix we planted last fall. I watched the GC video. I’ve got some contacts at GC, so maybe I’ll drop him a note to see if they had any challenges with volunteer.

Will definitely keep an eye on it. It will be interesting to see if drilling into it and rolling it like we did made a dent or not.

Here is the mix that we drilled last fall (I’ll see if I can find the label for % when I get to the farm later this week)

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Thanks for the note Chad.

We keep the % low enough to get all the positives of HV around 2% .

Similar could be said for medium red clover, perennial clovers, etc.

SARE has some great things to say about HV as does Rick Clark - who’s been using flail mowing to terminate it (he’s all organic).

Like most things in life - it falls on a bell curve and too much of a good thing, isn’t a good thing!!

Hope this helps!! Thanks for planting our mixes and sharing your beautiful farm with us all.

Hairy Vetch - SARE

Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa) Type: winter annual or summer annual legume Roles: N source, weed suppressor, topsoil conditioner, reduce erosion Mix with: small grains, field peas, bell beans, crimson clover, buckwheat See charts, p. 66 to 72, for ranking and management summary. Few legumes match...

www.sare.org

-Albert

 

[Brian662]

Thanks for the tour, you have a beautiful looking property. How have the deer responded to your nitro boost and carbon load plantings?