ideas on a small food plot.

depending what part of the country you are in will matter on what you plant and when. In the south we are planting in 2 weeks. we are planting winter peas,bob oats,wheat,turnip greens,mustard greens,red top clover.
the deer love all of it and we love the greens:thumbup:

hay gibson were do you live ? we planted are winter plots in arkansas a few weeks ago,,,,,but its not to late..oats are easy,they just need a little dirt over them,,,winter peas are good,,,,,what do you have to work the ground with?

preparation i found is the key. soil test, lime, fertilizer worked in before you plant. otherwise you won't get the most out of it, being that they are small you want to get the most/best growth you can.

Yea what Ron said. Lime takes up to a year to get the full potential out of it. There is a product called Gain that does the same thing except right from the start. It's not a substitute for lime but will cover you on the PH til the lime kicks in....

All good advice. You may want to use powdered lime mixed with water and spray it on small food plotts. You will get faster results. Kill the weeds and weed seeds first then plant 3 weeks later for best results. This is a lesson that I have just learned. Don't be afraid to mix different seeds that will produce mature plants at different times. You are limited for fall planting in some areas right now for certain plants.Check the seed recomendation for correct planting times.

one thing about farm land ,that has been farmed is it most likely had been limed when it was farmed...it takes a long time to go away...if your in a new cleared spot in the woods ,lime is needed....the small fields that are left because the farm equipment got to big to turn around,,,may already have a neutral PH....a soil test will let you know....

How big of a field is it. I used a rototiller (8 horse) garden rakes and shovels. It was back braking but my food plots were only about a 1/4 acre. I planted a combination of crimson and white clover and forage soybeans here in Michigan about a month ago, finally got good rain and it really took off.

I found for the area I hunt that soybeans work well especially after the farmers harvest all the surrounding fields. Also, tried putting some rows of turnips in with the beans. Found out the critters liked those too well. Planted the first round at the beginning of August. Plants came up and got eaten back down to the ground in only a few weeks. Reseeded in mid to late September and plants came back up but only to the same fate before bow season started. Think I found something the deer in our area really like. Now if I can only keep them out of it long enough for season during the late summer. Hopefully, next season's planting gets better.

the deer do like to eat things in a row.

I too only have small plots. 3 on the swamp edge and 4 dead nuts in the woods. Last year how i started was tilled with a small tiller bought a variety of seeds multi clovers, alfalfa, wheat, ect... just to see what would grow and how well it grew. It did burn a year of good hunting but i found what grew the best on the little land we have.