Wildlife Foodplot on Reclaimed Strip Mine

[radioman]

You may want to get a subsoiler.It's not expensive and can be used for variety of projects. Hook it up and run it up and down in the area you want worked and see what happens. Do you encounter alot of rocks coming up? poor looking soil? snaggin? just plain ole dirt ? heavy thatch? This will telll you alot about the area you want to work with. I think you are off to a great start, getting soil tests done. Its a matter of finding out how the area is final preapared.

Sometimes the best thing to do is leave it alone and just work the top 1 inch and plant what you want.

When I hear old strip mine, All I think of is lots of rocks and thin layer of soil on top.

 

[Scotty370]

Western, Is that the best way to develop new top soil? Plant 'rye',wheat,oats,clover and disc it under each year, and replant etc, etc, etc? Just trying to learn here. ~Scotty

 

[rambler]

Western, Is that the best way to develop new top soil? Plant 'rye',wheat,oats,clover and disc it under each year, and replant etc, etc, etc? Just trying to learn here. ~Scotty

Often the issue is water - the reclaimed land is often gravely or sandy, with low organic matter it doesn't hold water. So planting things like rye or wheat that can do ok on low water is good.

Things that root deep - like clover, rye, or alfalfa - is good because they go down deep and pull minerals - and water - up from down deeper in the ground.

Legumes - like clover, alfalfa - will create their own N, and a bit extra for any grass plants (like rye or wheat) that you have.

What will really help you, if you have enough water to grow plants, is a spreading of manure. Cow, chicken, pig, horse - whatever. They add a lot of nutrients, and a bit of organic matter to help build that soil.

Generally a mix of plants works best to build the soil. Different things might do better in different soils, and different years. At least some of the mix will grow.....

If you get a fall rainy season, planting rye & clover & alfalfa in fall - August - is often really good. they grow a bit, go dormant over winter, and come on early in spring as frost comes out, use up the early moisture t grow green right away. By next fall the clover & alfalfa will be going deeper & making good N.

--->Paul

 

[ihuntbear]

I'm also making food plots.can I plow and disc ,plant in the spring or do I have to wait until fall to plant clover wheat .I have 900 acres here all wooded other than two 2 acre fields. in those fields I planted biologic that I purchase from cabellos.the deer hated it so I replanted white clover which only grew one year.So this year i want to plant one field with red clover and the other with alfafa.Hope fully these will grow every year but I think alfalfa only grows one year.I have lots of black bear here and really don't want to plant something that attracks them because the fields are really close to the camp

 

[peterssj4034]

I own acreage of reclaimed strip land, where I built my house. I used a subsoiler/middlebuster combo from TSC (~ $120) to loosen up the soil where I needed to work the ground. I then plowed with a single bottom plow (my tractor is a 24 horse New Holland; I can't pull much more than that on this type of ground), disced, and smoothed with a box blade (where I was planting grass).

If you are planting food plots, I think the subsoiler/middlebuster would come in handy the first time you are turning the ground, then in subsequent years the plow would be enough. I have used the scarifers on my box blade to break up the ground as well, but I like the middlebuster a bit better as it seems to penetrate a little deeper.

The latest project I did with this setup was this past summer. In the attached picture, the long narrow section covered in straw (up to the small pine in the center of the picture), is about 100 yards long, and it was covered in ruts from trucks. So deep, in fact, I found an axle when I was plowing! Anyway, I was able to bust, plow, disc, and smooth in a morning's worth of work with my small setup.

I bought my single bottom plow at auction for $125. It's been money well spent. The disc is a hand-me-down.

I had good success planting clover when I first purchased the land, and the deer seemed to enjoy it.

Best of luck to you, it is an enjoyable process. Enjoy your new toy, I know I have since I bought my land!

 

[charlz]

What will really help you, if you have enough water to grow plants, is a spreading of manure. Cow, chicken, pig, horse - whatever. They add a lot of nutrients, and a bit of organic matter to help build that soil.

Just be mindful that you might also be importing a weed problem. Compost that has been properly done to kill off weed seeds would be better but has less nitrogen in it.