Food Plots/Garden seeds

[My Gym]

I have been studying about food plots for attracting deer. In the past I have planted a couple of the food plot seed packages available at TSC. They grew very well but most of the plants were not native and the deer seemed to just avoid. After going to the trouble of killing the grass, weeding, cultivating, and watering, I may as well have planted a garden. If the deer do not eat the vegetables, I can. Typical bulk vegetable seeds are about $20-30 for 10,000 seeds. Right now I am considering planting about an acre of land with a mix of about 5 vegetable seeds. It would be about 50,000 seeds for $120. I cannot seem to find about anyone using vegetable seeds for food plots. Only many gardeners fustrated with deer eating their gardens. I would love to hear your comments about garden seeds for food plots.

 

[DFB]

Deer can be pretty selective at times. Some things deer get at young like cucumbers or beans plants. With other things like pumpkin & winter squash they can get at the ripening harvest too

Deer do love tender young pea vines. Peas are pretty much a short season crop.

What kind of vegetables seeds are you considering planting anyhow?

 

[My Gym]

For my first years experiment, I am looking at tomato, green pepper, cucumber, egg plant, and squash. There are large fields of soybeans and corn around me, that the deer currently feast on during the seasons. So I am staying away from similar crops. I am going to stay away from Hybrid and hopefully have some of the plants reseed themselves. Since I want to observe the progress I am not going to plant underground crops like onions and carrots. I have about 4 acres around my house that I can experiment with. I can setup sprinklers and electric fence if necessary. The land was used for many years as a free range hog farrowing operation, so the soil is real fertile. I am going to do everything from seed because of cost. I plan to hit the early weeds with roundup with the help of a local farmer. Then use a box blade shanks to mark rows for hand planting (dropping seeds every foot), chain drag harrow to stir soil. The occasionally water and see what happens.

 

[super55]

Going with garden vegetables for a food plot will be a difficult endeavor. Mainly because certain crops deer love especially when they are young and tender; Peas and beans especially. When they get to the two to three leaf stage a deer will walk right down the row and nip every single top off. So I would expect on have to fence. The other thing is most garden vegetables always get fried after the first hard frost but I will admit certain legumes like lettuce and cabbage are deer magnets. In the last 5 years I have yet to get one head of cabbage out of my garden before the deer did.

There are several reasons why most food plot blends are mainly just farming cover crop seeds. 1. They are cheap compared to vegetable seeds. 2. They are typically pretty easy to grow and compete well with weeds and 3. Most of them have at least some tolerance to frost.

With my food plots if I plant a row crop such as corn I typically will plant pumpkins, squash or cucumbers around the perimeter and once the corn is about a foot tall I will plant some climbing beans between the rows. Figure I spent all the time tilling and $$ in fertilizer I might as well put some plants in that will benefit my own consumption.

 

[wngsprd]

There is good info in the Food Plot forum. Plus you might get some helpful feedback posting your question there.

See if this link gets you there. I haven't tried this trick before.

Food Plots

 

[forgeblast]

Also you will not have any protection of your soil, weeds will grow quickly and overtake everything. Look at stock seed company and look at their wildlife blends. The grass will block out the weed seed and hold your soil in place.

 

[DFB]

Wow I would think starting eggplant peppers and tomatoes from direct seeding in the ground wouldn't be impossible but it sure be difficult to get a harvest. I never had deer eat the mature fruits anyways but would nip off the tops of young plants usually right after they were first set out. Using established transplants gives any garden an easy 6-8 week head start. Beans germinate fairly good unless they get too wet (rains). Cucumber from direct seeding ok as long as temperatures are warm. Gourds and pumpkin summer and winter squash all direct seed ok. One year deer ate almost all the ex wife's gourd crop plants. I've also know deer to devastate broccoli and cauliflower taking one bite out each head all the way down the row. If your trying to attract deer I still think pumpkin and some sweet tasting winter squash would get them coming around in the fall after other crops have been harvested or gone by. They direct seed easy enough plus vines can survive among the weeds.

IMO I have never known deer to skip by an apple tree (or pears for that matter). Year after year they remember where they are even after snow covers the ground. I would think planting a few of those trees and seeding the soil with a nice hay pasture/forage mix you would have deer coming around in abundance

 

[Western]

Is the primary purpose to attract deer? or grow food for the family? Either way I think you will be jeopardizing your results doing it the way you describe. Just my honest opinion.

Select an area close to the house and just plant a regular maintained garden, then use a portion, or the rest of your land for a food plot. Since your neighbors are already growing huge deer attracting foods (corn ,soybeans) you would best (and cheaper) to just plant oats mixed with winter wheat for a late summer/fall crop. Deer love tender oats, but you will have an almost impossible task getting them off Soybeans when they are on them.

Another idea is to ask the soybean farmer if he wants to use 3 of your acres to expand his soybean patch, then when he combines have him plant your fall plot in return. The soybeans will improve your land and you only have to work your garden with 100% goal of vegetable returns.

 

[My Gym]

The primary purpose is to learn. If the answers were easy I would not have questions. Regarding wild life. There are squirrels, mice, rabbits, pheasant, turkey, raccoon, opossum, coyote, bobcat, various birds, and deer. There is little to no winter forage for the wildlife on the property (47 acres mix of woodlands ravines and pastures). In a typical garden situation 5-10 tomato plants would supply my needs. 5-10 plants would not even make a small snack for the wildlife. To spend the time caring for a garden to wake up with the plants gone overnight, does not appeal to me. The typical farmer in the area plants 1,000+ acres of soybeans and or corn. Smallest field planted is about 40 acres. During the growing season there are huge amounts of food for the wildlife and in about 3 weeks in the fall harvest it is all gone.

I have observed a field near by that a farmer is doing organic/no-till practices on his 40 acre field. His weeds and grass grow better than his crops, but still harvests the field. I have not talked with him but I am sure that his yields are far below the other farmers. If he can do it for corn and soybeans why cannot I do it for vegetables.

I am studying, the truck farmer, crop farmer, and gardener models trying to figure what practices are necessary, adaptable, while minimizing cost and labor.I tried the commercial food plot (throw and grow type) seed packages. It grew non-native plants that lasted one season. In my book,it was a waste of time. The wildlife did not eat it and neither did I. The motto in life, If at first you do not succede, try something else.

I have the land, a tractor, some equipment and bulk seed is cheap. I am looking for input and do not like doing things that are doomed to failure from the start. To those that taken the time to reply. Thank you!