Russ otten

The Peas that I planted last spring are now almost gone, at leat what's above ground. The deer didn't graze it much until frost, but then they hit it hard. Almost all of the plot is only 1 inch tall. I put in a small patch near the house where we had garden this year and it is about 4-5 inches tall. I think they are a little nervous to come in to it. I'm anxious to see how well they rebound when the warm weather breaks, if they will come back from the roots.
They cleaned up my Red Clover first, then finished off the Ladino, and saved the Peas for last. This one Clover plot will need redoing this year, it's 3 years old and has a lot of grass in it.
If the Peas don't recover, I plan on planting them again this year as they held up real well during the gun season.
And the plastic bag fence worked very good, only noticed one or two tracks in it before I took it down prior to hunting season.
I'll repost when I see if they will come back.

Russ

charlieb

Russ - what is a "plastic bag fence"? TIA.

farm hunter

Hi Russ,

I never really considered Austrian Winter Peas until I recently read this article:

http://www.sare.org/handbook/mccp2/fieldpea.htm

They would be a summer crop for us, but might be a good one to try mixed with soybeans or planted side by side to see how they compare.

Did yours reach 2 ft in height? Do you need an inoculant to initiate N fixation?

lunchbucket

You might want to spray the grasses in the clover field instead of redoing the whole field.

Russ otten

I'll try to give answers to each of you.
First, A plastic bag fence is very easy to erect. I used metal fence posts, but could have used those slender rods as used for electric fence. I had the fence posts. I used a big spool of cord strapping tape, strung around the perimeter of the plot. White plastic bags (the colored ones don't work good) like from Walmart, etc. were then tied to the tape at 5-6 foot intervals. The tape was kept about 30-36 inches from the ground. Don't know what the deer sees, but they seem to avoid them.

Farm Hunter,
I planted the seeds Sept. 9th. Used a spredder on a tractor, broadcast. They were not tilled in, just driven over to get soil contact. Germination was pretty good. I put the fence up as soon as I was done with the tractor & ATV, (soil contact). The peas are climbers, and as there wasn't anything for them to climb, the vines spred across the ground, some were 15-20 inches. I took the fence down Nov. 12, gun season started on Nov. 22. Grazing was slow until a frost. Currently, the plot is still green but well chewed down. It is about 90% chewed to almost ground level. It will be interesting if the roots survived and will regrow. As we had 6 inches of snow Monday, the 16th. I don't think our spring is here yet. If they don't make it, I will definitely replant. The plot still has a good green color.

Lunch Bucket,
The clover plot is 3+ yrs. old. The clover is very spotty, as the deer really worked it over before they started on the peas. I believe retilling, spraying and replanting would be best. I have two other plots of clover that still look good, but this plot has "had it".

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but was helping the daughter and her husband move.

Russ

Russ otten

Post note:
that little garden patch I planted near the house? I was wrong, the deer are hitting it too. Just checked today. Now that the big plot is about gone, they're after this little plot. I guess that was what the dog was barking at all last night. They are starting at the corner fartherest from the house.

Russ

lunchbucket

I think that I would still attempt to spray and maybe to a little seeding before I would redo the whole field. We have had many customers that went through the same process as you and were pleasantly supprised when the field was sprayed with some Poast Plus...

Russ otten

The Clover plot is not all that big, about a 1/4 acre. I might mow it real close and see how much Clover is in the plot. If it is too spotty, I would rather till and hit it with roundup. If I have a good stand of clover, then I might try and save it.

Russ

Sgt Mike

I planted Austrian Peas and chufas just as soon as the little green sprouts popped through the darn turkeys found every one of them. (Except close to the house) Anyone know how to keep the turkeys out of the field?

Russ otten

Give that bag fence a try. I never any saw any turkey tracks in the fresh tilled dirt. It may work on them too. I think the big trick is to keep the bags near the ground, no more than 36" high. I do have a large flock of turkeys in the area. A few years ago they ruined 5 acres of corn, they would strip back the husk, eat a couple of rows and move to the next. The wife went down to get some roasting ears and a flock of over 150 took off, startling her. Neither the deer or turkeys bothered mu 1/2 acre of peas.

Russ