greenfield garden

I have to say... somebody here in a past thread gave me an awesome tip when they suggested to use a little bit of Milorganite in and around your garden to keep the deer out.

I reluctantly bought 2 bags for a shade over $20 and WOW! what a job it did! In one of my green fields, I planted 4 rows of pink eye peas, three rows of sweet corn, a row of tomatoes, and about 15 watermelons. I was expecting a disaster, but with a small dose of this stuff every couple of weeks, I haven't seen a track.

Picked four, five-gallon buckets of peas, 120 ears of sweet corn, the late tomaotes are just starting to ripen, and I pulled the first 4 watermelons Thurs evening. One of which weighed 44 lbs.

All this was in a green field that the deer kept mowed like a putting green last winter. I'm sold!

What kind of watermelons are you growing ?

I would post a pic, but I never have delved into photobucket. I think they are jubilees. I saved the seed from a particularly good one my in-laws gave us last year. light green with the dark green stripes. I may have a friend who could help me with posting a pic. If I can get him via text, I'll get him to post it.

[img:center]http://m.imgur.com/6fy1xBY[/img]

I goofed.. you'll have to follow the link to the pic yourself

How did you apply?

About every 2 weeks, I broadcasted, or lightly poured out of the bag while I walked the 'perimeter' around the garden. I also mixed it with the regular fertilizer I used into the soil along the rows.

It didn't take much on the perimeter treatment. I bought two, 50 pound bags in April, and I sill have some in the second bag.

It may never work this well again, but it sure worked this year.

Wish I'd done this. They ate mine slap down to nothing and it's 50 yards from my house.

While I am very happy it worked out for you, I am having a hard time knowing it comes from sewer sludge....just something about that is off putting for me.

Nothing to it... had no complaints from my family. Everything we got out of the garden was and still is awesome.

I just hope they don't get used to it before next year.

You gone try to hunt that greenfield this season?

That's where the real research will be done on the deer.

It's just dried microbes. More poop in the garden coming from worms. Stuff sure does stink though.

I do plan on planting the greenfield this fall. And according to the cowboy google research I conducted, the effects of the stuff will wear off with time. Hopefully two to three months will be enough. You are right though Luke... interesting to see what happens there this fall.

Keep us updated in this thread as the season progresses. It'd be interesting to compare numbers of deer on this field compared to your other fields, especially if you plan to plant it every summer.

LS:

I sprayed the greenfields this weekend with glyphosate, prepping them for fall planting. The garden I had is skeletal now, but there were several sets of deer tracks in it, and I saw where numerous weeds had been nipped off (presumably by deer). It's been a little less than two months since I last applied some of the Milorganite.

It looks like the effects are wearing off. I'll be sure to update again after the fields are up and growing... probably going to plant them in early Oct.

Thanks for the update

Oh hell i can show you pics of deer still feeding in my plots after 2 bags of milorganite this summer. 4-6 weeks after its put out they pile right back in like nothing was ever there.

I had ZERO deer activity in the garden during the treatments. I applied a little along the rows and around the perimeter every two weeks or so while the garden was going.

Turkey_neck... that's what all the light studying I did on the stuff said. After 4-6 weeks, the effect would wear off. That's about exactly what happened.

In the past, I've applied a couple cups worth around my garden every 2 or 3 weeks and had zero issues with deer. One $13 bag is enough to keep the garden protected for the whole summer growing season.

For the plots, I'd apply about every 3 weeks. Putting out a bunch at once is not better than putting out less per application, but every few weeks. I'm not doing this all summer, just long enough for the beans to get mature enough to handle browsing pressure. After that, let the deer pile in all they want. Obviously, you'd want to plan your last application wisely so that the smell is gone by the time the season opens up.

Success will depend on deer density, other available forage in the area, and it's a lot easier to hit the garden in the backyard every couple weeks than hunting land that might be a couple hours away.