Got a few seed head starting to pop out now......Rye really growing fast.



Clover filling in the understory. Mostly crimson but also some yuchi arrowleaf here and there that reseeded itself from the year before.

Getting ready to put some maters in the ground. I love tomato sandwiches in the summer.

Rye sprayed and pressed.

That's a great video for anyone who is even remotely interested in the principles behind no-till/throw & mow. That is one of the videos that I watched when I first started experimenting a few years back. I posted it in a previous thread as well because it has a thorough explanation of all the benefits of this method.

Ok so I've read this whole topic. What I've gathered is : the purpose is to create organic matter or biomass during the spring and summer. When it's time appropriate mow all this down and spray with gly(personal choice). Plant around 2 weeks later by throwing seed and not tilling.


Assuming that's all correct, I have an area that's subject to erosion, From bulldozer work that was done over Christmas time. (Before all the rain now It's staying very wet right now)I have planted some winter rye about a month ago that looks great and helping with erosion for now. My question is what can I do/plant to prevent from having to till again before the rye dies? I did throw out 10lbs of bahaia grass with the rye. I'm aware that I need to do a soil sample which I will get done.

I'm very new to planting food plots and I'm not very familiar with terminology. I did my first plots last year (always had a buddy that did them and never worried with it) with no soil testing with Crimson clover and a three blend mix from the feed store. So type slow or dumb it down if you will.

I'd play it by ear. Just let it keep growing right now. Watch and see if some natural vegetation starts coming back from the seed bank. If so, then I'd just mow the rye and throw out some fert/lime this summer. In an infertile situation where all the organic matter is gone....it is easier in the beginning to just grow the plants that were put on this Earth for the purpose of reclaiming those areas. As an example of what I mean.....I had a lot of crabgrass come back in my field in the beginning. It thrived in the very poor conditions while other things that I tried to plant suffered and were much more finicky to the infertile soil. You would be just as well off in the first couple summer rotations to grow the plant that will thrive and produce biomass to get the process turned arouund....rather than trying to grow something from a bag that just suffers or grows half arse. I see a lot of folks want to grow this, that, or the other and end up still behind the eight ball when the summer ends because it failed or was eaten up.

Cactus, this is throw and mow, not mow and throw. Sew your seed, then mow it down over the top. Brown top millet grows well in poor soil and is cheap, about $26/50lb bag. It is used to prevent soil erosion.

I agree with blum......millet would be a good option if you want to throw something out before you mow the rye down. I wouldn't spray and kill the other stuff though.

Thanks guys

Been planting plots s long time.

This is the way to go hands down. As I convert all my annual plots to this out wI'll save me at least 24 hours of tractor time. I already sprayed and mowed them anyway.

The plots I tried this in this year were a success beyond my expectations. Even though I always had really good plots it was obvious my germination rate was much higher. It eliminated both bird predation on my seed (only thing I could call it) and covering to deep in my opinion.

And it seemed to curb what little weed problem I had from time to time.

Getting over the mental hurdle of doing something different is the hardest part. I’m guessing that there’s a lot of guys out there in south Alabama right now that just watched a freshly tilled garden get washed away and eroded. They’ll start over now and not think anything about it because that’s the way its always been done.

I also think it saved my plots due to the extreme drought we had after planting in mid September. I'm in TN so we plant earlier than most here.

Everday i drive buy peoples garden that has been tilled and just sitting there, and wondered, why? What is the thought process? Heavy rains wash it away, sun dries it up and if you'll notice most of them have absolutely no OM in the dirt.

It’s just human nature. For most folks, it’s the way it’s always been done. It’s the way Granddaddy did it. When folks get set it their ways with something like this then it’s extremely hard to get them to see anything else. Only the really open minded people will even give change consideration. Some will just out right reject change no matter what. The part that slays me the most if you’ll watch over time…..is that there’s constantly folks on here with stories about planting with the traditional tillage method and having failures or poor results. All of those failures just get chalked up to…..

“Well, it just be like that sometimes.”…....

.... and the foundation of the method is never put into question. It doesn’t matter how many times someone’s plot washes away or looks chitty or how much fertilizer they waste, etc.…….they will scratch their heads and just get the plow back out to start over.

To compound the problem, you have a select few folks out there who naturally have an ideal mix of sand, silt, clay that’s like the Cadillac of soils. Those soils will grow great plots very easily and can withstand heavy tillage without seeing the same degree of negative consequences someone with sandy soil might see. Those are the plots you see people posting pics of the most often and it really distorts people’s perceptions of what’s actually happening or why folks are having success. Other folks try to replicate the same process in a sand pit and don’t get the same results…..been there, done that.

The rye has terminated and is now drying out in the mater bed. I’m going to start putting some in the ground after this next cold snap we’ve got coming up. Anyone who has a no till drill can plant food plots with the same general method I’m using for this small garden area. The process is shown in the video “Undercover Farmers” that was posted a page or so back. We’re applying the same principles…..weed suppressant, moisture retention, minimal soil disturbance, add organic matter/root structure/soil structure, erosion prevention, etc…......Throw and mow is just a variation of the same technique.

The rye in the field is maturing and is around 5-6 ft tall. I'm holding the camera at the top of my head to take this pic for reference. Most of it would likely terminate now if you mowed it. It mows easier if you let it dry out.

A few pears around the edge of the field……fifteen total. They’re still young now but they should really put out some fruit in another few years.

Crimson, those must not be grafted pear tree's, because mine are only 4 years old and smaller than yours and they had pears last year, and look to be loaded this year. I think i'll have to pull a lot of them to keep my limbs from breaking.

It's the pear package from the Wildlife Group plus a couple of strays I picked up. They've been in the ground 3 years now I believe. Pretty much full sunlight. Most things I've planted likes this sandy loam soil....sawtooths love it. I had them produce some pears last year but nothing like the bucket fulls that they'll one day make.

As far as the throw and mow goes,what if your bushhog doesn't scatter the grass under it while cutting. Mine rows to one side coming out the back. I've used land prides before and they mulch the grass up evenly behind the bushhog which would give the seed good coverage but with the Howse brand that I have it doesn't do that. I didn't wanna waste a alot of money on seed to have it come up in rows and feed the birds. I thought about letting my fields die off and put my seed out and just disk once to get a little dirt up and let the wheat and oats cover the seed kinda like CNC did his garden.

Try reducing your RPMs. This provided more even distribution for me.