TOPIC: Hay

When I plant woodsgrown beds, I till, rake up the beds which gets the roots and rocks out of the way and leaves them hilled up in the middle. Then I use a mechanical seeder (altered Earthway) which seeds and compresses the bed. Then I spray on a fungicide and then put on the mulch -all at the same time.

Not only does it help to protect the seeds/seedlings, but it helps moderate moisture and temperatures also. Temps too cold can cause rust.

OK, thats what I kinda figured, but wasn't for sure. You use a mechanical seeder. I guess that saves quite a bit of time. I guess it depends on how much land you are cultivating. What is the turning point from planting by hand to a seeder? Size of land or tracts that you need to switch to a mechanical seeder? BCastle, what kind of fungicide do you use? Thank you for the replies.

Gareth,
It all depends on your bale of straw and how tight its baled but usually 500sq' per bale in level to rolling terrain. In steep areas I will put it down more thick which gets less area per bale. I always count on 100 bale per acre with the slopes in my woods.

Find a wheat grower who puts out a good weed free crop and buy your straw direct from him. If you can set it up, you could probably follow the baler through the field and load your trailer for $2 a bale, usually $2.50 if its in the barn but.. If you buy retail your looking at $5 plus tax.

Wheat growers \"thrash\" their crop for the grain or \"seed\" before its ever cut and baled but their may be a minute amount left. The straw is an additional byproduct for extra income. With that being said though, don't break your bales open in the middle of your beds. If it has seed in it they'll usually be packed together somewhere in that bale and fall out where you opened it up. Open them in your walkways. Wheat grows very poorly in shade and any(which should be very little) that comes up in your beds is easily dispatched.

Hillhopper

garethNjessica wrote:

OK, thats what I kinda figured, but wasn't for sure. You use a mechanical seeder. I guess that saves quite a bit of time. I guess it depends on how much land you are cultivating. What is the turning point from planting by hand to a seeder? Size of land or tracts that you need to switch to a mechanical seeder? BCastle, what kind of fungicide do you use? Thank you for the replies.

I use an Earthway garden seeder. http://www.ruralking.com/earthway-precision-walk-behind-garden-seeder-1001b.html?fee=2&fep=2607&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CNP2iOv95sMCFcOGaQod7DwA-w

You just have to alter the plates to work with ginseng seed. I came up with one method while Dr. Persons described a different method in his book. I think his might be better, but haven't tried it.

When I'm planting woodsgrown, I'm planting for harvest as rootlets in 2-4 years. So I plant thickly. I fit smaller beds in where ever I can. I might have a 2x10 foot bed and the bed next to it might be 2x 20 or longer. However they fit between trees and large rocks.

Fungicides get complicated. You can't just use one. Resistance is an issue that you must understand and take into account. These things change from year to year and are dependent on the approved labeling for the state you are in. The information is available elsewhere, but I can't talk about it on this site.

garethNjessica- don't worry about being a bit confused about the distinctions inbetween woodsgrown and wild simulated. It's been a arguing point with approiate grey areas for a long, long time. These distinctions are especially important to we growers, and even more when it's time to sell.

I you have a clear vision of your personal endgame, then you can incorperate these distinctions into it. When I am ready to sell my crop after harvest... i will be intending to sell my crop for as much as I can get for it... as Wild-Sim.

To answer your Q about the naturally occurring leaf clutter on the woods floor... you'll be planting in the woods, and the leaf clutter there is dependent on what trees are there. conifers are not too good for our favorite herb.. an occasional pine is OK. If your land has hardwoods, then you should be pretty much OK. IMHO- you should take a good look at the trees in those there hardwoods... find and figure pretty much exactly what kind you got there.

BCastle's approach to bed construction is good. I like it, as it's pretty much what I do, only on a wider scale. Where his beds are much less wider than mine, he says he is growing rootlets for saleable purposes... We are headed for a harvest some years down the road, and i try to keep my beds in a uniform width of 66 inches. these beds might be 20\" long or they might be 75' feet. They conform to the terrain, wrap around trees, and have walkways thru and inbetween them. From where I am, everything is constructed to the vision of the endgame.

Thanks guys. I guess everything on a piece of land will be set up for an endgame purpose, is this a correct and safe assumption? Also with mountain terrain, every bed will be a little different due to large trees, rocks, drop offs etc. Is this also safe to prepare for? Sorry BCastle about the fungicide, i didn't know I wasn't allowed to ask questions like that. I wasn't thinking. Thanks Hillhopper for the amount of hay per acre. That sure is more than what I was thinking. Big time off on that one.

No issues with asking or discussing it.

I've put quite a bit of time into a commercial product with information on that subject, but because of forum rules cannot discuss anything I do elsewhere here which might be considered competition or a sales pitch.

I really don't have much to contribute to this discussion, but I wanted to point out that I appreciate Gareth asking the questions, and also everyone else who is supplying answers. I am learning as much as I can, and hope to do my own growing in the next 1-3 years.