After a lot of planning and waiting for the right conditions I've finally started planting seeds in order to establish my "wild game meadow". I used the seed planting technique of frost seeding in order to plant seeds without needing any heavy equipment. Basically I just broadcast the seeds with a handheld seed spreader over the planting area while trying to time it so the ground was bare, but right before a heavy snow. In theory the snow will cover the seeds helping to protect them from birds as well as help to push them down into the soil providing good seed to soil contact when it eventually melts. Also as the ground cycles through freezing and thawing over late winter and early spring the heaving action will incorporate the seeds even deeper into the soil further improving the seed to soil contact.
In my first plot area I decided to only plant cover crops of winter rye and spring wheat. This is because for this plot I was experimenting with cutting the existing grass short multiple times with a weed eater to weaken it. Then I'm hoping the cover crops will be able to outcompete and shade out the existing perennial grasses eventually killing the grass and allowing me to plant my main mix of species that are part of my wild game meadow. In this plot I planted a third in winter rye, a third in spring wheat and a third in a mix of both species for experimentation.
My second plot area is actually an area of eroded soil on a cut bank for the main road leading to my property. This plot is quite steep and after heavy rain will tend to break apart and erode into the ditch. There are some weeds already growing here, but it is mostly bare soil. This plot is also south facing and receives a lot of sunlight which makes it an especially hot and dry site so it is a good test plot to see which plants will survive these harsh conditions the best. For this plot I planted crown vetch, small burnet, sweet clover, purple salsify, forage chicory and forage plantain.
My third plot is an area where I dug up a small area of sod with a grub hoe. I took out large chunks of sod flipped them upside down and placed them on top of an area of existing sod adjacent to where they were dug up. So on one side of this plot you have an indented area where the sod was removed and on the other half is the overturned sod placed on top of existing untouched sod. For the sod half I planted cover crops including spring wheat, winter rye, crimson clover and hairy vetch. I used these cover crops to shade out any of the sod that tries to regrow and then next year I will plant my main wild game meadow mix. On the bare non-sod half of this plot I planted crimson clover, hairy vetch, small burnet, sweet clover, purple prairie clover, lewis' flax, purple salsify, forage plantain and forage chicory.
My 4th plot area was another small plot this time in an area dominated by mostly annual weeds such as medusahead grass and yellow-starthistle as well as the perennial sulfur cinquefoil. For this area I used the grub hoe to scrape the weeds off the soil surface until I got to bare soil. For this plot I decided to plant crimson clover, hairy vetch, small burnet, sweet clover, lewis' flax, purple salsify, forage plantain and forage chicory.
Later into the spring I will be planting a 5th plot of just sainfoin. This plot will likely be made with the grub hoe ripping up the sod similar to my 3rd plot. Then lastly I will plant a few seeds of each species into my fenced garden area where I can monitor their growth and provide optimal conditions such as regular waterings and protection from deer and other herbivores. This will allow me to compare these pampered plants with their counterparts in the plots to see how well they are able to handle our summer drought as well as grazing pressure. Also once the seeds begin to grow in the spring I will also likely create small exclusion cages in the plots themselves to again monitor grazing pressure.
It feels really good to have finally started the planting process. I am really excited to see how the plots do in the future and to see which plants do well and which don't as well as which plot creating techniques work the best. It will be a lot of trial and error over the next few years, but eventually I will be able to develop a streamlined system that others will be able to recreate on their property in order to create their own wild game meadows and will be an important part of my hunter's eden system for creating optimal wild game habitat.
