[Steve]

You must have something wrong with your deer if they don't like rye.

Wheat in the spring and winter rye in the fall are my two mainstays and I'm much in the same situation. After the soil gets worked for several years, you can try oats, winter peas, or even brassica. You could also try buckwheat after the last frost in the spring but once the deer figure out what it is....

 

[Steve]

Besides cereal grains with my ph correct most summers I can get away with white clover. Plant it in the fall with your rye. Should have a good stand the next summer.

Forgot to mention that. Good catch. But don't expect it to be a staple the fall you plant it. Much better for the following spring summer.

 

[Steve]

I'm thinking of trying some Sorgum Sudan grass this summer to see if I can build soil with it.

 

[Steve]

i tryed some sorgum from northwoods feed on boone rd.. its about knee high now and brown .. its only thing i planted on that wellston sand that deer didnt eat..i plan on just discing it in in spring

This sounds very promising. Exactly what I want. A soil builder that deer wont eat. Post a picture if you have a chance.

 

[Steve]

Ok, can do Friday when I'm up..i just did small area to try out

I'm pretty fired up about this now.

 

[Steve]

have you tried Egyptian wheat? it gets around 13 feet tall too but from what ive read from Jeff Sturgis deer have no interest in eating it

Several times. My sand was too dry to grow it.

 

[Steve]

i gave up on buckwheat its only good for pics on camera for me...Deer hammer buckwheat soon as it comes up

Exactly my experience. Had one good year with it hoping it would be a soil builder. Once the deer figured it out, it had no chance as they clipped it off at the ground.

 

[Steve]

I have had most luck with corn in sandy soil. If you have time, put a few inches of organic matter and then soil and work that into the ground

How do you keep the deer from eating the plant before the corn grows.

 

[Steve]

This is an old thread that has been renewed. The best thing I have found to grow in sand for deer is small burnet. They eat it is an understatement, but it handles or has the ability to grow with little rain/water. Depending on the deer density the size of the plot should be taken in consideration.

I have some of that seed to try. Will plant in late August. Sounds like it should grow in my dessert.