Column by Dan Geddings: A chufa plot

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His text certainly got my attention. He had done some work for another club that he's in, and they gave him some of the extra seed for compensation, including a 50-pound bag of chufa. He would leave it at the clubhouse if I wanted it for the new land. "Sure do," I answered.

I had established a plot several years ago on a power line right of way near the big swamp. There was a strip of high ground there that was covered in brush and weeds. I knew with some work the strip could be converted into a wildlife food plot.

The area was about 400 feet long and 90 feet wide. The first thing I did was to spray a heavy application of herbicide on the existing vegetation. It was early May, and everything was green. Some of the brush was gum trees nearly head high. I carried a two-gallon sprayer and a cooler full of water for refills to the site.

After a week, the vegetation started turning brown, and I could see that I had missed a couple of small areas. I sprayed those areas and got someone lined up to bush hog the strip. I walked over the area and determined there were no big stumps. The land was flat, and the soil was somewhat sandy.

In early June after the dead vegetation was mowed, we plowed the area several times, leaving a strip along the edge of the woods for an access road. I walked along behind the tractor and picked up gum tree roots and tossed them out of the plot. We were now ready to plant. The best crop to plant for wildlife on new ground is chufa. I hand broadcast the nuts, and we plowed over it lightly to cover. A week later I went back and saw that we had a good stand coming up.

It takes about a hundred days to produce a crop of chufa. It looks much like our native nut grass. The nuts grow on tubers underground, and turkeys are natural scratchers that will dig the nuts and use the plot as a winter food source. But by mid-winter, there had been no sign of turkey activity. I was worried that the turkeys might not find the plot. Then one day in January I saw some minor hog damage and signs that turkeys were also scratching in the plot. I was delighted.

That plot was the best I had ever grown. I set up a trail camera and got pictures of 20 or 30 birds, including a half-dozen gobblers, in the flock. By the middle of February, the plot looked like it had been plowed. The ground had been dug up and scratched from one end to the other. In March, I shot a big gobbler there. Later, the turkeys dispersed, found other food sources and moved on.

In May, we plowed the plot and the chufa regenerated, but weeds were beginning to be a problem. The landowner replanted the pines adjacent to one side of the plot and sprayed the area with an herbicide by helicopter. Some of the spray drifted onto the plot and killed some of the plants. We had some turkey usage through the winter but not what I expected. We did not plant the plot the next year and let the area lay out. This past winter we planted oats in the chufa patch.

Now I had a free bag of nuts, and it was time to plant. I plowed the oats under and hand broadcast the chufa. Then I plowed lightly over the plot to cover the "seed." It was hot and hard work, but I got it done. While I was sitting in the shade taking a break, a turkey hen walked out into the plot. Even though I was wearing a white tee shirt and my red tractor was parked in plain sight, the turkey was unconcerned. The hen walked within 60 yards then turned into the woods. I took it as a good sign.

The next night we got a heavy rain. I will check the plot in about a week to see if the chufa has sprouted. I'm hoping for the best here. I can add lime and fertilizer if needed. Maybe spray if weeds get to be too much of a problem. I can hardly wait.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@theitem.com.