Preparing the Dove Field

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted and it’s time for some new material.  Not that there’s been nothing to write about, preparing the field has been a task over the past couple of weeks.  I’ve just given other things more priority.

The last time I wrote about the field, John had taught me how to plow, and we left the field tilled and ready for fertilizer.  Again, with the dream of doves diving into a group of waiting hunters, I ordered the fertilizer.  The idea was to do everything I can to get a lot of legal seed on the ground in September.  So I called the local farm and seed store and ordered the 500 lbs. per acre of the 12-4-8 prescribed by the University of Georgia.

Not being a farmer, I was naive to think that they would deliver when I wanted.  Instead, I found that they were booked up for two solid weeks with farmers needing fertilizer for crops and pasture.  The earliest they could schedule was the Friday before we planned to plant the field.  I took it, realizing there was a certain chance that the fertilizer would not hit the field before our planned planting date.

Which is exactly what happened.  My call to the farm and seed store the Wednesday before planting confirmed that they would not be able to spread the dove field on Friday.  Apparently their truck was down and awaiting parts.  They would try to get to it Friday, but there were no guarantees.

On Friday, they confirmed that the truck was not ready, but that they would be able to spread on Monday or Tuesday the next week.  With a booked schedule through the rest of May, I thought we would need to hold off planting for weeks.  Johnny calmed my fears.  If they could spread on Monday or Tuesday, we would be able to seed the field over the weekend and get the fertilizer down before the seed germinates.

So the plans changed; we would seed the field over the weekend, and pray that the fertilizer could be spread on Tuesday at the latest.  And hope that it wouldn’t burn and young emerging plants.  Not ideal, but good enough for a novice dove field manager like myself.  It was at least enough for me to make plans to meet Johnny at the field over the weekend to spread seed.