Wildlife Forage

100 days. Hordeum vulgare. Open Pollinated. Barley. The plant produces high yields of barley. This is a good quality cereal grain for milling and cooking. Also great for grazing in pastures. This is an improved disease-resistant variety. Sow seeds in spring for a late summer harvest for seed production and sow in spring or summer for cover crop planting. A variety from the USA. Disease Resistant: Ccu.

110 days. Sorghum bicolor. Open Pollinated. Black Sugar Cane. The plant produces good yields of 6 to 18 ft tall cane-like grass. It is a popular sugar cane variety for home gardens and commercial syrup production, and ornamental use due to its height and dark features. The plant is high in sugar content, making it suitable for producing molasses, rum, syrup, sugar crystals, and rock candy. Also makes good livestock fodder. Excellent choice for home gardens and commercial production. A rare variety from China.

60 days. Brassica napus. Open Pollinated. Dwarf Essex Rape. This early-maturing plant produces excellent yields of kale. It is sweet, tender, and crunchy. Great for salads and sandwiches. It is cooked in the same way as broccoli, boiled, steamed, or stir-fried. Dwarf Essex Rape is an excellent forage crop for livestock and wildlife, including deer. Excellent choice for home gardens, market growers, open field production, and commercial production. Heat Tolerant. Drought Tolerant. Cold Tolerant. United States Department of Agriculture, NSL 80306. A variety from the USA.

24 days. Raphanus sativus. Open Pollinated. Groundhog Radish. The plant produces very large radishes. The radishes have an extensive root mass that aerates the soil and pulls nitrogen and other nutrients back to the soil surface for ready use for next season's crop. If planted in late summer, the radishes are not harvested or turned under but left to die off in the winter and decay to contribute to a nitrogen store for spring planting. Excellent soil builder, cover crops, and livestock and wildlife feed. Excellent choice for home gardens, market growers, and open field production. A variety from the USA.

65 days. Vigna unguiculata. Open Pollinated. Iron & Clay Cowpeas. This bush plant produces heavy yields of cowpeas. It is a popular variety of cowpea, similar to the blackeye cowpea. often described as a mix of "Iron" and "Clay" types (one more vining, one more bushy). They are widely used for food plots, especially for deer, quail, dove, and turkey, cover crops, forage/hay, soil improvement, and human consumption as black-eyed peas or similar field peas. Unlike other cowpea varieties, iron and clays continue to grow and produce forage after the seed has dropped. Excellent for baking, soups, dried beans, and canning. Hunters plant crops in fields to attract deer and game birds. Deer love these cowpeas. Quail & other game birds relish the seed if the plant is allowed to seed. Drought Tolerant. An excellent choice for home gardens. A variety from the USA.

110 days. Zea mays. Open Pollinated. Multi Colored Broom Corn. The plant produces high yields of beautiful straw used to make crafts and brooms. It grows without ears. It is also used for fall decoration arrangements. Birds love the tops of the corn. This variety grows multicolor straw. An excellent choice for home gardens and market growers. A variety from the USA.

55 days. Brassica oleracea. Open Pollinated. Premier Kale. This early variety produces heavy crops of deep green kale leaves. It is a popular heirloom kale variety known for its high yields, fast growth, and excellent flavor. Very flavorful. Used fresh in salads and on sandwiches, or cooked. This variety stands 3 to 4 weeks longer than other varieties. Provides higher yields when seeded in the fall for spring harvest. Most gardeners will be able to overwinter plants started in the fall. Spring-started plants will get very large. Extremely high in antioxidants and beta carotene. Also known as Early Hanover Kale. It is a slow-bolting variety that is best suited to cooler climates. The plants are slower to bolt than many other kales, making them ideal for both spring and fall planting. A great variety of wildlife forage, preferred forage for deer. An excellent choice for home gardens and market growers. United States Department of Agriculture, PI 706742. An heirloom variety from the USA.

110 days. Sorghum bicolor. Open Pollinated. Rox Orange Sugar Cane. The plant produces excellent yields of 8 ft tall sugar cane. The plant is high in sugar content. Perfect for making molasses syrup and an Asian alcoholic beverage called Maotai. Also grown and used as a biofuel and livestock grain. It yields about 100 gallons of syrup per acre. Does well in warm, well-drained, sandy loam. Also known as Waconia Sugar Cane. Sow 9 to 20 lbs per acre. An excellent choice for home gardens, market growers, and open field production. United States Department of Agriculture, PI 641836. This variety was developed for syrup production by the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Wisconsin, USA.

65 days. Sesamun indicum. Annual. Open Pollinated. Sesame. The plant produces high yields of flavorful leaves and seeds. Leaves are used in tea. Seeds are used in candies, pastries, bread, soups, salads, and Oriental dishes. Produces a lovely bell-shaped flower. Also used for feeding turkey, duck, dove, pheasant, rabbit, quail, and other birds. An excellent choice for home gardens. A variety from India.

60 days. Brassica napus. Open Pollinated. Siberian Kale. This early variety produces excellent yields of light blue green leaves with white stems and ruffled edges. Used fresh in salads and on sandwiches or cooked. It is one of the best varieties for salads. Light frost improves tenderness and flavor. Suitable for the Northern parts of the country. Great variety for wildlife forage, preferred forage for deer. An excellent choice for home gardens. United States Department of Agriculture, AMES 26626. An heirloom variety from Russia.

110 days. Beta vulgaris. Open Pollinated. Sugar Beet. The plant produces good yields of large 3 to 5 lb sugar beets. Sugar beets are a natural source of sugar and where most of the sugar industry derives its sugar from these days. The roots are white and taped and have a sweet sugar flavor. Shred the beets and add them to other vegetables. They can be made into sugar, syrup, molasses, and wine. It can be enjoyed as a sweet root vegetable, can be used as leafy greens, and can be processed for sugar. That's right, sugar beets can be used to make sugar! It is also used for feeding livestock and deer. Cold Tolerant. An excellent choice for home gardens, farmer’s markets, market growers, open production, and commercial production. A variety from the USA.