This is an article that is different than my others.  I’m talking to the guys and gals that love to hunt deer in the fall.  I’m talking about the true hunters, the ones that start getting ready as soon as the last day of the season.  Spring food plots are growing good, the deer are having their babies, and they are eating the protein for the horns.

July is a good time to start killing the grass and be thinking about the fall season.  One thing I would recommend is to take a soil sample now so you can take of the soil in the right way.  In our area, we usually need to lime.  Get about a cup full of soil in several different places and mix together.  LSU Ag center will do the testing.  The test forms can be found at the LSU Ag center website.  It costs $11 a sample and this time of year it does not take long to get the results.

If you don’t want to wait, you could be already putting out lime so it can get started working.  There is fast acting lime that does a really good job and quickly too.  It was developed specifically for fall food plots.  Now a lot of people use it on their yards.  It takes 8 bags to cover an acre.  You can also use a regular pellet lime but it takes a long time to do any good.  

We are currently booking and ordering the plot mixes and attractants.  We have a lot of them to pick from and we do our best to get the best for our area.  They will arrive in the middle of August and we also look forward to seeing all of our customers.  The fall season is a huge part of our business, everyone is looking forward to the season of cooler weather and the deer hunting.  If you have something special that you would like to try just come buy and see me and I’ll try to find it.  

You can plant tomatoes, beans, and other garden plants this time of year.  I’ve got a few tomatoes getting ready.

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal. Email Mitzi questions at  mitzithomas40@yahoo.com.)