Weather forecast: Monday, 70% chance of rain, high of 58 degrees F; Tuesday, mostly sunny, high of 53 degrees F.
Well, folks, you are certainly getting a taste of one of the most challenging aspects of farming life--the weather! For the third Monday in a row rain and chilly temps are predicted. And it sounds like the wet, cold weather is going to follow us through most of the week. If it doesn't warm and dry up soon, this weather is going to make it very challenging for us to get our spring crops in the ground in time to begin our scheduled CSA harvests at the end of May.
If it's not actually raining while you're out here, I may have you help us lay cardboard sheets around the perimeter of a couple of our growing areas as a quack grass control measure. (Since we don't use herbicides, we have to rely on physical means to keep weeds out of our growing beds.) If it is raining, however, I think we'll work inside the hoophouse. We got the new plastic put on this afternoon, so it will give us some shelter. I've reserved one bed for you to play with, so you can practice using my favorite tool of all time, the broadfork, to work it up. You'll probably want to work in some compost and fertilizer and then you can decide what you want to plant.
We've got a small amount of soil-blocking to do this week (broccoli), so if any of you want a little more practice with the soil-blocker, you can work on that as well.
See you all soon!
Showing posts with label work days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work days. Show all posts
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Second Week Pictures!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Tuesday, April 9: Germination experiment
We started a little experiment this week!
Amy designed an experiment that would show us all the things she's been telling us about the best way to plant and germinate seeds indoors for transplanting. Each cross-section of the trays are planted with the same variety of yellow tomato, the Golden Ray. Two of each tray have a soil-less planting mix (A) and the other two have the compost soil mix (B) that we've been using for all the soil blocking. Each of the three separate trays will be placed in locations that receive varying amounts of light.
 |
| This is posted on the bulletin board so we remember how we set up the experiment! |
This will allow us to see the effects of both soil quality and light on the germination of seeds of the same plant variety. We'll be able to observe the results over the coming weeks. Cool, huh?
April 1 and 2: Soil samples
On our first work days, one of the things we did was gather soil samples from four different areas around Harvest of Joy.
These included the area near the hoophouse that was a garden before a field, a field with good soils that has been under cultivation ~3 years, a sandy area planted last year with poor results, and a new area to be planted this year down by the river.
Soil was gathered from different spots in each location and aggregated to give us a representative sample of the soil in the field. These will be sent off to the MSU Soil and Plant Nutrient Laboratory for soil testing, which will give us a detailed break down of the type of soil and nutrients present. (http://www.psm.msu.edu/SPNL/)
We also did a little experiment of our own right there on the porch!
Adding about 16 oz of soil and a full jar of water, we were able to see the layers of soil-- from clay to silt-- and their different colors. They told us a lot about the soil composition and looked beautiful too!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Perlite & Vermiculite
On Tuesday this week we talked a bit about perlite and vermiculite in seed starting mixes but I wasn't entirely sure what these materials were made of. So . . .
Perlite, according to Wikipedia: "Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial mineral and a commercial product useful for its light weight after processing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlite
And Vermiculite: "Vermiculite is a hydrous, silicate mineral that is classified as a phyllosilicate and that expands greatly when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently, and the effect is routinely produced in commercial furnaces. Vermiculite is formed by weathering or hydrothermal alteration of biotite or phlogopite.[1]Large commercial vermiculite mines currently exist in Russia, South Africa, China, and Brazil." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite
Also on Tuesday we started some experiments with different seed-starting conditions so that you can get a visual sense of what a healthy (and unhealthy) transplant looks like. We used two different planting mediums Metro Mix 300 from Sun Gro horticulture and Seed Starter 101 from Morgan Composting.
Metro Mix ingredients: "Vermiculite, bark, Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, coarse perlite, bark ash, starter nutrient charge (with Gypsum) and slow release nitrogen and dolomitic limestone." (I think I told you that this was a nutrient-less mix, but as I look at the ingredients, I see that I was wrong in this. It does have that "starter" nutrient charge.) http://sungro.com/products_displayProduct.php?product_id=104&brand_id=17
Morgan's Seed Starter 101 "contains products like worm castings, meat and Bone Meal, Feather Meal, and paramagnetic rock." http://www.dairydoo.com/Morgan_Composting/For_Greenhouses.html
We planted four tomato plants in each of three 4-chambered plastic pots with two chambers filled with Seed Starter 101 and the other two with Metro Mix 300. We put one pot under a grow light, one in a sunny (well it will be if the sun ever comes out) window, and the other in a shady area of the porch. We'll water them and see what happens!
Perlite, according to Wikipedia: "Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial mineral and a commercial product useful for its light weight after processing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlite
And Vermiculite: "Vermiculite is a hydrous, silicate mineral that is classified as a phyllosilicate and that expands greatly when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently, and the effect is routinely produced in commercial furnaces. Vermiculite is formed by weathering or hydrothermal alteration of biotite or phlogopite.[1]Large commercial vermiculite mines currently exist in Russia, South Africa, China, and Brazil." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite
Also on Tuesday we started some experiments with different seed-starting conditions so that you can get a visual sense of what a healthy (and unhealthy) transplant looks like. We used two different planting mediums Metro Mix 300 from Sun Gro horticulture and Seed Starter 101 from Morgan Composting.
Metro Mix ingredients: "Vermiculite, bark, Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, coarse perlite, bark ash, starter nutrient charge (with Gypsum) and slow release nitrogen and dolomitic limestone." (I think I told you that this was a nutrient-less mix, but as I look at the ingredients, I see that I was wrong in this. It does have that "starter" nutrient charge.) http://sungro.com/products_displayProduct.php?product_id=104&brand_id=17
Morgan's Seed Starter 101 "contains products like worm castings, meat and Bone Meal, Feather Meal, and paramagnetic rock." http://www.dairydoo.com/Morgan_Composting/For_Greenhouses.html
We planted four tomato plants in each of three 4-chambered plastic pots with two chambers filled with Seed Starter 101 and the other two with Metro Mix 300. We put one pot under a grow light, one in a sunny (well it will be if the sun ever comes out) window, and the other in a shady area of the porch. We'll water them and see what happens!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Week 1 at Harvest of Joy Farm LLC
Weather Forecast: highs in the mid-30s, chance of snow and/or rain.
I'm looking forward to introducing all of you to the farm this week, though I wish I had some nicer weather to do it in. We had some lovely sunshine here this afternoon, but already tonight the wind has picked up and temperatures are dropping quickly.
I still hope to be able to take you on a hike around the property, so please dress warmly. I'd like to give you a sense of the land and its history, since the ecology of the surrounding landscape affects how and what we're able to grow. I also want to share the history of my business with you and to go over our plans for the coming year so that you can get a sense of how your few hours of work here each week fit in with the bigger picture of what we're creating.
I shared our field maps and production planning spreadsheets in previous blog posts. We'll take a look at them together this week so that you can ask any questions you may have about how we plan our planting schedule for the CSA. If you've looked at the spreadsheets, you can probably tell that it's pretty intensive! I'm also going to post a copy of our business plan. I hope that you'll take the time to read it through, as it will give you a sense of our both our mission and vision and the actions we're taking to make those manifest.
Weather permitting, I'd like us to collect soil samples this week as well. We'll sample four or five different growing areas and send the dirt off to MSU for testing. In a couple of weeks, the soil lab will send us reports which detail the soil nutrient levels and pH in each plot. We can then talk about what actions might be necessary to create more optimal growing conditions in these plots. There may be certain soil amendments that we'll choose to add based on these results. Unless any of the nutrient levels are way off, though, it's more likely that we'll just continue to add compost and to use cover crops to build up the organic matter in the soil and to support the growth of beneficial soil microorganisms.
The longer I grow vegetables, the more convinced I become that encouraging diverse and healthy soil ecology is the key to everything. So I want to help you get a sense of how to assess and work with soils. Here's a chart that shows you the basic make-up of healthy garden soil: Soil Composition Chart. Note that 50% of this soil area contains air and water! This fact sheet from Penn State Extension goes into more detail regarding soil composition, including why that air and water space is important and how to create it: Soil Quality - Introduction to Soils.
I wrote a blog post a little over a year ago on soil health entitled Ground Work. When I re-read it tonight, I was surprised to see that I mentioned the 2012 Farm Bill near the end of the article. At that time, the Senate Agriculture Committee was drafting the 2012 Farm Bill, since the 2008 Farm Bill was due to expire in the fall of 2012. Well, last fall came and went and now in April of 2013 we still don't have a new Farm Bill. The fiscal cliff negotiations at the beginning of this year didn't help matters, as agricultural funding was tied up in that as well. The National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition has an article on the affects of the fiscal cliff deal on ag. funding: Congress Includes Awful 2008 Farm Bill Extension in Fiscal Cliff Deal. If you don't know what the Farm Bill is, check out What is the Farm Bill? And if you don't know why I'm concerned about it, read this article by Tonya Tolchin: The Farm Bill: Why Farmers Need to Be Activists Too.
See you all soon!!
I'm looking forward to introducing all of you to the farm this week, though I wish I had some nicer weather to do it in. We had some lovely sunshine here this afternoon, but already tonight the wind has picked up and temperatures are dropping quickly.
I still hope to be able to take you on a hike around the property, so please dress warmly. I'd like to give you a sense of the land and its history, since the ecology of the surrounding landscape affects how and what we're able to grow. I also want to share the history of my business with you and to go over our plans for the coming year so that you can get a sense of how your few hours of work here each week fit in with the bigger picture of what we're creating.
I shared our field maps and production planning spreadsheets in previous blog posts. We'll take a look at them together this week so that you can ask any questions you may have about how we plan our planting schedule for the CSA. If you've looked at the spreadsheets, you can probably tell that it's pretty intensive! I'm also going to post a copy of our business plan. I hope that you'll take the time to read it through, as it will give you a sense of our both our mission and vision and the actions we're taking to make those manifest.
Weather permitting, I'd like us to collect soil samples this week as well. We'll sample four or five different growing areas and send the dirt off to MSU for testing. In a couple of weeks, the soil lab will send us reports which detail the soil nutrient levels and pH in each plot. We can then talk about what actions might be necessary to create more optimal growing conditions in these plots. There may be certain soil amendments that we'll choose to add based on these results. Unless any of the nutrient levels are way off, though, it's more likely that we'll just continue to add compost and to use cover crops to build up the organic matter in the soil and to support the growth of beneficial soil microorganisms.
The longer I grow vegetables, the more convinced I become that encouraging diverse and healthy soil ecology is the key to everything. So I want to help you get a sense of how to assess and work with soils. Here's a chart that shows you the basic make-up of healthy garden soil: Soil Composition Chart. Note that 50% of this soil area contains air and water! This fact sheet from Penn State Extension goes into more detail regarding soil composition, including why that air and water space is important and how to create it: Soil Quality - Introduction to Soils.
I wrote a blog post a little over a year ago on soil health entitled Ground Work. When I re-read it tonight, I was surprised to see that I mentioned the 2012 Farm Bill near the end of the article. At that time, the Senate Agriculture Committee was drafting the 2012 Farm Bill, since the 2008 Farm Bill was due to expire in the fall of 2012. Well, last fall came and went and now in April of 2013 we still don't have a new Farm Bill. The fiscal cliff negotiations at the beginning of this year didn't help matters, as agricultural funding was tied up in that as well. The National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition has an article on the affects of the fiscal cliff deal on ag. funding: Congress Includes Awful 2008 Farm Bill Extension in Fiscal Cliff Deal. If you don't know what the Farm Bill is, check out What is the Farm Bill? And if you don't know why I'm concerned about it, read this article by Tonya Tolchin: The Farm Bill: Why Farmers Need to Be Activists Too.
See you all soon!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)