As it is planting season, it was another busy week on the farm.
The week of February 25th, Donald prepared the information on seed needs for the March planting; however, we are waiting to get all of the February seed down before ordering the seed. We are hoping that we will not run into problems getting certain seeds, as seed availability is a concern with the drought that has plagued the mid-west and south over the past two years.
David finished the last 55 feet of fencing this past week and put down the Hydrolyzed Fish Powder in plot 1D, as well as the north half of plots 2C and 1B. A total of 25 gallons of water was mixed with a total of 7 pounds of Fish Powder for the applications.
David also tilled plots 1D, 2C, and 1B with help from Danielle (and a little help from Donald) and the plots were dragged to try to level them a little.
On Saturday, approximately 2,784 cabbage seeds were applied to the north half of plot 1D. Some experimentation was used during the planting. First, the Earthway Seeder was used to set the rows (without seed due to the amount of debris on the ground). Next, we attempted to "hand seed" using a PVC pipe to drop the seed, followed by raking the dirt over the seed. This did not seem effective and was very time consuming and we changed methods after the first 4 rows. The rest of the rows were planted using the Earthway Seeder. It seemed to work well, and definitely save time. A total of 16 rows were planted.
We are not sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but a storm rolled in Saturday night (expected, but due to planting deadlines, we planted anyway). It was a blessing as we did not have to water the seed; however, it may also be a curse, as the seeds (1) may have been washed away, and/or (2) the seed may rot if there is too much water. We are hoping that no damage was done and that we will see some growth in a couple of weeks.
We knew we were taking risks when we decided to direct seed the cabbage as we are not providing row covers this planting, and may have problems with cabbage beetles and other insects, but wanted to try doing the planting all-natural.
We still need to get the onions, carrots, lettuce, and radishes planted and hope to get most of it planted over the next week or two, depending on weather (we are entering severe weather season). The sooner we get these seeds down, the sooner we can order our March seed and get it planted.
We will be planting our spring crops through April, and then will start planning more cover crops and our fall planting.
David is watering the seed beds and caring for the chicks several times a day, and has to get up early to turn the grow lights on and go to bed late to turn them off, but he is learning a lot (as we all are).
Debbie attended her first Beginning Farmers and Ranchers class at the Kerr Center (it is actually the second class, but David had to fill in for her at the first class as she was in California). She enjoyed her class and is looking forward to the education and fellowship offered through this program.
Until next time ...
Blessings from Baker Heritage Farms
"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." President Dwight D. Eisenhower
No comments:
Post a Comment