Today the sun came out! All day. Sun. Seriously.
We were at the market when a friend of ours called and said “Get a tractor now and till your field.” So Aby, being the rockstar that she is, rented a tractor and had it delivered to the farm. Our friend came out and started tilling before we got home and Aby is out there now tilling the rest of the field! Not bad considering she just learned how to drive the tractor an hour ago. This means we can start planting outside, assuming the weather stays nice. Very exciting.
For those of you who know us, you know that we believe in no-till systems. So here is our conundrum- we are renting this land on a year to year lease. It was tilled every year for the last 20 years. It will probably be tilled next year. It takes more than one season to implement no-till systems and the weed pressure will be extreme this year. Taking all of that into consideration we have decided to till this season to expedite planting. It’s not ideal but it’s what we are dealing with. Every new farmer must make compromises and this was a hard one for us. When we are on our permanent property we will works towards a no-till system. We will still do everything we can to improve the soil while we are here. Permaculture principles dictate that you leave the land better than you found it and that will be our ultimate goal, starting with living, nitrogen fixing, mulch in the rows. Stay tuned for more information on the living mulch.
Yeah for the sun! We are now one step closer to plants getting in the field.
We were at the market when a friend of ours called and said “Get a tractor now and till your field.” So Aby, being the rockstar that she is, rented a tractor and had it delivered to the farm. Our friend came out and started tilling before we got home and Aby is out there now tilling the rest of the field! Not bad considering she just learned how to drive the tractor an hour ago. This means we can start planting outside, assuming the weather stays nice. Very exciting.
For those of you who know us, you know that we believe in no-till systems. So here is our conundrum- we are renting this land on a year to year lease. It was tilled every year for the last 20 years. It will probably be tilled next year. It takes more than one season to implement no-till systems and the weed pressure will be extreme this year. Taking all of that into consideration we have decided to till this season to expedite planting. It’s not ideal but it’s what we are dealing with. Every new farmer must make compromises and this was a hard one for us. When we are on our permanent property we will works towards a no-till system. We will still do everything we can to improve the soil while we are here. Permaculture principles dictate that you leave the land better than you found it and that will be our ultimate goal, starting with living, nitrogen fixing, mulch in the rows. Stay tuned for more information on the living mulch.
Yeah for the sun! We are now one step closer to plants getting in the field.