Hi Everyone No sooner had I complained about hot and wet weather and now we seem to have almost skipped fall and are now headed into winter. Annual weather variations are what keep farming exciting (and by that I mean an addicted gamblers level of adrenalin) but it’s also the reason we are putting up greenhouses for certain crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and winter greens and some roots. There are also other tricks to accelerating plant growth and beating the weeds. The photo above is the carrot block. You may remember from an earlier farm happenings that I had a photo of a section that had black plastic covering the ground. In July when it was hot we covered that section with plastic in order to heat up and scorch the weed seeds and seedlings there. It was covered for three weeks, uncovered, seeded, watered, re-covered for 5 days or until the carrots germinated and then uncovered. For the most part it has been a success. We only had to weed the block twice and even then it took half the time because the carrots grew quickly and shaded out the other weeds. I was a little late to seed them (3rd week of July) so I chose a variety that has a shorter maturity, called Little Fingers. This weeks boxes will feature Little finger carrots. As I transition the farm to a no-till and permanent bed system, the plastic-on-soil sterilization system will expand for certain crops on the farm such as lettuce, beets, carrots, baby greens, onions and some herbs. Currently we have a larger section covered with plastic which will be covered until late next year and that will be also be expanded with another section before the end of the month. 3 week coverage greatly reduces weed pressure in mid to late summer but if left on for a full year the results are life changing. Weeds are the number one challenge to crop production, followed by insects and disease, but year long solarization of the soil will make our jobs a lot easier, especially for high value crops. Obviously I am excited about no till. The solarization can easily be applied to the home garden situation, especially if you are just starting or expanding your space. For more information you can follow this link on YouTube to one of my favorite farm in New York.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozhVabDHjI&t=5s
