I started prepping this field near about the end of March. Had I been able to to disc and get the bed shaper in a week earlier I would have been able to take advantage of a nice storm system to establish a turnip cover crop.
I wanted to use in-line drip poly hose, but the other farmer working the land adjacent to mine (and sharing his mainline water access) advised me against it, as he felt the pressure that the pump generated would not be sufficient to give adequate moisture out of the rigid tubing. A month later, we’ve switched to an entirely new pump and well with tremendous pressure. Oh well.
Mammoth sunflowers coming in. The idea was to get some biomass out there and do a little chop and drop, stripping the leaves and cutting down some sunflowers, to cover bare ground. Experimenting with planting pole beans and cucumbers at the base of some of the sunflowers for trellising. Many row crop farmers opt for black plastic mulches to prevent weeds and to get their crops going earlier. Sadly, this practice totally neglects the soil and creates mounds of agricultural waste.
How the sausage is made. Portrait of a Farmer as a young man driving his very reliable dodge caravan loaded with tools and crops. Spin farming 101
Ronde De Nice and Cocozelle Squash just picked. I’ve been making great squash crepes and thai curries.
Shoshin Ecological Farming and Gardening 