Farming is Work That Matters

I was at the MOSES organic farming conference at the end of February. Several of the classes that I went to were out standing, real life changing stuff. I sent the teachers a note and told them they did a nice job and should be very proud of doing "Work that Matters".

Most organic farmers are doing "Work that Matters" too and here is why.

Soil 307: Thirsty

Conventional agricultural soils are thirsty. In his book "Your Bodies Many Cries for Water". Dr. B. talks about the critical role that hydration plays in the health of the human body. The same thing applies to the soil. If there isn't enough organic matter in the soil to hold the rainfall our soils won't function properly.

Hydrating our soils is more about having adequate cover on the soil surface and organic matter to hold the moisture than having a certain amount of rainfall. Most cropping regions have enough rainfall, but they may not utilize it well. We should focus on building our soils with the need to retain moisture in mind.

Symptoms of Soil Degradation

I went to the organic farming conference in LaCrosse, WI a few weeks ago. One of the speakers was talking about the symptoms of degraded soils.

It is worth measuring our soils against this list.

Chemical Agriculture 203: Ecological Diseases

A number of ecoloogical diseases have lead to undesirable consequences in agriculture. This was a surprise to some as it was thought that monocultures would not negatively affect society.

The technical terms for these diseases are "diseases of the ecotope" and "diseases of the biocoenosis".

What is the Optimum Amount of Sunlight for Vegetables in Pots

The amount of day light available to your potted vegetables will determine the growth rate. What is the ideal amount?

Drip, Drip, Drip

Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip

No I’m not having a problem with an annoying faucet, drip irrigation is one of the modern wonders of agricultural technology. Drip tube is created by a poly tube that has passages every 8-12 inches that seep out a controlled amount of water, but have a labyrinth that won’t allow fine soil particles to block the passage when water pressure is off.

We typically use drip when we use a plastic row cover, which isn’t very often. The only annual crop we use drip on is cherry tomatoes. It keep them clean and helps us control water, when the crop is mature. 

We also used drip when we started the raspberries. We used plastic row cover to keep the weeds down in the rows for the first couple of years and allow us to water. When I had tried to start raspberries in the past those were the two problem areas. Worked like a champ this time.

You can also use drip without row cover instead of a soaker hose. It is inexpensive and very flexibl

You need a few accessories to use drip. The first is a regulator, to step down the water pressure from what is in your garden hose to 10-15 psi required by the drip. The regulators are preset for pressure. You also need adapters from your hose to the pipe fittings on the regulator.