Farms, Gardens, and Healthy Soils...

My moo girls.

 
I am still working on putting together my first nutrition blog. Takes time to make sure I check and recheck my knowledge and sources sometimes there are updates from when I first learned certain things. So I am digressing again, but this is also tied into human and animal health. Hang in there I will get one up soon.

As I work on my info gathering and writing I am also thinking about gardens and how I can plant small plots of grains on a part of my farm that needs some tender loving care due to previous owner mistreatment. I have let it 'set' to rejuvenate for a few years also since that is what Mother Earth had asked me to do at the time. Since then we have endured droughts and the land is either very sandy or very swampy in most areas and I hate to destroy the trees (mainly oaks) for more fertile ground. The skunks and badgers have made it a mine field so to speak. In a nutshell it is kind of a mess and sometimes I look at it and wonder where to begin first.

Healthy soil needs microbes, worms, bugs, etc to help unlock and even create nutrients. I leave all the indigenous plant life including bad weeds to help 'fix' what is out of balance. When I can, I cut down those weeds so the nutrients they have pulled up from the lower soil layers can be released at the top layer by the plant matter I just cut and made more readily available at the surface. Weeds good for doing this kind of work are nettles, dandelions, and thistles. The nettles and dandelions are really nutrition and tasteless and great to add to cooking. I some every year. Weeds are usually high in nutrients that are low in the soil when you go to test it. You may ask how can this be? Because they have huge long tap roots that can run very deep into the soil and pull up nutrients that are there but not readily available to other plants or in the soil according to soil tests. It is part of their job too. Learn about weeds and even other plants they can tell you a lot about your soils.

 I have let the forbes and grasses go to seed and reseed areas that were so terribly sparse on this parcel of land. It still needs some help  though and I need to fix all the holes and turned over sod in some areas. I know I need to bite this off in small chunks. Mostly because I don't have the cash nor the machinery power to do a lot or in huge sections. There are lots of plants that can help put humus, etc back into the soil. Buckwheat, clovers, alfalfa, birds foot trefoil, peas, etc to name a few. I am working on a list and then see what is available in my area. Corn is not an option because it is what they call a 'heavy feeder' and needs the extra fertilizer to keep it productive and after harvest the stalks do not break down easily like a green manure type plants do.

I am looking into Emmer wheat it suppose to be the old original wheat from 1000s of years ago and can grow on just about all types of soils and in all types of conditions. Some of the reasons it has fallen out of favor is it does not have the gluten content of our selected wheat varieties out now, but are not as 'hardy' as Emmer. It is not a 'high' yielding crop, but in poor conditions does much better than the 'newer' types. It is hard to find and when I have found it it is expense. It is said to possibly a good wheat to use if you are 'gluten' intolerant.

Spraying for weeds and pests really effects the microbes in the soil; so does using chemical fertilizers which contain salt. Salt does damage after years of build up. So I don't advocate using any chemical fertilizers and have noticed more worms on my farm than ever in the years before. Maybe I should start a worm farm. :) Weeds and pests are indications of imbalances in the soil and that is part of their job is to correct those imbalances and cover up the exposed soil while doing so until other grasses and forbes can fill in eventually.

I use kelp meal in my gardens and for my animals mineral, but find it is expensive at about $80/ 50 lbs (the last I bought some) to use anywhere else on the farm in big quantities. Kelp has all the elements for sustaining life in it and I find it helps a lot during drought and light frosts to keep the plants from being adversely affected. It has to do with what is called a Brix count, which basically is the 'sugar' content in the plants cells that promotes its health and ability to with stand fluctuations in its environment. Of course severe droughts and hard frosts most annual type plants are done, but it helps the other year around ones survive and thrive better. It is cut really fine so making a tea and spraying it can clog up sprayer lines. I need to work on the filter process more.

I try to reuse my animal manures but find with the cow manure if I can feed in areas it needs it the worse works best and let Mother Nature turn it into usable soil for me. I do spread my chicken compost around, but alas is also not enough to do large areas. Making compost tea aids in there some but my spray tank is only 25 gallons and does not go far. You have to remember to aerate it to keep the microbes happy while it is fermenting.

I would love to run my chickens I raise around those areas to help add to the soil, but I fear the chicken eating wildlife would get them quicker than they do now right in my yard. By the way my cattle love my lawn grass and wait at the fence for their share when I bag it up. haha

So I am back at looking into cover crops and doing really small plots like 20x20 and maybe only 2-4 plots each year. Make it manageable and affordable while helping out mother earth at the same time.I know I might need to inter plant other helpful plants like a grain and a legume to get the most benefit. I have composted several green manure type grasses and leaves, etc with great results in my soil texture, fertility, and overall health of the plants I grow in those areas. I know that using cover crops will help it is just doing it on a larger scale than my garden is the obstacle I have at this point.I will post here what I decide to do and how it all works out in the end.

Love and Light

Liana