Message from the farmers
Greetings,
As we begin to wind down our crop production, there is one important planting that we’ve been doing over the last few weeks that prepare our fields for the winter, our cover crop. We’ve been doing spot seeding of some sections of the fields with plantings of perennial Rye grass, one of the cover crops we use to protect the soil from wind and water erosion during the winter months. When planted properly, this type of cover crop develops a thick cover of grass to keep the winter winds from carrying the top soil away during those dry windy days that are coming. The roots also help in holding the soil from washing away during periods of heavy rain fall. We try to cover crop all areas not having a late fall vegetable growing.
During the early to mid 1930’s there were a combination of circumstances that lead to what was called the “Dust Bowl Days” in the mid west United States. At that time, drought, coupled with millions of newly plowed acres in the plain States, left bear soil to windy conditions to create huge dirt storms that went on for days, weeks and longer in some cases. The amount of damage to the soils in those areas was unprecedented in geological history.
Experience has changed farming practices since then to plan for seasonal changes in the weather and to protect the most precious asset on the farm, the topsoil. With proper cover cropping, there is minimal topsoil loss occurs during the winter months. As a certified organic farmer, I am obligated to manage our field’s topsoil with cover crops not only during the winter months but also when ever possible during the growing season to help build organic matter and additional nutrients.
Be well,
Fred & Karen
» Go Back to News
