Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

from Season Extension Techniques for Market Gardeners
Horticulture Technical Note
long article at
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/seasonext.html

Transplants

Use of transplants (versus direct seeding) is another key season-extension
technique. Some crops have traditionally been transplanted, and recent
improvements in techniques have expanded the range of crops suited to
transplant culture. Transplants provide earlier harvests by being planted
in a greenhouse several weeks before it is safe to direct-seed the same
crop outdoors. If a grower uses succession planting or multiple cropping
(i.e., follows one crop with another in the same spot), transplants provide
extra time for maturing successive crops. Transplants hit the ground
running, with a 3 to 4 week head start on the season. Transplanting aids in
weed control by getting a jump on the weeds and by quickly forming a leaf
canopy to shade out germinating weed seedlings. Transplants also avoid
other pests that attack germinating seeds and young seedlings, such as
fungal diseases, birds, and insects.
Multiple Cropping

Planting more than one crop on the same bed or row in one year intensifies
the cropping schedule. Immediately after one crop is harvested, another is
planted. Dr. Charles Marr and Dr. William Lamont (1992) list the following
advantages of multiple cropping, and conclude "if you can't triple crop,
then you certainly can consider double cropping."

    * Cost savings. Money spent on plastic mulch, drip irrigation lines,
and other equipment covers three crops instead of one.
    * Higher gross per acre. In his triple cropping field trials, Lamont
realized gross returns of $13,000 to 15,000 per acre.
    * Improved cash flow. Multiple harvests throughout the season can
provide income at critical times and distribute returns more evenly over a
longer period.
    * Risk management. Multiple cropping provides a hedge against the loss
of a crop to freezes, hailstorms, and other crises.
    * Increased productivity. Small areas of land are thus made more
productive, a great boon in areas where cropland is scarce or costly.