Market Farming

[JOHN A HENDRICKSON <jhendric AT wisc.edu>]

Paul,

Sounds like you're in a warm climate where you can sow year-round.  Let
me make sure I understand your system.  You follow the animal pens with
either rye or turnip greens depending on the season as cover crops and
then follow that with a market crop?  Is that the gist of it?  Since you
do not plow or rototill, do you hand-dig to prepare the soil for the
following market crop?  What scale is your farm?  Are animal products
marketed as well or do you just have them around for the fertility/weed
control?  Sorry if this is being too nosy.  Like I said, I'm just
curious about farms that are diversified into both vegetables and
animals and how folks make the enterprises mesh together into a complete
system (both biologically and economically).  Thanks.  -John

>    I run my pigs/chickens year round moving the pen forward 5ft. 
> per day. 
> Then sow witner rye grass behind the pen as it moves forward in the 
> winter, 
> turnip greens or whatever is cheap in the summer..  After 10 years 
> of doing 
> this have had no more than normal pathogens in either.  Also have 
> not plowed 
> or rototilled in the same time period.  Paul Range