Market Farming

[Andy Fellenz <fellenz AT fltg.net>]

Any organic grower who is suggesting the use of Round-up is an "organic" grower in my book - a grower who has decided that the National Standard doesn't apply to them.  Use of Round-up will result in you resetting the clock for certification. 

If it is at all possible, get out on the ground now bush-hog it, moldboard plow and disk.  This will turn the sod under and let it start to break down over the winter.  If you can't do this, next spring get out as early as you can and till the ground, when you see regrowth till again and then transplant into the tilled ground and mulch the heck out of it to suppress weed/perennial grass growth.  I've done this on smaller plots and successfully grown both summer and fall squashes, tomatoes and peppers following tilling of the grass in the spring.  Even with the mulch, it can still be a pain during the first year keeping up with the weeds. 

Andy
www.FellenzFamilyFarm.com

20081102094226.4FF479A0 AT resin18.mta.everyone.net" type="cite">

--- gregory.strella AT gmail.com wrote:

From: "Gregory Strella" <gregory.strella AT gmail.com>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] How to Plow
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:20:04 -0400

I'm looking to convert four or five acres of grass at a former horticulture vocational school near Baltimore, MD into an organic market farm and agricultural education site.  There are some hedges and trees (mostly pine) in the mix as well.  Being a younger grower, I've never attempted to grow in soil that wasn't recently cultivated in one form or another.  My main concern is how many experts (both extension and several local organic growers) are advising me to spray glyphosate on the perennial grasses (looks like fescue, mainly) before I try to grow there.  This brings me to two questions:

1. Using a John Deere w/ ~ 35hp and renting/borrowing any tillage implements other than a mower or rototiller, is there a reliable way to mechanically break the sod next spring, grow some cash crops there at some point in 2009, and not face overwhelming perennial-grass weed pressure for "the next 10 years"?

2. If glyphosate is the best way to go - now that the window has closed on an effective fall application - when is the best time to spray in the spring?  What sequence of soil preparation would you advise pre/post-application?

I apologize if these are naive questions.  I'd much prefer to not rush vegetables into the ground and deal with the grasses slowly and thoroughly, but the time-table for this project is out of my hands.  Thanks in advance for any advice you have and for all the great posts as of late.

Greg Strella
Meristem Farm
Reisterstown, MD