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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Managing fertility in light vs heavy soils

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  • From: John Ferree <john AT seldomseenfarm.com>
  • To: michelleann7 AT yahoo.com, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Managing fertility in light vs heavy soils
  • Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:10:33 -0400

Thanks Michelle. . .
It seems like there are different nutrient management criteria for
lighter soils. . . I hope to avoid too much sand content, but beggers
can't always be choosers. We're looking for 40 tillable acres and doing
at least 1:1 cover crops to cropped ground. It is a challenge to find a
ligher soil that isn't flood prone here. On top of that, areas with
these soils are rare within a 1.5 hour commute to our markets. . . and
all that ground is locked up in development or the corn/bean farmers.

But we've got some time to find something. I'd like to see how far down
the rabbit hole the economy is going, and how markets are going to react
before signing anything.

John

> John, in SC we have alot of sand, sandy loam and clay mixed with sand. It
> helps to have a couple of types of soils on your land. One that drains well
> and one that drains not as well. It is a gamble of what to plant in a given
> year. But you learn as you go.
>
> We have low ph here which also mean we need alot of lime and trace
> nutrients needed. Soil samples are good. It helps to talk to others who
> have done it before in an area that you are interested.
>
> Manure is tricky and a needs to be composted and adjusted before usage. It
> has the advantage of adding humus to sandy soils but it needs to be added
> frequently. Clay soils are not good for root crops, but better for
> shallow-er root system crops. We grow cantalopes in a clay loam and
> watermelosn in the sand and sandy loam. It hard to find a piece of land
> that does it all. If you plan on raising small quantities - consider raised
> beds. Consider what you want to grow and what you think (or dream) what you
> might want to grow and look for an area that satisfies your stretch goals.
> Consider enough land for crop rotation and resting the land.
>
> If you like the river bottoms - they can be brutal if you get too much
> water at the wrong time. I like the ridges.
> Consider a move south.
>
> Michelle Hromyak
> Romy Farms E&W SC
>
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>
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