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  • From: Michael Peck <silverandsienna AT gmail.com>
  • To: growbd AT aol.com, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Transition to Organic
  • Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 09:30:55 -0400

The shipping cost can be almost as much as the seed cost.  Would like to find an Organic seed supplier for my fall cover crops in my region.  MSU Extension web site has lots about growing cover crops, but I don't see any resources for seed supply.  My location is close to the MI, IN, OH border.  

On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 11:52 AM, <growbd AT aol.com> wrote:

Michael,

Are you talking about a source for cover crop seed in particular because of shipping cost on large amounts?


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Peck <silverandsienna AT gmail.com>

Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 09:58:20
To: Market Farming<market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Transition to Organic


Does anyone know of an Organic Seed Supply in South Central Michigan?

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 3:48 PM, Johnathan Avery
Yelenick<yelenick AT riseup.net> wrote:
> Hi Michael,
>
> Sounds like if you are going to try and farm next year you are going have
> a quite a time with the weeds.  My recommendation is definitely do NOT try
> to farm unless you have some sort of mechanical cultivator; tine weeder or
> sweeps.  You will be overwhelmed if you don't have those mechanical
> resources. It would be better just to put in some cover to build soil in
> the fall-winter-early spring, mow or disc the rye in the spring, and then
> to deplete the soil seed bank by clean cultivating with discs or harrows
> throughout the season. This will deplete soil organic matter, but it's
> probably worth the trade-off to take out the weeds. Add LOTS of compost
> (20 tons/acre) in the fall when you reseed a cover to build organic matter
> soil reserves.  Check out the book Sustainable Vegetable Production From
> Start-Up to Market by V. Grubinger and read about cover crops and
> cultivation in particular.
>
> I would recommend planting rye this fall '09 and clean cultivating next
> season '10 just to deplete the soil weed seed bank. Put in rye or winter
> killed oats with some winter kill nitrogen fixer like peas in the fall of
> '10 and do cash crops in '11. You can expand this rotation of clean
> cultivated fallow to late season cover crop (on the same acrage) to cash
> crop (on the same acreage) the next season; expanding upon this theme to
> more acreage as you go.
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:11:49 -0400
> From: Michael Peck <silverandsienna AT gmail.com>
> Subject: [Market-farming] Transition to Organic
> To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID:
>        <4c702a8d0908190711m448d172bna61282adb2581657 AT mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I'm going to be farming a few acres of family land beginning next spring in
> South Central Michigan.  For the last few years it has been in corn/oats or
> soybeans.  It was not farmed organically.  This year it was not cultivated
> at all, so there is a fairly thick mat of mixed grasses and weeds.  I will
> be planting some large areas of corn, potatoes and sunflowers, and mixed
> vegetables for market.
>
> What steps should I take to prepare the soil now?  I'd like to get a cover
> crop in since I have the time now.  What recommendations do you have for
> timing, crops to plant, cultivation schedule, etc.
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Michael
> Marshall MI  Zone 5b    -10  thru -15 F
>
>
> "If your experience is that your water comes from the tap and that your
> food comes from the grocery store then you are going to defend to the
> death the system that brings those to you because your life depends on
> that; if your experience is that your water comes from a river and that
> your food comes from a land base then you will defend those to the death
> because your life depends on them. So part of the problem is that we have
> become so dependent upon this system that is killing and exploiting us, it
> has become almost impossible for us to imagine living outside of it and
> it's very difficult physically for us to live outside of it."
> — Derrick Jensen
>
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>
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