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  • From: bcluton AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Sweeps, knives, shovels
  • Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:00:14 -0500

Chris I think one thing that is important to remember is that you're not likely to find a single solution to your system.  You have multiple crop types and variable spacing.  I'll be the first to admit that I haven't totally dialed in my weed control "system" but that said I think it's always important to remember the following.  

When it comes to cultivation weeds are basically killed one of three ways... by burial, by uprooting and desiccation, or by mutilation(which includes slicing the top off the roots).  Understanding and being attune to your weed species, soil conditions and upcoming weather can go a long way towards helping determine which or what is most effective.  Additionally the crop species and/or the stage of growth have a great deal to do with which method(s) you can utilize.  

Generally speaking I like to try to use my tire or trailing sweeps to cover the tire paths and bed edges on bedded crops.  The underbelly cultivation can then be fine tuned to the crop, weed type and pressure, etc.  Most off the shelf shanks are designed to uproot and bury.  They're angled to throw a good bit of soil.  This is alright unless you really need to get close or have a crop that can't take soil being thrown on it.  If that's the case I'd look at either tines, spyders, or a custom jobber that is really flat and will basically undercut weeds.  It's nice to have a few arrows in the quiver depending on conditions.  And also the reality is we'll cultivate the same crop two or three different ways sometimes depending on the stage.  For example on a transplanted crop like broccoli / tomatoes we may start out with a tine weeding at thread phase (if the plants are rooted enough) followed by a close cultivation with half wings or spyders and subsequently with an aggressive sweep to root out any older weeds and/or throw soil up under the growing plants to bury in row weeds.  It really all depends though, there's so many variables.  Thats part of the "fun" I guess.   

I also have to add - because every time I think weeds I try to step back and think bigger picture - what are the weed species, why are they there, and beyond responding directly to their growth how can I farm differently to reduce their impact or prevalence.  I couple this with "wisdom" of an old farmer friend from whom we bought our first cultivating tractor.  "Remember...if your ground isn't growing good weeds it sure won't grow good crops".

Brian



-----Original Message-----
From: sunnfarm AT netscape.com
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thu, Feb 4, 2010 7:28 pm
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Sweeps, knives, shovels

Most of us who grow vegetables in NJ use Farmalls with  belly mounted cultivators. The stock version that came with the tractor is probably what you have and its the type I use. It works well cultivating one row at a time. Many guys have belly mounted cultivators custom made to work on raised beds and do 3-4-5 very narrow rows at a time. They have very small sweeps and narrow chisels that move very little soil as not to bury seedlings. These are custom made in the farm shop. I don't know of off the shelf bed cultivator for front end Farmalls. Some guys even adapt basket weeders for belly mount which work very well on our light soils. The sweeps in the links you posted are a bit too aggressive for small vegetables. But the general cultivating sweep and the half wing left and right versions are must for single row crops. You might think of spring tines instead of sweeps in some cases. Good luck... Bob.

--- corbincdc AT gmail.com wrote:

From: Chris Corbin <corbincdc AT gmail.com>
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [Market-farming] Sweeps, knives, shovels
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:14:47 -0600

Hi,
I am looking for information on the different intricacies of cultivating tools for weed control.  We currently do a lot of hand weeding and would like to try to do weeding with tractors.  We have an old farmall tractor with a belly mount cultivator and standard row crop sweeps( now rusty).  I am looking at buying some new sweeps.  We run a raised bed 3-2-1 mixed vegetable system with some plastic.  Our beds are spaced 4ft from side to side.  The rows are set up 15" in the center and 9" on the edge.  My plan is to use the belly mount cultivator in the rows and a rear cultivator for the wheels and the side of the bed with knives. 
 
Can any one point me in a direction where I can read about how these different implements function in the soil or your experience.  For instance how does a beet sweep compare to a standard row crop sweep  http://www.agrisupply.com/sweeps--row-crop/c/4500039/c2c/sc/. When should I use knifes as opposed to sweeps.  What size of a sweep do I buy if I want to cultivate 15" rows- throwing some dirt or alot of dirt?  Does the size matter or is it more of the pitch and depth?   This place has a lot of different kinds http://www.nicholstillagetools.com/products/
 
I could be making things too complex and maybe these thing just need to be experimented with not read in a book or a listserve, but I thought I would check before I start to purchase these implements.  I realize these things also change with the type of crop and growth stage, but some general guidance would be helpful. 
 
Thanks  



Chris Corbin
Onion Creek Farm
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