Market Farming

[<clearviewfarm AT bluefrog.com>]

Kathryn,

Transplanting sweet corn is not an unusual practice in organic systems, because we are limited as to what seed protections we can use and that often necessitates later planting, unless we transplant.  I did a little corn transplanting last year, but lost some to frost damage and some because I didn't get the corn in the ground in a timely fashion.  How long after planting or emergence do you wait to transplant your corn?  Have you had to use row cover to protect the corn once in the ground?

Thanks,
Kurt Forman
Clearview Farm
Palmyra, NY 14522

--- KAKerby AT aol.com wrote:

From: KAKerby AT aol.com
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] can I crimp an old hayfield to create a no-till mulched ...
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:58:20 -0500 (EST)

No more than an acre, and we'd be doing transplants of warm-season crops such as cucurbits and sweetcorn.  That might sound odd for sweetcorn, to do transplants.  But our window of opportunity is pretty short for sweetcorn so a lot of growers here start it in trays inside, then put them out around May 15th.

 

Another idea I had was to cut the dead standing hay as early and as low as possible, say Feb 15 or March 1st, thereby creating the mulch (the field was fallow last year).  Then let the existing grasses and the soil's existing weed seedbank send up whatever growth is going to come on through that mulch, because I know there'd be at least some growth (possibly a lot).  Right after that first cutting, I could turn my chicken army in there to peck down whatever new green materials come up.  Leave them there for two months or so to really hammer hard on any fresh new greens and deposit their little packets of fertilizer at the same time.  Then pull them off, plant the transplants through the mulch, and let the transplants root down through the mulch and into the soil below.  I'd still have my 90day window between manure application and harvest, and that would put some fast-acting nitrogen into the mulch pack.  The timing would have to be careful, but I would think hard grazing pressure for two months from the birds would at least set back the weeds a fair amount, and reduce whatever would be left so the transplants have a chance to get going.  What I'm not sure of is whether bird poo deposited on top of the mulch would do anything for the crop growing below the mulch, and/or if my timing would be too close or not sufficient for everything that needs to happen.  Figured I'd pencil it out first, and make those mistakes on paper before trying it in the field.

Kathryn Kerby

frogchorusfarm.com

Snohomish, WA

 

In a message dated 1/27/2011 8:47:38 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, steved AT ipa.net writes:

Kathyrn ==

Yes, ideas, but need to know what size planting you have in mind to match up.

Is it a quarter acre, half acre, or 1, 5, 10 acres?

You aim to direct seed or transplant?

Steve Diver


 

Still wondering if there's a way to knock down that current grass this year, and plant into it this year with the old grass as a mulch, without going the herbicides route.  If that's really my only option, I'll wait and use non-chemical means this year then plant next year.  But if anyone has any other ideas how to do that, I'd love to hear them.

Kathryn Kerby

frogchorusfarm.com

Snohomish, WA

 

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