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We do as much via transplanting as possible. In fact it's actually
the exception when we do direct-seeding. Our springs are just so cloudy,
damp and cool, it takes forever for our soils to come up to good germination
temps. A lot easier to grow as much as possible in trays, either with root
zone heating or just a slightly warmer ambient temp, then harden them off and
move them out to the fields when both the plants and the soils are a little
farther along.
I have used row covers for other crops and debated it with corn, but never
used it with corn (yet). Wire worm is one of our bigger pests here,
and yesterday I spent some time reading through various guides for how to
minimize that. The jury is out on whether row covers help or
hurt.
Given the info I've gotten here, plus being reminded by locals that
wire worm will likely be an even bigger issue than average on that hay
field, I'm backing down my plans for this year for that parcel. I'll
try to be content with some experimental plots to test my ideas on a small
scale, and putting out lots of wireworm bait traps to get a feel for the level
of infestation we have on that parcel.
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
In a message dated 1/29/2011 12:25:23 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
clearviewfarm AT bluefrog.com writes:
John
Are you using a
transplanter or doing it by hand? Have you ever used row cover to get a
jump or protect from frost?
Txs, Kurt
Forman Clearview Farm Palmyra, NY 14522 --- johnkaty AT shaw.ca
wrote: From: John Ehrlich <johnkaty AT shaw.ca> To: Market
Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org> Subject: Re:
[Market-farming] Transplanting sweet corn Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:30:06
-0800 I have been txping corn for the last three years with great
success. It is one of the easiest plants to txp, just like the squashes.
Usually, about 3-4 weeks in the pot or block and into the ground after frost.
1500 is a good number for a 200 member CSA, over three successive
plantings early, mid to late. The economy of it though is not so good, even at
a buck an ear, unless you have lots of land and an ecomy of scale...but
everyone loves sweet corn.
John
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.comTo: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.orgSubject:
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
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
Snohomish, WA
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