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In early 2007 we purchased 15 acres in Riverton Township. Except for the
roadside trees, there are no woods or trees on the property. It had been cropped
in field corn for many years - we're not certain how many. For all those years the
land had been given many shots of chemical fertilizers. The soil is a heavy
clay-loam - and it is hard! In fact, one farmer's son whom I had hired to prep the
land for my first planting, said to me, "You got some tough land there, mister,
good luck with it 'cause you're going to need it!"
Memorial Day weekend, 2007
The entire field was seeded to alfalfa
and broom grass with the intent of:
(1) allowing the alfalfa roots to brake
through the plow pan and (2) composting
some of the alfalfa for use on the
vegetable crops, once established.
During the summer of 2007 the weeds grew! Prairie Dock, Canadian Thistle &
Curley Dock are persistent perennials that are also well established on this land.
Some were as high as 5 feet. They were so big, I started naming them! The annual
Lambsquarters is especially persistent.
Weeds, of course, are the first sign of poor soil. For many years, these weeds had
been treated with chemicals to suppress their growth. As you know if you've seen
many farm fields, chemicals do a good job of that!
Once there was no longer anyone spreading chemicals (like Roundup) to prevent
weed growth, the weed seeds all WOKE UP. "Hey, lets grow!", they say. So, our
primary job for the next three years is weed control. During the summer I cut
them down with a sickle bar mower in an attempt to halt their progress.
Spring, 2008
I began hauling horse manure to the farm land in March, before the snow had left
the ground. I stored it in 2 windrows, each over 100 feet long. I got the manure
from local horse ranches or farms where folks were cleaning out their barns from
the winter-buildup of manure. Most of the manure was fairly fresh, having been
stored only during the past winter. I had no trouble locating enough manure for my
soil improvement project....but I'm not disclosing my sources! When finished in late
May, I had over 250 yards stored and ready for compost.
In early June I began cutting alfalfa and making compost. Using the windrow
design, over the next six weeks I created 3 windrows of horse manure and alfalfa
(and some bagged leaves). Two are 100 ft long; the first is 125 ft long. Making
compost involves a lot of tractor work - back 'n forth with a front end loader,
moving manure and alfalfa.
I layered the material in the windrows: alfalfa, water, manure, alfalfa, water,
manure.....etc. Until I had 9 layers built-up. Water was added on each alfalfa layer
in order to assure the right moisture content.
The alfalfa was cut using a sickle-bar mower. The hay was not crimped; nor was it
allowed to dry. Immediately after cutting I raked it with a 5-bar side-delivery
rake into windrows. Then, using my (new) buck rake I loaded it into my dump
trailer to bring it closer to the compost site.
The buck rake is an invaluable tool for
handling loose hay. It attaches to the front
end loader on my tractor and easily picks up
the loose hay from the windrows. After
dumping the hay from the trailer, I'd then
use the buck rake to pile the alfalfa
(loosely) onto the windrow, working my way
down the row from one end to the other,
until that layer was complete.
Buck Rakes - They were, of course, very popular in the early 20th century for
handling loose hay on large cattle ranches. Buck rakes can be found in some
western states and in New Zealand, Great Britian & Australia. It's perfect
for small operations such as ours at Peacefield Farm. Once cut, I don't want to
bale the hay. So no point in going to the expense of that farm equipment. I couldn't
find any used buck rakes nearby my west Michigan location, so I had it custom
made.
Summer, 2008 Cover Crops: Oil Seed Radish
The next step in the soil improvement project is cover cropping. After cutting off
the alfalfa, I mapped out the location of my vegetable cropping fields and
prepared them for cover crops. Using a 40" Howard Rotavator I tilled the two
fields as best I could. Tilling under the alfalfa at this time was probably
less-than-ideal time to do so because there was less than 1 year's growth of
alfalfa on this heavy soil. But I did so in order to prepare the land for vegetables
in the spring of 2009. One field is a sloping field that is quite clay; very little loam.
And very difficult to till. With heavy soil it is of utmost importance to work the
land at the proper soil moisture. Waiting for the right soil conditions was especially
difficult during the rainy summer of 2008. It took several weeks of waiting to till
both fields one time.
A soil test taken in the spring of 2007 indicated that the land was woefully lacking
in a number of nutrients. The soil test showed a paltry organic matter content of
2.84 %, the soil pH is 6.0 and the CEC is 12.35.. I had added lime during the fall,
2007.
But I still needed to add several other
soil amendments, principally, Brown Rock
Phosphate, Boron, Mineral Salt, among
others. These I added prior to planting
the first cover crop.
The first cover crop to go on the ground
is Oil Seed Radish. I have a broadcast
spreader which I set to the proper size for this seed and spread it on the land.
Not having a coulter-packer to firm the seed bed, I used my tiller set to very
shallow and high rotor speed and drove it across the seeded land to ensure a good
seed-soil contact. The radish was seeded on July 23, 2008.
30 days later, take a look at these pictures: OIL SEED RADISH
This cover crop will be tilled under very
soon. The winter cover crop will be sown
in mid-September; I'll sow oats and
Dutch White clover. The oats will winter
kill & the clover will be tilled under in the
spring.
roadside trees, there are no woods or trees on the property. It had been cropped
in field corn for many years - we're not certain how many. For all those years the
land had been given many shots of chemical fertilizers. The soil is a heavy
clay-loam - and it is hard! In fact, one farmer's son whom I had hired to prep the
land for my first planting, said to me, "You got some tough land there, mister,
good luck with it 'cause you're going to need it!"
Memorial Day weekend, 2007
The entire field was seeded to alfalfa
and broom grass with the intent of:
(1) allowing the alfalfa roots to brake
through the plow pan and (2) composting
some of the alfalfa for use on the
vegetable crops, once established.
During the summer of 2007 the weeds grew! Prairie Dock, Canadian Thistle &
Curley Dock are persistent perennials that are also well established on this land.
Some were as high as 5 feet. They were so big, I started naming them! The annual
Lambsquarters is especially persistent.
Weeds, of course, are the first sign of poor soil. For many years, these weeds had
been treated with chemicals to suppress their growth. As you know if you've seen
many farm fields, chemicals do a good job of that!
Once there was no longer anyone spreading chemicals (like Roundup) to prevent
weed growth, the weed seeds all WOKE UP. "Hey, lets grow!", they say. So, our
primary job for the next three years is weed control. During the summer I cut
them down with a sickle bar mower in an attempt to halt their progress.
Spring, 2008
I began hauling horse manure to the farm land in March, before the snow had left
the ground. I stored it in 2 windrows, each over 100 feet long. I got the manure
from local horse ranches or farms where folks were cleaning out their barns from
the winter-buildup of manure. Most of the manure was fairly fresh, having been
stored only during the past winter. I had no trouble locating enough manure for my
soil improvement project....but I'm not disclosing my sources! When finished in late
May, I had over 250 yards stored and ready for compost.
In early June I began cutting alfalfa and making compost. Using the windrow
design, over the next six weeks I created 3 windrows of horse manure and alfalfa
(and some bagged leaves). Two are 100 ft long; the first is 125 ft long. Making
compost involves a lot of tractor work - back 'n forth with a front end loader,
moving manure and alfalfa.
I layered the material in the windrows: alfalfa, water, manure, alfalfa, water,
manure.....etc. Until I had 9 layers built-up. Water was added on each alfalfa layer
in order to assure the right moisture content.
The alfalfa was cut using a sickle-bar mower. The hay was not crimped; nor was it
allowed to dry. Immediately after cutting I raked it with a 5-bar side-delivery
rake into windrows. Then, using my (new) buck rake I loaded it into my dump
trailer to bring it closer to the compost site.
The buck rake is an invaluable tool for
handling loose hay. It attaches to the front
end loader on my tractor and easily picks up
the loose hay from the windrows. After
dumping the hay from the trailer, I'd then
use the buck rake to pile the alfalfa
(loosely) onto the windrow, working my way
down the row from one end to the other,
until that layer was complete.
Buck Rakes - They were, of course, very popular in the early 20th century for
handling loose hay on large cattle ranches. Buck rakes can be found in some
western states and in New Zealand, Great Britian & Australia. It's perfect
for small operations such as ours at Peacefield Farm. Once cut, I don't want to
bale the hay. So no point in going to the expense of that farm equipment. I couldn't
find any used buck rakes nearby my west Michigan location, so I had it custom
made.
Summer, 2008 Cover Crops: Oil Seed Radish
The next step in the soil improvement project is cover cropping. After cutting off
the alfalfa, I mapped out the location of my vegetable cropping fields and
prepared them for cover crops. Using a 40" Howard Rotavator I tilled the two
fields as best I could. Tilling under the alfalfa at this time was probably
less-than-ideal time to do so because there was less than 1 year's growth of
alfalfa on this heavy soil. But I did so in order to prepare the land for vegetables
in the spring of 2009. One field is a sloping field that is quite clay; very little loam.
And very difficult to till. With heavy soil it is of utmost importance to work the
land at the proper soil moisture. Waiting for the right soil conditions was especially
difficult during the rainy summer of 2008. It took several weeks of waiting to till
both fields one time.
A soil test taken in the spring of 2007 indicated that the land was woefully lacking
in a number of nutrients. The soil test showed a paltry organic matter content of
2.84 %, the soil pH is 6.0 and the CEC is 12.35.. I had added lime during the fall,
2007.
But I still needed to add several other
soil amendments, principally, Brown Rock
Phosphate, Boron, Mineral Salt, among
others. These I added prior to planting
the first cover crop.
The first cover crop to go on the ground
is Oil Seed Radish. I have a broadcast
spreader which I set to the proper size for this seed and spread it on the land.
Not having a coulter-packer to firm the seed bed, I used my tiller set to very
shallow and high rotor speed and drove it across the seeded land to ensure a good
seed-soil contact. The radish was seeded on July 23, 2008.
30 days later, take a look at these pictures: OIL SEED RADISH
This cover crop will be tilled under very
soon. The winter cover crop will be sown
in mid-September; I'll sow oats and
Dutch White clover. The oats will winter
kill & the clover will be tilled under in the
spring.
.....taste a little bit of summer.
2008 Soil Improvement Project: we purchased a worn out field and are
working to breathe life into the soil.
working to breathe life into the soil.
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