Prepping the garden for next year and more

[Darren Allen]

Well that is what I started out to do, prep the garden for next year. But alas my age old equipment didnt exactly work with me. I purchased a bag of winter rye which I use as a cover crop on the two parcels of garden area. The rye does two things, 1) is a green manure so when I roto till the garden in the spring it adds natural nutrients to the soil 2) covers the ground so the earthworms (yes worms) can do their magic just beneath the surface, earthworm activity is very helpful by adding natural nutients (worm poop) to the soil. I can also pature pigs or sheep on the rye in early spring. So kill three birds with one stone. However the roto tiller wouldnt start (its a small 8 hp one) so I left it to charge over night. Hopefully this AM I can walk right out and turn the key, and we will have magic. I wont get my hopes up however.

Adding to my last entry about growing my own grains, Ill also grow more corn, about 2 acres, for the pigs and sheep. I researching how the Amish work their land and feed their animals, since like the Amish, I do not have a gas powered tractor. I will pick the corn in October and husk it and put it in a "corn bin" to dry. I will then feed the corn to the pigs and sheep for extra nutrients over the course of the winter. Ill also plant oats in between the rows of corn and after chopping down the stalks, will let the pigs and sheep out to pasture on the oats. Sounds simple, right? Ill let you know after we have done this in a year.

I alluded to a subject in my last "rant". Farming at this level cannot go one with the purchasing of grain to feed the livestock as their sole consumption. Corn prices have remained high and will do so as lone as 1) fuel prices continue their rise 2) we harvest corn for fuel. This is why we see a record of family hog farms being bought out by corperations like Tyson INC and Con-Agra. Small farms are selling out because they cannot keep up with the costs of modern day farming practices. So we will try what has been going on for decades, even centuries, in rural Pennsylvania with reference to the Amish. No fuel means more money for fencing, advertising (which Facebook has substitued very well for so far). In doing so maybe we can do this for a long time without setting aside part of my wife's paycheck monthly to purchase grain. Only time will tell.