Farming in the shade

The Farmer has been looking for a cultivator that will really, really do the job. There are as many different styles of cultivators as there are flavors of Hudsonville ice cream. And they're all a bit different. Which one would work the best for us? Today The Farmer called our soil consultant, who is a seasoned farmer with roots in organic farming. Joe was able to tell The Farmer exactly what kind of cultivator we should be looking for. Gave him four names to look for, and pros and cons for each. And then proceeded to tell him how best to use each kind, down to how fast to drive through the field and what should be happening as he's cultivating. While The Farmer was telling me all this at suppertime, I just sat there thinking. Finally I said, "Who will know enough about cultivating to teach others once people like Joe are gone?" I just read a headline today that "50 is the new 70" in the workforce. In other words, 50-year-olds, don't let the door hit...

For the month of July, The Farmer has a little extra help around the farm. We're enjoying having an intern job shadow and work with us. She's studying Bio-Engineering, and hails from Belgium. So far she's learned to run a skid steer, work with sheep, make compost, cultivate beans, sell at a farmers' market and many more things. Her willingness to try new things is refreshing. She even helped us put up hay!

In between haying and caring for the animals, The Farmer spends a lot of time on the tractor cultivating. This takes the place of spraying chemicals to kill the weeds. It's very time consuming, as you have to cultivate each field over and over again. Doesn't save on diesel fuel at all; in fact, it uses more. That's one part of organic farming that no one tells you about. Another part is the stiff neck/back that comes from hours stuck in one position. When you cultivate, you want to get as close to the little bean plants (or corn plants) as you can. You want to cultivate out all the weeds growing between the rows. But you don't want to cultivate out the plants themselves. That would be counterproductive. So you mount a bit of cable on your new tractor. It just hangs down and gives you something to line up the row with. And you mount a mirror on the new tractor, too, so that you can see if you're cultivating out the plants behind you. If you turn around and look to se...

Gotta be careful when you're cultivating corn. Drive between the rows... A little carelessness can tear out the corn, instead of the weeds... Steady hand on the wheel... Keep looking ahead (looking back can be disastrous)... It's a tedious job. Long hours driving back and forth in the field. Those who long for a taste of the "simple life" can apply between the hours of 5 and 7 a.m. (It's cool then.) We'll put you right to work...