Farming in the shade

This isn't actually a photo of organic pesticide. It's a photo of a bit of a wildflower strip that some Michigan State University students planted on our farm several years ago. The Farmer calls it the Predator Feeding Sanctuary. Planting it was part of a study on whether planting habitat for beneficial insects helped with pest control. I don't think I ever heard any definitive results on the study, but it's the loveliest pest control I've ever seen. Last year I made the mistake of treating this area as part of the rotational grazing plan. We didn't see many flowers. This year we're leaving it alone and it seems to be doing just fine. And I did see a ladybug (considered a good insect) on one of the bean plants while I was weeding yesterday...

The Farmer did a bang-up job of cultivating the beans this year. There were some things we might have done better (plant thicker, plant deeper) and some things that are outside of our control that we wish for (rain!). But compared to last year's weed infested bean fields, I like what I'm seeing! But cultivating doesn't get the weeds IN the rows, right next to the plants. So, early in the morning on most days, a few of us head out to the bean fields to pull weeds. We stop when it gets too hot, or when we have something else that's more urgent. Some of the varieties are more weedy than others--usually the thicker the beans are, the less weeds are present. This morning, we weeded the Hutterite Soup Beans. They are blossoming.

Adam's curse haunts us still... Weeds grow along side of our beautiful corn crop. We cultivate over and over during the beginning of the summer, to keep weeds at bay. All we are really trying to do is to give the corn a head start. Once the corn is too tall to cultivate, we let the weeds try to catch up. They get a bit more sun near the edge of the field, and grow with abandon. They grow tall, and lush, with seeds to pollute next year's field. But walk a bit INTO the field, and the weeds aren't so thick. The corn canopy has successfully shaded out all but the most determined weeds. It's cool in here, and the corn leaves brush against you as you walk. Careful, the edges can be a bit sharp if you're moving too fast. If the corn is dry and brown, the wind causes a rattling noise as the dry leaves brush/crunch up against each other. When the kids were little, I worried more about them falling in the big ditch by our house. But I've heard of kids wandering into or ...

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...

May flowers: Busy with spring here. Just so that you know we are alive and well, I'm posting this photo taken by my daughter. It's a flowering something-or-other tree that is mostly neglected, but manages to wow us every spring. Isn't God an amazing artist?

At Shady Side Farm, we are trying to build soil health and not use synthetic chemicals on our land. I saw a poster in a doctors' office once that said "Healthy Soil, Healthy Plants, Healthy People", which I thought was very surprising. We've been learning about this as we switch over to organic, and I didn't know that any doctors had made the connection between soil health and people health yet. Good sign. (In fact, does anyone else wonder if the amazing amount of sickness and obesity is related to what we eat? And I'm not talking about eating whole milk cheese instead of 2% milk cheese, here. I'm not a fan of "lowfat" foods that have to make up for the lost taste with high fructose corn syrup. I'm talking more about food that has been bred to "keep" well, ship far, and taste like sawdust. I'll bet the "keeping" and the "nutrition" are inversely proportional. Take the strawberries from California or Florida t...

I am the keeper of a often-neglected perennial bed. If you came to visit right now, you would be interested to see how tall the lambsquarter and other weeds are. I do know better than to let the weeds get away from me, but once again I am behind. Probably too much blogging, not enough weeding. However, perennials are absolutely stunning even when slightly neglected. Case in point--my lavender.   See if you can find the bees. They love my lavender, too.  Bees are very necessary to the life-cycle of plants. Right now we are hosting several hives of honeybees east of one of our pastures. They are between gigs--they're done pollinating the blueberries, and the squash is not quite ready for them yet. We are happy to allow the beekeeper to park his trailer of bees here. I am a bee-lover, but only from a distance. I once suited up and got an up close and personal guided tour. I was glad to see the insides of the hives. I was even more glad to be away from the hives when it was all over. ...