Projects, WP Migration

The battle of the weeds officially begins

Posted on by Farmer
And it won’t stop until a deep freeze which hopefully comes after mid October. The farm crew – mostly Danielle, Justin and Emily – have the crops looking exceptionally beautiful and pretty much weed free. We spent a lot of time weeding and hoeing the past couple weeks.
Although for the past month we have been weeding garlic and greenhouse crops, those seem very manageable, mostly because during this time we don’t have a lot planted in the fields which allows us to keep these crops fairly weed free. During the early part of the season we are able to spend a little extra time trying to remove each and every weed so our crops have no competition. It is very gratifying weeding early on in the season and seeing the crops particularly weed free. It isn’t until we’ve got about an acre in production that the “battle of the weeds” begins. We are now at that point in the season – with potatoes, onions and a couple successions of greens planted – when I feel the uphill war with weeds begins. Once we have a lot of crops growing we have to become much more efficient at weeding. We must find that balance in removing just enough weeds so our crops will flourish, while trying not to worry about getting rid of all the weeds, and finding that balance is the most difficult part when maintaining one’s crops. We love the Appalachians because it has the most biodiversity of anywhere in the world; however, part of that diversity includes a quite a few species of bugs and weeds which makes it a challenge farming here in these mountains!
Last week we uncovered a couple beds of direct seeded crops that needed hand weeding. In this photograph Emily, Danielle and Justin are hand weeding the spinach.
Last week we uncovered a couple beds of direct seeded crops that needed hand weeding. In this photograph Emily, Danielle and Justin are hand weeding the spinach.
Danielle and Justin hoeing our crops. If at all possible, it is much faster hoeing crops rather than hand weeding, which is why our farm tends to do a lot of transplants. Transplants are much easier to hoe, where as direct seeded crops, they seem to get overtaken by weeds before they grow large enough to hoe.
Danielle and Justin hoeing our crops. If at all possible, it is much faster hoeing crops rather than hand weeding, which is why our farm tends to do a lot of transplants. Transplants are much easier to hoe, where as direct seeded crops, they seem to get overtaken by weeds before they grow large enough to hoe.
Danielle and Justin saving the spinach from the weeds. We are hoping to harvest this for our upcoming CSA shares which is why we are hand weeding this crop.
Danielle and Justin saving the spinach from the weeds. We are hoping to harvest this for our upcoming CSA shares which is why we are hand weeding this crop.
Our crops weed free for a couple hours. The weeds will grow back but our hope is that these crops are now large enough and we will not need to weed them again. Once they are harvested we can mow down the crops and weeds.
Our crops weed free for a couple hours. The weeds will grow back but our hope is that these crops are now large enough and we will not need to weed them again. Once they are harvested we can mow down the crops and weeds.
It has been dry here in Spring Creek. No rain to speak these past couple weeks except an occasional drizzle. We have been irrigating our greens, potatoes and onions.
It has been dry here in Spring Creek. No rain to speak these past couple weeks except an occasional drizzle. We have been irrigating our greens, potatoes and onions.
A row of rain birds. We love these rain bird sprinkler heads because they are giving our crops the much needed drink of water
A row of rain birds. We love these rain bird sprinkler heads because they are giving our crops the much needed drink of water
The PTO Pump that came with the farm. We are thankful that Carl got this pump working. It is a Hale pump and the company now only specializes in pumps for fire engines. So you know this pump has a lot of power!
The PTO Pump that came with the farm. We are thankful that Carl got this pump working. It is a Hale pump and the company now only specializes in pumps for fire engines. So you know this pump has a lot of power!
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Farmer

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