The great bed turnover. Spring crops like arugula, spicy mix, radishes, turnips have either been harvested or bolted leaving room for the next rounds of plantings. Bed preparation comes in many forms and we are still working towards our preferred methods.
A popular method is simply mow and till. This has been our go to practice in the past but recently I have noticed significant soil compaction, chunky soil texture, and proliferating mallow. These tough, deeply rooted, perennial weeds are a bugger to knock back. They are not phased by tillage and actually I am thinking they actually prefer it. When we till, the blades of the machine create a zone of compaction a few inches below the soil surface. Mallow sees the opportunity and using its tough root knocks through the hard plan and covers the soil above.
In response to compaction we are experimenting with occultation, or using tarps to cover the mown beds from light. Shielding and smothering the soil will help eliminate weeds growing from the previous crop and keep our soil structure growing. After mowing the crops to the soil surface and watering the large tarps are pulled over and left for a week. Moisture and heat will force weed seeds to germinate only the to be met by darkness terminating their growth. Once we are ready to plant we will remove the tarps, add a layer of compost, and either direct sow or transplant the next crop.
Our lag time between a final harvest and the next planting can be up to a couple weeks. Where everyday counts we are constantly looking to improve our “bed flipping” to maximize the time a bed grows food. Some farms have been able to accomplish this task in a single day. We would love to get there.
In beds that were spring greens we have planted runner beans in celebration of a runner heavy crew. Along the sides of the beans are turnips, and spicy mix. Ideally these crops will grow together, with the bean offering shade for the tender greens. Companion planting keeps marketable crops coming while longer crops mature. This means instead of flipping entire beds, we are never not producing a marketable crop. Once the spicy mix is done and flowered it will be mowed giving the beans the extra space they need to mature, about 1 month after the spicy mix is done.
Our big test will be coming up soon with the garlic harvest! 6 beds, each 36” wide and 250 feet long will need to be harvested and replanted with fall crops. We will be utilizing a mow, disc, and cover technique that will hopefully allow us to plant the beds within 3 weeks of today. Let’s see if we can pull it off!