I cannot remember a July this wet. The past week has been coated with cooler temps and afternoon thunderstorms. The sounds of thunder, which I expect to linger most of the day, brought me from sleep this morning. A welcome relief from the hot weeks prior.
Crops we direct seed, like fall greens and roots, are enjoying these storms. Rainwater spreads evenly across the soil and with big storms we get full saturation. Plus, the lightning is fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere and offering our crops light fertilization.
The fall broccoli and cauliflowers have been singing with the cooler misty mornings. Their leaves are broad and proud, un-shying from the dew. The sorghum cover crop we planted after harvesting our garlic has already reached 6” in places. With the continued moisture I fully expect a thick stand to fully cover the soil and smother weeds within a couple weeks. Onions, now filling out their bulbs, take a deep drink and gain size for winter storage.
This season has made clear the importance of unimpeded growth. Vegetable crops usually reach full market maturity within one growing season. In Colorado that means our crops will be marketable within our 100 frost free days. In our planting plan we pay careful attention to “Days to Maturity”, or the time it takes for a crop to reach market size. These range from 21 days (radishes or baby greens) to 80-100 days (celeriac or parsnip). To grow well we must understand the nuances of each crop. When they need to be planted, how often we need to plant them (successions), and where they can be grown.
A seed is planted and the clock begins. The quicker that crop is ready for harvest, the faster dollars come in and the bed space can be replanted. Unimpeded growth means each crop receives exactly what it needs, when needed, so every day they are maximizing growth to produce within their allotted time.
For many vegetables the clock begins in the nursery. Protected and heated spaces allow growers a head start before favorable weather and get a jump on the seasons. The rules of time apply. Leaving a plant in one cell too long can stunt growth, elongating the time they will need to mature. We often “pot-up” crops to larger growing containers to keep them growing during the greenhouse phase. Momentum is created in plants through heat, water, and space. Stall and you have pushed back your harvest date. Push the harvest date and you might miss windows for replanting beds.
Once planted the crop enters a cultivation, fertilization, and crop protection plan. Consistent growing practices keep crops from competing with weeds, pests, or space issues. In a monocrop system this means getting your fields planted at the optimal time and implementing good growing practices timely. Diversified farmers keep up with these practices for up to 100 crops growing at different times, under different conditions, and through multiple seasons.
Each step leads to another. This year I planted 2 rounds of lettuce, spaced 2 weeks apart for an extended harvest season, and a round of beets. Each of these crops (55 days) should finish within a couple weeks of each other. Ideally allowing time to flip the beds and plant a buckwheat cover crop before planting garlic. However, the beets got quite weedy, hindering their growth. So the lettuce beds, now harvested, are sitting ready to be replanted but we are waiting on the beets. We probably won’t have time to get the buckwheat planted, which means the garlic will have less nutrients, or we will supplement with purchased nutrients, as it begins to grow in 2023.
Steady progress forward is what brings beautiful crops to market. Each planting leads to another in a steady exchange between growers, soil, and seasons. The consistent steps throughout the growing process lead to bountiful harvests. Our daily lives thrive, or suffer, on small habits being formed and carried out. Missing a few days of farming can mean we lose precious growing time. The momentum can be rebuilt. Crops previously stalled can be weeded. We have to capacity to rebound from missteps, even if it means waiting till the next season.
Luckily, not every misstep away from the path of growth requires us to wait another 12 months. Our daily lives are full of choices that either propagate or diminish growth. Do we continue to tend our personal garden or let the weeds grow? Farming teaches us that a weed pulled today means 10 less the following year. The same is true throughout daily life.
This post marks the 32nd week of “Farmer’s Notes” being published and made available. Almost 8 months of material, musings, gibberish, and content. What isn’t seen here is the nearly 100 pages of writing it has taken to create these weekly posts (I post about 10% of what is published).
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