This time of year is both happy and sad on the farm. We are sad that the season is coming to an end, but happy that the prospects for next year seem so bright. Today was a perfect example of the dichotomy of this time of the season.I was pulling tomatoes plants from the garden. We could wait until the frost we are expecting next week, but the plants are basically done, so now is as good a time as any to do it. As I pulled them out of the ground I picked some of the better ripe tomatoes and bigger green ones for this week's pickup. But mainly it is a destructive act, pulling them out by the roots and throwing them in the pile to be added to our compost heaps. Sad, admitting the end of the summer tomatoes and the end of summer.
At the same time Eric was mowing close the new ground (about an another acre) we plan on planting next year. In the next couple weeks it will be plowed, disced, and tilled. Happy and hopeful of what next year will bring.
It is that time of year!
((Oh, and in case you wonder why we pull the tomato plants instead of tilling them under in place, it is part of our Integrated Pest Management practices. By pulling them and any associated diseases, bugs, or fungi they are no longer in the garden to crop their heads up next year. The composting process will kill any pathogens, and we will have the benefit of their biomass in compost next year without the risk of perpetuating any problems.))
1 comment:
Thanks for you comments. We use very little in the way of chemical controls for pests. Very occassionally we may use a certified organic product or a natural product like hot pepper spray. Most often we use an IPM system including planting lure crops, interplanting, heavy rotation, not planting to much of one thing right next to each other, and feild hygine(pulling the plants at the end of the season.) If we spray we risk also harming all our helpful insects, like preying mantises and lady bugs, so we do it as seldom as possible (for example we did not spray for pests at all in 2007).
Thanks for your comments
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