Perris~ Fall farming and gardening preparations begin a little before the fall season actually starts here in Southern California. Out here in SoCal, summers are very long, I mean very long. I define summer growing conditions, when night time temperatures are in the 50-70s. For us, that window stretches from May- October. October will bring the return of a day time average temperature ranging from 75-89. This is when the fall season is fully underway. This article is purposely written two months prior to the wonderful fall season, to alert you that, now is the time to prepare! Anyone whose been working a farm knows that preparation is key. Input cost aside, preparation is a top indicator that determines your probability of being profitable. This is Season 2 of "On the Farm" and we have learned alot in our first year that has helped us in preparing for our fall production. Farming has universal principals deriving from nature and theory but every farm in my opinion has unique challenges and advantages. So as I give out general farming techniques and guides, be mindful you will have to be aware of your particular field , plot or bed. There are many aspects to preparing to farm. This article particularly addresses preperaring the land. See our other Fall Preparation Guides.
Preparing The Land
So your going to attempt to grow good food too eh? Right on, first thing we must do, is prepare our land.
We start by assessing the soil. *Does the soil look dry and sandy? *Does the soil have any bugs in it? *Does the soil have any weeds growing on it?
*Does the soil need food?
Let's go through each assessment question and explore how to handle what we can observe.
1. If the soil is dry and sandy looking and feeling, this is a sign it needs water and compost added. Make sure you have an efficient irrigation working in place, prior to start of season. Worst problem is realizing in mid season your plants are not getting watered correctly. Too little or too much water either way will cause a problem with your plant production. See our article on irrigation for ideas and suggestions.
Compost, add it to your list of preparations and to your land before you plant! Compost is a must when preparing for any season but especially in the fall if you've grown crops on the land during the summer months. Compost is decomposed organic matter consisting of many different things found in nature. This could be and old leaves, food waste, animal waste and increasingly being studied worldwide are bio solids. At the farm, we use old leaves and goat manure. Compost, add it to your list of preparations and to your land before you plant!
2. Does the soil have bugs in it? Well, we hope so! Bugs or bio organisms are a natural part of a productive plot. Like life, there are good bugs (good people) and bad bugs (bad people). Each needed to give the other existence. Your job in preparing for the fall is to get to know "whose who" in your soil and if you notice too many bad bugs loitering in your soil. Don't be quick to hose them out with chemicals. To get rid of them, add good bugs , especially ones to are predators to your bad bugs. Another tactic, is to plant plants that repel your pest. If all else fails , grab the chems. But just please for the love of sugar maple syrup, dont use RoundUp ready! Instead use an organic deterrent and pest regulator like neem oil, aged Garlic water solution, pepper sprays and Epsom salt. There's are a war going on inside no bug is safe from.
3. Does the soil have any weeds on it? Make an observation keeping in mind time. Weeds, on a postive note, indicate water in the soil and the ability to grow in on that land. On the other hand, weeds are a major pest and need to be cleared prior to planting. Depending on the scope of your operation will determine the method in which you do clear your weeds. In a small backyard garden, a hoe will be sufficient. On a small farm a rear tine tiller will produce great results, and on a larger farm, a tractor will be needed with a disc harrow and rake attachment. We use a combination of the first two techniques. If you don't till the weeds into your soil directly, you can safely put the weeds in your compost pile and reap a return of valuable humus in the future. If you have grass on a large field, make those pesky weeds useful, turn them into hay bales and sell it or fees it to your own livestock. No matter what, just get rid of those weeds and get moving happily forward with your preparation schedule.
4. Does the soil need food? You can't tell if a healthy person is hungry by just looking at them. They have to tell you. Same goes with the soil. Before you go out and buy expensive fertilizers and magic supergrow potions, get a soil test and see for sure if your soil is hungry and what is the best solution for it. Nitrogen is lost rapidly through the growing season from the soil. But this doesn't guarantee that the soil needs a boost of Nitrogen to start off. Test the soil and then you can make an educated decision and not an educated guess.
Proper preparation pays off. We must start preparing at least 2 months before we intend to plant. The land is our first preparation. We must have the land properly textured to hold water and nutrients. This also means insuring our irrigation is set up prior to planting. After we secure water, we need to observe the soil for bug activity and weed appearance. Once we assess the situations, we need to make an educated decision on how to best respond to our observations.
Peace,
JK
Jose Kabeer
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