The Long View of Farming (and more kale!)

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Grumpy Goat has added some organic White Russian Kale today (excuse the name!), salad mustard greens, and fresh cilantro – mmm that smell! – all organic. Grab them before they run out!

-Continuing along the theme of what working conditions make farming somewhat unique as far as vocations go… as previously mentioned, farmers are intimately in contact and have concern for seasons, weather, and climate, because these directly affect activities and income. Another interesting aspect of farming is how one’s thinking and planning are invested over a long term: seasons and years.

For example, one of the main principles of organic practices is maintaining healthy, living soil. Many factors go into this practice: crop rotation (e.g., over 3 to 5 years), allowing some areas to be fallow, using cover crops as “green manure”, and producing/using compost (as opposed to chemical nitrogen fertilizers that negatively affect climate by their production and use).

Of course, depending on the size of the crop production, fertilizing needs and methods can be greatly varied. Basically, any time you remove a crop from the soil, be it hay, or vegetables, or fruits, something has to be put back, because the minerals in the crops are being removed from the system. In my case, container raspberries and flowers and vegetables in raised bed gardens receive regular addition of compost. That is how I justify keeping two horses and three goats and cleaning stalls daily in winter: they’re making excellent compost! There’s a really big pile just outside the field gate that gets turned with the tractor loader bucket at every opportunity when the ground isn’t too wet—a tricky proposition in Ohio!

And so, all of these considerations come into play in a very long dance, so to speak, as I plan over the seasons and years to maintain the soil health and therefore viability of my farm production. Anyone who is seriously into farming, is in it for the long haul, which begins with the complex business of conserving fertility in the soil. Healthy, fertile soil produces healthy food, which equals healthy people.

Caroline McColloch
cheznousfarm@gmail.com

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