Month: September 2011

There is something about us amateurs that either through haste, ignorance or a desire to perfect, we usually take too long to complete tasks.  An example of haste is not setting up carefully before painting and then afterwards spending extra time removing the splash paint from borders or wooden floors or carpet.  Our desire to perfect often compels us to give extra effort  to behind the scene details which the pro bypasses.

Not that the pros get it right all the time – when I purchased the log cabin I decided to have the exterior professionally painted since some of the siding is more than 40 ft from the ground and, as I work alone, I didn’t want a fall with no one around.  The west facing sides of the cabin are exposed to the sun and had black mold.  The painters pressure washed with chlorine and then painted.  I questioned whether the surface shouldn’t be scraped clean before painting and they assured me the chlorine and pressure wash had killed the mold and the surface was good.  I painted the barn and I similarly applied chlorine (and in the process spotted and destroyed a perfectly good shirt), but went a step further and, with a large scrubbing brush, physically removed the mold from the wood surface before painting  with a similar type but cheaper paint.  Fast forward 3 years – every year the pros have had to “touch up” the sun facing areas where the paint flaked off.  Since I have a 5 year guarantee the cost to me for their annual visits has been limited to the cost of a pressure wash.  And my paint job with the cheaper paint –  no sign of flaking at all.

But it is always gratifying to find a legitimate short cut.  I hope the shortcut I am about to describe will prove, over the next year to be a legitimate short cut.

I have two rows of berry plants 12 ft apart and each 66 ft long.  The 12 ft separation consists of a 4ft border, a 2 ft contour ditch and a 6 ft border.  Both borders are populated with thick local grass interspersed with bermuda grass.  I want to transplant my strawberry plants (Earliglo – early season) which seem to thrive in local conditions, produce medium size very sweet strawberries and spread aggressively, to the 6 ft wide 65 ft long border area.  So how to prepare the area for planting the strawberries.  I decided to spread horse manure 2 inches deep along the area, then cover the grass and manure with thick builders’ paper (purchased 140 ft, 3ft wide for approx $11) and then cover it all with mulch.  My hope is that in 6-8 weeks time the grass will have died from lack of sunlight, the manure will accelerate the decomposition of the grass, and the mixture of manure, dead grass and topsoil will provide a healthy welcome for the transplanted strawberries.  The mulch should enable the strawberries to thrive without weed competition.  I would not have attempted this shortcut earlier in the year when the grass grows strongly but now, in the second half of September, with shortening daylight and with even the poson ivy faltering, it seems a reasonable bet.  The long way round would have been to remove the grass but to do this I would have had to remove the topsoil as well and then have had to add back compost to provide nutrition.  A lot of work even if I had used the bobcat.

Incidentally, talking of manure, there is manure and manure.  In the 1800’s before the advent of modern fertilizers, much experimentation was done on different types of manure and how manure should be stored.  Books were written on the topic and these are available free for download at www.Gutenberg.org.  An interesting conclusion is that the best manure is that stored outside in a heap, second best is manure stored in a heap under cover, and worst is manure spread on the ground outside.  See chapter XV of Talks on Manure by Joseph Harris dated 1919.  I mention this because there is new management at the horse stables I visit and, instead of piling the manure in a heap and loading my pickup directly, they have have spread it out on the ground and then drive around in their tractor to gather it up and load it.  It seems the weight is half what it used to be (in the past I had to adjust the rearview mirror because the weight at the back depressed the truck significantly, now no adjustment is required) and, from my perspective, I am getting half the nutrients I used to get.  Though it requires much less effort to offload, the maxim “no gain without pain” is again validated.  Maybe I should find a new source of supply!

As the heat subsides it will soon be time to plant garlic again.  Last year, influenced by several fall articles, I bought four varieties of garlic and planted them in October.  They were: 1) organic California Early White – softneck ($4.99 lb); 2) Elephant garlic – very mild like a leek ($4.99 lb);  3) organic Music Garlic – hardneck  ($12,99 lb.) – the only reason I bought this more expensive variety is because my family is into music; 4) organic Dujansky  – hardneck ($9.99 lb).

I know that my raised beds drain well (because they are raised) and I had read it is important to have good drainage,  I did most of my plantings in two 8x4ft raised beds and the balance in a long bed alongside the fruit trees.  The bed is an excavated trench filled to surface level with compost.  The raised beds are in the main growing area encircled by a fence, the trench bed is accessible to footed wildlife.  The instructions from Peaceful Valley, the supplier, referenced gophers and, although we do not have these, I was concerned about subterranean attacks and enclosed some of the plantings in hardware cloth.  I watered the raised beds regularly but only occasionally watered the trench bed.  All the cloves grew, those in the raised beds grew better.  There was no evidence of pest damage to any of the garlic.

When the scapes appeared I removed them and in mid-June I harvested all the garlic.  Initially I left them to dry in the greenhouse but it was too hot so I stored them in the open carport until they had dried.  I then placed them in mesh bags which I have suspended in the basement.  The garlic tastes great and we especially like the elephant garlic.  This garlic was for personal consumption and friends and we have a lot left over.  The elephant garlic is our favorite and I will plant out all the elephant garlic cloves and just some of the other garlic.  Next year I shall add garlic to my list of produce to sell at the local market.

The Peaceful Valley planting guide says to avoid planting garlic in the same place where I previously grew garlic, onions or other alliums, so I will have to prepare new beds, perhaps at the top of the hill where there is good sun exposure and drainage.

For me to say I grow organic requires me, at a minimum, to understand what this means.  The simple definition from the EPA website is “Organically grown” food is food grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

But what about the use of horse manure in my compost, or my chicken patrolling the growing area, or preservative treated posts to anchor the cables for muscadine, tomato cages, berry plants?

I am not an attorney or expert in this area and the following are my layperson’s understanding of some of the regulations – so don’t rely on this!

The National Organic Program (“NOP”) states that organic production must comply with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (“OFPA”) and title 7 part 205 of the Federal Regulations.  Part 205 includes very detailed requirements for processes, record keeping, inspections and state certifications.

For my particular situation, where my gross annual agricultural income from organic produce is less than $5,000, I do not require certification but must nonetheless comply with the applicable organic production, handling and labeling requirements.  However, at the local market where I sold my lettuce earlier this year, as well as at a larger market in Atlanta where I had preliminary discussions, the organizers made it clear they would not permit anything to be labeled organic in the absence of organic certification.

Section 205.202  clarifies that there is a 3 year look back period i.e.the field which produces the crop must have had no prohibited substances applied during the 3 years immediately preceding harvest of the crop.

Section 205.203 requires nutrients and soil fertility be managed through rotations, cover crops, and the application of plant and animal materials.  Raw animal manure (my chicken manures?) cannot be incorporated into the soil within less than 120 days from the harvesting of a product whose edible portion has direct contact with the soil surface (carrots or onions?) or 90 days  for a product where the edible portion does not have direct contact with the soil (tomatoes?).   As for composting horse manure, there are required initial Carbon:Nitrogen ratios and temperature ranges and duration.

Section 205.236 for chicken to be organic they must have been under continuous organic management from the second day of their life; and cows producing organic milk products must have been under continuous organic management for 1 year prior to the production of the milk.  The inputs such as the seeds or food consumed by the animals must,  with some exceptions, be organic and not have come into contact with prohibited substances.  Therefore, according to my understanding, no treated posts in the planting areas.

There is a debate about whether honey can be organic since to qualify, the inputs, which are the nectar producing flowers visited by the bees, must be organic and since bees have a flying radius of up to 5 miles can anyone confidently assert they did not visit a chemically treated plant?

Just a culling of some of the provisions and my potted understanding of them!

I should add that I have been a member of Georgia Organics for at least the past 5 years and they have excellent materials on their website on organic farming as well as “sustainable agriculture.”