Seed Saving

I want to start saving more seed from the garden and found a good article on how-to-screen-and-winnow-seeds. I not only want to save money, but also save seed for peace of mind in case some of the varieties are'nt available in the future.

Bridge

We built this bridge about a month ago, now we have better access to the woods on our property. The bridge spans about 16' and is made of 10 6x6's for support and 2x6 treads. The bridge will safely hold up to 2500lbs so we can drive our tractor across it, this will come in handy when we need to drag logs out. It's also nice to have it just for walking across because there were times it could be a challenge to get across the creek and if we ever get a quad runner it will make it easier to get across and into the woods.

Soil Knife

Bought a new tool the other day called a soil knife. It's great for a lot of uses, here I'm using it to weed around carrots. It's also good for planting of annuals and other small plants.

Chisel Plowing

Chisel plowing reduces soil fracturing and eliminates hard pan that can be created when rototilling. I will come back and lightly till the top 2-3" to create a seed bed, but I try to keep it to a minimum.

Here is a video of me chisel plowing one row of our lower garden.

Proven Practices for Profitable Vegetable Production

Here is a list I found on the internet that I thought was good. Most of them I already do, but i am going to try and incorporate more of them into my farming practices.

1. Increase the soil organic matter every year
2. Maintain plant diversity [with crops and/or green manure/cover crops]
3. Manage crops for highest profit per acre; not highest yield per acre.
4. Little or no external inputs [Not necessary to buy anything, from anybody for the farm. Certain things are recommended]
5. Leave all crop residue on top of the soil.
6. No-till: no plowing, no tilling, no cultivating.
7. Permanent beds [crops]
8. Sloped land [beds the on contour; no terraces]
9. Permanent paths [walking]
10. Tools [Hand & power hand]
11. 12-months production [economical nearly everywhere]
12. Soil always covered
13. Use mulch/green manures/cover crops.
14. Feed plants through the mulch.
15. Organic matter [Free. When economically feasible, transport to the farm. Use as mulch]
16. Compost [for special uses or to use excess organic matter]
17. Drip irrigation [Purchase or DIY using poly]
18. Alternative/foreign/ethic/niche vegetables [grains, fruits, vegetables, roots, fibers, herbs, nuts, medicinals, flowers, dyes, syrups, sweeteners, crafts, seeds, herbs, spices and ornamentals. Market may be only for your production]
19. Agri-training [train others. Especially young people]
20. Protect nature [wildlife, native plants, streams & riparians, ponds & lakes, wetlands, forest and prairies.]
21. Imitate nature. Most farmers fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

Paul Robeson Tomato

I am going to try a new (to me) hierloom tomato this year. It is the Paul Robeson.
Here are some facts and history about it.

Maturity: 65 Days
Growth Habit: indet.
Fruit Color: black
Fruit Type: Slicer

This famous tomato has almost a cult following among
seed collectors and tomato connoisseurs. They simply
cannot get enough of this variety’s amazing flavor that
is so distinctive, sweet and smokey. 7-10 oz. fruit are
a black-brick color. Named in honor of the famous opera
singer star of ‘King Solomon's Mines’, 1937. Paul Robeson
was also a Russian and Equal Rights Advocate for Blacks.
This Russian heirloom was lovingly named in his honor.
We are proud to offer such a wonderful variety.

Seeded West Side Of Pond

Took Thursday & Friday off to seed the west hillside of the pond that was eroding into the pond. I bought 10 rolls of straw mat which is basically a fishing line like netting with straw impregnated on it. Each roll is 7.5' x 120'. The area I had to do was about 270' x 50' with a couple of smaller irregular areas. I used the mat for the bulk of the area and 8 bales of straw to fill in the irregular areas.

I started the project by using the bucket on the front of the tractor with the teeth down and scraping the ground while driving backward, this loosened the soil enough to fill in the crevises. After doing this I used the haro with the tines down to smooth out and break up larger chuncks of soil. After this I applied a starter fertilizer using a setting of 6 on my scotts broadcast spreader with a NPK of 10-20-20. I used the smooth side of the haro to further smooth & level the soil and to work the fertilizer into the ground.

The seed mix I came up with:
20# perrenial rye
10# annual rye
10# white clover
4# chickory
2# wild flower mix