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| After the possible flood, we'll plant our tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. |
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Reality of farming
As a new farmer, I must admit that there are serious challenges one faces when growing crops on newly-opened ground. Allyn and I pulled all of our reemay off today only to discover that early sowings of seed did not emerge aside from those sprouts that found large cracks in crusted-over soil. Our later seed plantings are doing well and are growing nicely, yet we may lose even this if it does flood tomorrow. This is terribly discouraging and makes me wonder why anyone should even venture into farming--especially in King county. I long for the days of farming in Whidbey's rain shadow and sandy loam soil where crusting was never an issue. This farming paradise would distort even the most objective perception that a young farmer would have about how things grow and react to vastly different soil and weather conditions. I try to remain focused on what is working and think that eventually things will become easier and that the knowledge will come, yet I feel at the same time that America has lost (or is losing) much of the know how that was passed down from generation to generation when agriculture was a part of life and a family's survival to an extent. Whether or not this venture succeeds, I will put one foot in front of the other and continue to do what feels right--grow food.
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ReplyDeleteBe strong young Cuke Skywalker!
ReplyDeleteCrop failure is part and parcel of farming, as frustrating (and bank account depleting) as it is. But remember it's not over til it's over and the Fat Lady sings while you are sitting next to your stove mid January looking at 2012 seed catalogs.
Drive a beer (or 30) in memory of your loss and be done with it. Regroup, reassess your strengths and weaknesses and replant!
I do think crop failure is one thing the general non-farming public doesn't comprehend about farmers. Mother Nature is our number one employee. Really a controlling partner in our endeavors. Yet we can't fire her and she doesn't respond to stern memos (I've tried!). Every year she does what she damn well pleases and doesn't even attempt to consult with our plans!
Yet, despite this huge loose cannon in our business plan, we farmers continue to farm and WE Do IT EVERY YEAR!
Last year some of my neighbors lost their entire wheat crop (as in 100s of acres) to our wet September. Yet it was such a wet summer they got more hay crops than normal (more cuttings). Diversification, persistence, ingenuity and the ability to write off the loss and carry on is key.
And to make you feel better, my very early plantings (seed in early March) came up - but they didn't do real great. Very bolty which is shocking this time of year. But I think it was because it got so wet after they germed that their roots just got too waterlogged and stressed, pushing them to bolt. We've been using lots of them for "braising greens!" Which, since hardly anybody else has anything else to sell, has been moving well...
ReplyDeleteMy fields are also wetter than I've ever seen them this time of year, and I can't get into large portions of my fields to plant even still! Yikes...I'm seriously eyeing my previously written off "sand knolls" for potential early planting sections for next spring. Especially in light of Cliff Mass's prediction that we are in a multi-year pattern of cold and wet seasons.
Farmers are the ONLY people truly dependent on weather. We had a photographer visit our rented farm one day. He said quote "Oh, farmers are so lucky, they don't have to worry about weather". yeah, honestly. Guy wasn't allowed back. Idiot on a stick.
ReplyDeleteFarming. It's a huge gamble. I wish you all the best of luck, and hope the weather will turn around for you. We're crazy late with planting here, too. Very wet and cold, and everything is way behind. We're in southern Ontario, Canada.
I wish consumers would realize just how important farm work is. It keeps us all alive.
Pretty freakin' important, if you ask me.
Thanks for the support everybody. The good weather forecast will certainly put things in a better light (no pun intended). We narrowly missed a flood but our local creek backed up and spilled a little water into an unplanted greenhouse area which is okay for now. It will dry up within the week and we'll be able to get our tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants into the ground.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that things are so late on a broad continental level, and it comforts me to know that I am not alone on this one. Many of my friends (that do not farm) just go merrily along to the supermarket to buy their produce as if everything is a-okay. The produce isle has a difficult time conveying the amount of stress and work that food producers endure, and I feel that local consumer education is really key to gaining a stronger foothold in a community's food supply and gaining that much needed support.