Field Update: Much Needed Rain, Fall Crops, and Garter Snakes!
Week 26, August 27- September 2, 2012, Week 36 of the Year
Well we didn’t need to build that ark after all! We got a great, light, rain this weekend giving us over 2″ of much needed rain. With every county of Missouri classified as in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought we are all rejoicing. Predictions of rain varied from 2-8″ and forecasts changed hourly. While we are all very thankful for the rain it has been said it will take 18-20″ of rain over a period of weeks to get us out of this drought. There are so many farmers being effected by this weather, including our friend Ron “Romaine” Parres and his mother, Jane. Jane Parres owns Moon Dance Farm in Owensville, MO where she raises 100% grass fed beef. Ron told me that as of a couple weeks ago they are already feeding their cattle hay, which usually starts in the winter. The prices of hay and straw is also up, because production is potentially down up to 30%. This is a huge expense to cattle farmers, so much so that other farms are selling off their cattle as to not lose money. Hopefully we will continue to get rain, grasses will rebound for the cattle, and to survive the winter, otherwise re-seeding pasture could be an additional expense. Drought can also cause cattle to eat plants that are poisonous to them and that plants that they normally eat can take in so much nitrate that they also become poisonous. Here is a short article on the issue: Missouri Farm Today. Enough on cattle…
At EarthDance fall crops are coming up; arugula, turnips, radish, beets, carrots, spinach, cabbage looks amazing, new kale and chard is big enough to harvest, second successions of tomatoes are producing, bell peppers are still a week or two out, husk cherries are forming, our latest succession of squash is flowering, okra has begun to produce, lettuce transplants are all in, pac choi transplants will be ready to harvest in a couple weeks, we began harvesting winter squash, all in total = yummy!
We are still planting more; carrots (56-78 Days To Maturity), pac choi (45 DTM), radish (21-50 DTM), lettuce (42-55 DTM), daikon (new this year, 50-55 DTM), spinach (50 DTM), arugula (40 DTM), broccoli raab (35-42 DTM), Japanese turnips (40 DTM), kale (50-65). The end of the season will provide especially full CSA shares, a portion of some of these crops (spinach, kale, leeks, & carrots) will be over wintered for fall and winter markets, Farmer’s Formal, and spring CSAs. Can you guys even remember back to the days of harvesting 400 lb of carrots at a time? Last year our last carrot and spinach planting was around September 15th and this year I would like to do a later planting to further extend the harvest into the spring. Overwintered crops are of course always at the mercy of the weather, this spring’s rapid heat up really had us in a time crunch to get them out of the ground, only allowing the CSA to get the final week of them. When carrots are overdone they split and we were culling quite a few this spring, but we still sold at least 1,000 lb. We will also be planting varieties more adapted to overwintering, ‘Bolero’ carrots and widely adapted ‘Tyee’ spinach for example. We have less than 3,000′ of open bed space to fit everything into so I will be revising a strategy this week.
The fist planting of ‘Sun Gold’ tomatoes have finally slowed down- phewww! They did put on a lot of flowers this week so I have a feeling there will be a triumphant comeback in the future. The offer to pick 5lb. each ‘Juliet’ tomatoes still stands.
Ants continue to be a problem, particularly on our eggplant and they have again killed our 2nd and third basil plantings despite traps. Also there is a bit of cabbage moth damage on the broccoli so we will spray with Bt this week. Bt is caterpillar specific and the caterpillar has to ingest the bacteria to be affected. Thus, if it isn’t eating our crops it will not be killed. Squash bugs are picking up steam in the older plantings, despite using Insecticidal soap and Surround (kaolin clay) in these past few weeks. It seams that the most time consuming efforts made the biggest dent – hand squishing. Harlequin bug eggs, instars (young), and adults are prevalent in the Yard field. These are very hard to control.
Now is the time to order fall cover crop and if you haven’t already- garlic. Here is a great cover crop tool and guide from Cornell University. Territorial seeds offers a great selection of garlic.
Wildlife of the Week– Garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis
We rarely see snakes on the farm but we do occasionally see non-venomous Garter snakes. I know many folks are creeped out by snakes but these guys are great for the garden and their numbers are actually on the decline. These medium sized snakes eat slugs, worms, leaches, ANTS, frogs, and rodents. These creatures communicate via pheromones to find each other for mating. Males can produce female scents to fool males into mating with them which they often do after brumation (similar to hibernation) to gain heat which to snakes, who only regulate their body temperature (heterothermic) during activities, more heat means more energy. The part of the day when they reduce metabolism and temperatures to ambient temperatures, you will see them sunning on rocks, they are considered poikilothermic and the portion of the day when they are active and regulating their temperature and metabolism they are homeothermic. Garter snakes travel long distances to brumate in groups called a hibernacula. Brumation differs from hibernation because the animals are not asleep, they are only less active although still drinking water. Whereas, hibernation is a deep sleep and metabolic change. Garter snakes are ovoviviparious which means females gestate embryos in an egg internally and they emerge from her as live young. This is different from mammals who are viviparous/have live young, and birds who are oviparous/hatch eggs outside the body. That is your zoology lesson for the week!
Thank Yous– Thanks to Shawn Thomason and the St. Patrick’s Center crew for clearing out invasive species from the treeline. This work will lead to a resurgence in native understory growth and hopefully (if we find funding) planting of more natives. These guys have been working hard every Tuesday to clear non-native honesuckle, Japanese hopvine, and Siberian elms. With more sun hitting the ground in there it is also burning up the shade-loving invasive euonymus groundcover, “winter creeper”.
Needs
• A source for weed-free, spray-free, delivered manure.
• More Kitchen scraps
• City Compost for Mulch