Complimentary Blueberry Juice

Week two here of examining the Shortfalls Of Our Zero Till system, and maybe the first thing after admitting defeat should be to look at all the positives and see what lessons we can and should carry forward.

This past 2023 season we saw a record amount of productivity out of the field…we were more efficient and consistent than we ever have been with several crops that had previously been problematic. In less than an acre, we managed over 4000 heads of lettuce between June and September, a couple thousand bunches of green onions, and three beautiful crops of radishes. Not only did we also have consistent fresh carrots available for 11 weeks, we also nailed our fall crop and have a good amount of storage carrots. We were able to very successfully provide for both our CSA and Market customers.

So how did we get there, even with all that weed pressure?

It took a long time – several years – but the most valuable thing to learn was how to juggle all these beds. That seems to come down to one thing and one thing only: practice.

Practice makes perfect!

We learned when to seed…that there needs to be a schedule, a target window. We learned how to time succession crops, so when one crop of Lettuce is finished, the next one is ready (or almost ready). We learned exactly how much we needed (so we weren’t wasting valuable space over-planting).

Most importantly, we learned that there needs to be a plan for what happens after the crop is finished.

For a long time we simply left the area empty (in which weeds would grow and go to seed), and fix it up with fresh compost for the next season. We got 100% better at having a crop finish its harvest period, and have the next one ready to go. Resetting the bed would mean a temporary elimination of weeds and allow the next crop to get started. With this method, in 2023 our last seeding date for a Zone 4 was August 12th, allowing us to have fresh greens until the end of September.

I consider it a big achievement to arrive at a place where we can be confident in our produce availability week to week, and continuously keeping things going from early in the season to well past the frost line, keeping living plants in the soil for as long as possible. Several beds had three crops this year. There is simply no way around learning this other than trying it yourself and making adjustments over a period of time, getting better each year and dialing it in just a tiny bit more (and I could’ve had Lettuce into October if I planted one more bed! Now I know for next year!)

If anything, learning this crop-juggling skill for a market garden gives me a lot of confidence that I can now make radical changes to our process and move forward. Having a clear blueprint of exactly what we need and when will give us a lot of room to manoeuvre through our next phase of learning and growing as growers.

Managing the processes of nature in agriculture comes with repeated attempts, a lot of learning, and a lot of introspection as with practice and desire to improve, we can slowly get to an insight that gives us enough encouragement to try again, and practice again.

Graham

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