NEWS FROM THE FARM |
April 29, 2009
Spring is a pretty fantastic time. I began the day early wearing three layers, a hat and a scarf. By 1 pm I was down to a tank top and swatting off blackflies (they officially arrived here in Jefferson today.) Spring in Maine can be quite unpredictable, and the temperatures can fluctuate wildly. Yesterday we had a record high of 90° and later in the week the temps are expected to dip below freezing. While the hoop house is topping out at 100° on days like today, the seedlings are still tucked away indoors at night as cold temps will kill the tender shoots. The onions will be ready to go out soon, and I'll be planting bunching carrots before too long.
Today was a housekeeping day out in the fields. I spent the day tilling and building beds. I had to lay out two sections of the garden, eyeball the beds and till. I then went through and weeded between the beds in order to sow Dutch white clover. The section where I grew winter squash and corn last year got a bit weedy towards the end of the season - this year I'm going to be battling chick weed. The "an ounce of prevention..." mantra will be running through my head this season. Yet another reason to keep the beds as weed free as possible.
I sow clover in the paths between my beds for a number of reasons - both above and below the soil: clover is a great nitrogen fixer in the soil, it acts as a living mulch by suppressing other invasive weeds, it invites many beneficial insects to the garden and provides safe haven, it allows me to get the tractor out on the beds earlier in the season as the ground is quite solid where the clover grows, it helps to retain soil moisture, adds stability in the winter, and the bees love the blossoms.
The section where I sowed winter rye is blissfully free of weeds. Rye has an alleopathic effect on other weed growth. It produces several compounds in its plant tissues and releases root exudates that apparently inhibit germination and growth of weed seeds. I was able to get out on this section and till the rye in early enough that it won't have a growth inhibiting effect on the vegetables.