First Things First

Although Kat and I have not purchased our farm yet we are making plans on how we will prepare our land for growing crops. I want to share with you our plans for the first year at Restoration Farms.

Once we have purchased and moved to the farm we will take some soil samples and get them analyzed. Once we know the condition of our soil we will begin to prepare it for our crops. We are estimating that our first year on the farm will consist of preparing the soil for the first harvest.

We will immediately purchase and erect our five Hoop Houses so that we can prepare for a winter crop. Hoop Houses are either made of pvc or metal pipe such as in the photo below.

A portion of our garden will consist of raised beds and some of them will have a soil base, some will be a mixture of 50% Cotton Burr Compost, 35% Peat Moss and 15% Rice Hulls and some will be a different mixture that we will come up with as a test beds. These beds we will be able to use immediately but the majority of the crop land will have to be prepared by sowing a combination of a grass and a legume as a cover crop.

Often, a combination of a grass and a legume is used, since this enhances biomass production and therefore mulch thickness, weed suppression and organic matter inputs. The combination also offers a balanced carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio, which gives a gradual release of plant available N, in contrast to the N-immobilization (tie-up) by an all-grass cover, or the rapid N release and potential leaching losses from an all-legume cover. The higher diversity of a two-species cover crop can also enhance allelopathy (suppression of weeds by natural chemical substances from the mulch), diversity of beneficial soil microbes, and nutrient effects. For instance, legumes tend to enhance availability of phosphorus (P), while grasses, especially rye, enhance availability of potassium (K). Rodale Institute

While we are preparing the no till beds for a later harvest we will plot out and fence the goat pasture and build the goat barn. Once completed we will purchase our goats, chickens, ducks and guineas. We will now begin to make soap from the goat's milk and sell the eggs from our chickens.

Our estimate is we will not produce any income from the farm for the first six months which will require us to work at least part-time for someone else. Our goal is to move from working for someone else, unless I am able obtain part-time employment as a pasture at a small rural church, to working full-time on the farm.

First Things First will be preparing the soil for our first harvest, building raised beds, erecting our hoop houses and getting the barn and pasture ready for goats.

We hope you will come back soon to check for more updates.