Barakah Heritage Farm USA

Tag: crops

  • Air farm – Drones evolving into smart farming tools

    Air farm – Drones evolving into smart farming tools



    The ingenious autonomous drones and the surprising new technologies that will help traditional farmers’ productivity soar.

    View the full series athttp://lombardodier.ft.com/

  • Backyard Garden ‘Cash Crops’: Make Money with a Home Garden

    Backyard Garden ‘Cash Crops’: Make Money with a Home Garden

     

    There’s not a thing wrong with growing beautiful flowers and donating them to senior citizens on your block. But for people who want to make a profit from a backyard garden, it’s time to ditch the roses and start making some real money.

    The fact is that just about anyone with an average-sized yard can create a profitable garden. Depending on what the “crops” are, the financial yield can range from small change to a significant amount of money. Much depends on the quality of the soil, the local climate, and the regional market for various herbs and “cash-crop” plants. Very little depends on the innate talent of the gardener because the basic skills are easy to pick up.

     How to Begin with a Simple Plot or a Greenhouse

    Start out small and slowly add to your garden’s size and sophistication, experts suggest. The National Gardening Association points out that even a very small plot, measuring no more than 10 feet by 15 feet, can yield approximately $600 worth of produce in a single year. That’s after an investment of about $75 on seeds, water, plant food, etc.

    Saving $525 on the annual grocery bill is nice, but how can gardeners bump that number into the thousands? Research has shown that the number-one motivating factor for starting a home garden is “saving money on groceries.” That means people want to know more about this valuable topic.

    One key point that amateur gardeners need to remember is to plant the foods they enjoy eating. The more items in a garden that end up on your plate, the more money you’ll save in the long run.

    After doing some research and then deciding exactly what to plant, note that a small greenhouse is also a great investment and can usually pay for itself in one year or less, especially if you build it yourself from scrap lumber and a few purchased supplies.

    The Best “Cash Crops” for a Home Garden

    So, what to grow? Besides opting for the foods you eat, perhaps there are a few items that sell briskly at the local farmer’s market. Buying seeds and starting some plants indoors is a smart way to begin. The National Gardening Association has a very helpful chart, here, about what the cost is to produce various levels of yield for common garden crops.

    Depending where you live and how long winter lasts, it is possible to earn some serious money by growing “specialty crops,” things that are not common to the average household garden. What are the best cash crops for a 600-square foot backyard garden?

    On an investment of less than $300, you can grow lavender, bonsai plants, gourmet mushrooms, garlic and specialty herbs. All have ready markets and are easy to grow. Gourmet garlic comes in four varieties: porcelain, purple-stripe, elephant and rocambole. Because garlic tolerates a variety of weather conditions, it is one of the highest profit crops for home gardeners.

    Specialty crops can be sold at a farmer’s market or to local retailers and gourmet food stores. Lavender can be sold to local florists and boutiques that use the fresh plants to make all sorts of beauty products.

    Bonsai plants and gourmet mushrooms are also an easy sell. Local florists often depend on nearby residents to supply them with fast-selling items like bonsai. As for gourmet mushrooms, they are perhaps the most profitable of all crops on this list. Sold fresh at farmer’s markets or in local stores, it is easy to build up a small network of buyers for your high-quality, home-grown shiitake or oyster mushrooms. Because they can be grown indoors and are thus “climate-proof,” mushrooms are a home garden favorite of entrepreneurs all over the U.S.

    Money-making Medicinal Plants and Organics

    All of the above-mentioned cash crops can be grown as organics to increase their prices at market, but remember to follow organic guidelines for pest control, watering, and plant food throughout the growing cycle. Organics bring much higher prices and some sellers at farmer’s markets specialize in organic produce. Making a business connection with a few organic sellers can boost your home garden’s profits significantly.

    Medicinal plants and herbs are another high-profit category for home growers. Some of these items are a bit finicky but can be grown in a backyard garden. Currently, the most in-demand medicinal herbs are Chamomile, Echinacea, Feverfew, Lavender (see above), Marigold, Lemon Balm, and Basil.

    Actually, there are more than a hundred medicinal herbs you can grow but the above seven are the most popular with most local health stores and other retail buyers. The main advantage of growing herbs and specialty crops like mushrooms and garlic is the tiny amount of space needed for a profitable yield.

    Facts and Myths about Home Garden Businesses

    Myths about home gardening abound, and unfortunately keep many people from giving this fun endeavor a try. Here are some of the most common myths, with their “debunking” facts immediately following:

    “It’s too expensive.” A home garden can be started on less than $100 of seeds and supplies. Then, it pays for itself about five times over within the first year.

    “It’s too much trouble and hard work.” You can devote as much time as you want to a profitable home garden, but the minimum is about four hours per week. That averages out to a tad more than a half hour per day, hardly a major time commitment. As for the “hard work,” a portable, low-slung chair or thick, washable cushion and good posture make the job easy and fun. No need for backbreaking labor with a home garden.

    “Home gardening requires lots of technical knowledge.” If you can read and understand simple instructions, there are literally thousands of gardening manuals and books for beginners online and off. Most are either free or very low cost. Building a backyard garden is not corporate farm management or brain surgery. It’s simple to learn, and very rewarding.

    “It’s hard to make a profit with a backyard plot.” In reality, it’s hard not to make a profit with a small garden. Even if you consume everything you grow, your grocery bill will be lower and you will probably be healthier from eating all that unprocessed, home-grown produce.

    Let the Learning, Earning (and Fun) Begin!

    With no more than a backyard and desire to make a few extra bucks, anybody can start a profitable home-garden business. Depending upon how much time and effort you want to put into the endeavor, the activity can become a fun hobby or a full-blown avocation.

    Many retired people spend time in their gardens every day. Being outdoors and staying active is also a smart way to maintain overall good health. If approached with realistic expectations and the right amount of planning, home gardening for profit can be a healthy and exciting way to earn extra money.

    https://www.selfrely.com/backyard-garden-cash-crops-make-money-with-a-home-garden/

    On – 03 Feb, 2017 By Lester Beltran

  • No dig, ditch back-breaking cultivation and grow great vegetables

    No dig, ditch back-breaking cultivation and grow great vegetables

    Origins of no dig cultivation methods are not completely clear, but the benefits of having healthy soil, bountiful crops with minimal work is clear! Managing your allotment/home vegetable garden using techniques such as double digging are time consuming, labour intensive and damage the delicate balance which exists in soil between beneficial bacteria, insects and microbial content. All of which are vital to the health of your soil and by extension the health of your delicious crops.

    Incorporating organic material into soil is not a new concept, worms, insects, fungi and microbes have been enhancing soils organic content whilst aerating and binding soil together without having to dig in composted green waste or similar materials by hand for millions of years. By studying nature we can find ways to create efficient systems which work and enhance the natural world.

    Pioneers in the UK like Charles Dowding, have been growing crops such as salad leaves for years with the no dig method, ranging from small back garden operations to acres of crops, even mainstream shows such as Gardener’s World have started to see the benefits of permaculture and no dig, as shown by Monty Don. The main concept of the no dig garden incorporates the ideals and principles of permaculture by mulching your growing area with composted green waste, straw, leaf mould, composed bark chippings and similar material. These mulches help to suppress weeds whilst the worms, insects and microbes continue to break down all this lovely organic material, incorporating it into your soil.

    For best results you can add other design elements alongside your no dig site to enhance biodiversity, attract beneficial insects such as predator beetles and pollinators and make the most of the water fall your site receives.

    Some of the methods which you could use alongside your no dig patch are …

    • Adding beetle banks
    • Create insect hotels
    • Companion planting
    • Attract pollinators
    • Create a mini wildlife pond
    • Design for your lands water flow

    Why not give the no dig style of cultivation a go and see what this wonderfully simple method can do for your garden/allotment this year. Wildlife & Eco Gardens can help you get started with your new gardening system or help with composting advice to get the best quality compost for your no dig beds.

    On – 25 Apr, 2017 By

  • Tips for Terrific Tomatoes, from Soil Prep to Staking

    Tips for Terrific Tomatoes, from Soil Prep to Staking

    Plump, sun-ripened tomatoes are indisputably the crown jewel of home vegetable gardens, and a successful tomato crop means giving them the best start possible. As with everything, getting the most out of your tomatoes is all about preparation.

    Joining us again to talk tomatoes and more is the Organic Gardener Jeanne Nolan.

    How to Start a Garden

    Not sure how to start your garden? With help from Jeanne Nolan and her team, we will guide you through the process from selecting a site for your garden to staking crops and everything in between.

    Strategies for Container Gardening

    If you’re one of the many Chicagoans living in an apartment or condo with limited outdoor space, growing your own food can seem like a challenge – but, Jeanne Nolan says, anything you can grow in the ground can be grown in a container with just a few adjustments.

     

    Ask Jeanne Nolan and The Organic Gardener crew.

    http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/05/25/tips-terrific-tomatoes-soil-prep-staking

    On – 25 May, 2017 By Erica Gunderson

  • Fertilizing Corn In The Home Garden: An Organic Approach

    Fertilizing Corn In The Home Garden: An Organic Approach

    As garden crops go, corn is among the heaviest feeders. To support tall growth and good ear formation, corn crops often need supplemental additions of nitrogen; there’s typically not enough of this nutrient available in garden soils to support such a large-statured crop. Fertilizing corn in the home garden is an essential summer chore, if you want a hearty crop of plump ears.

    When To Fertilize Corn In The Summer

    Test your garden soil every few years to ensure its pH is at the correct level to support the growth of most common garden crops, including corn. The best pH for most vegetables is between 6.0 and 6.5, and ensuring your soil’s pH fits in this range improves the availability of most nutrients to your corn plants.

    That said, even when the soil’s pH is in the suitable range, supplemental nitrogen fertilizer is often necessary when growing corn. Adding yearly additions of well-composted manures and using legume cover crops will add a good bit of nitrogen to the soil, but when your corn plants reach two feet tall, it’s time for fertilizing corn in the home garden.

    Organic Products For Fertilizing Corn

    If you want to avoid using chemical-based fertilizers in your veggie patch, you’ll need to turn to organic nitrogen fertilizers to give your corn plants a boost. The following sources of nitrogen are plant- or animal-based and require soil microbes to break them down into a form of nitrogen the plants can use. Thankfully, upon adding one of these fertilizers to the corn patch, all the necessary soil microbes work very quickly to break down these products and release the nitrogen to your growing corn plants.

    • Alfalfa meal: Made from dried alfalfa plants, this plant-based fertilizer is about 4 percent nitrogen. It’s often used as an animal feed supplement, too, and it promotes a balance of healthy soil microbes.
    • Cottonseed meal: A coarsely granulated product made from the hulls of cottonseeds, cottonseed meal is about 6 percent nitrogen. Once in the soil, it rapidly breaks down and provides a burst of nitrogen to plants within a few days of application.
    • Blood meal: Derived from dried blood from slaughterhouses, blood meal contains about 12 percent nitrogen. It acts quickly in the soil and begins to provide nitrogen to plants almost immediately.
    • Feather meal: Another animal byproduct from slaughterhouses, feather meal contains approximately 14 percent nitrogen. It’s inexpensive, though it takes a bit longer for the microbes to mineralize than some of the other organic nitrogen sources discussed here.
    • Soybean meal: With a nitrogen content of about 7 percent, soybean meal is another option for fertilizing corn in the home garden.
    • Fish fertilizers: Liquid fish fertilizers as well as granular fish-based fertilizers are good nitrogen sources for the corn patch. Though they can smell bad, fish-based fertilizers are mineralized by soil microbes very rapidly. Depending on the formulation, they can contain between 5 percent and 10 percent nitrogen.

    How To Fertilize Corn

    Adding nitrogen to your corn plants is as simple as side-dressing the rows at the recommended application rate shown on the product’s label when the plants are approximately two feet tall. Lightly scratch it into the soil’s surface so the soil microbes can quickly access it, and then water it in.

    A word of caution: it is possible, of course, to overfertilize corn plants. Do not add any more fertilizer than recommended on the label. A single application is all that’s necessary, except in the case of extreme nitrogen deficiencies. Conduct a soil test every few years to ensure all essential plant nutrients are in the proper balance.

    http://www.hobbyfarms.com/fertilizing-corn-home-garden-organic/

    On – 22 Jun, 2017 By Jessica Walliser

  • Transitioning the Vegetable Garden from Spring to Summer

    Transitioning the Vegetable Garden from Spring to Summer

    vegetable garden

    This is the time of year when I transition the vegetable garden from its spring crops into summertime. It’s the time of year when we never seem to have enough room in the raised beds nor enough time to do all of the work we set out to do in a given day.

    In the vegetable garden, the broccoli rabe is at its peak, and the lettuce is, too. The beets will be ready for harvesting, pickling, and canning in about three weeks or so. Strawberries for jam are just starting to arrive and are protected thanks to the bird netting that keeps my nemesis, the local crow murder, from eating the harvest before I get to them. Peas twin on the Vine Spine Linking Trellis and start just starting to flower. Onions and garlic are maturing and the radishes are almost finished.

    Newly planted carrot and parsnip seeds peek tentatively above the earth. Tomato plants expelled from hothouse splendor now wave from behind the safety of their cages. And waiting on the porch for truly hot weather are the flats of sweet potato plants who need heat and plenty of it to be happy.

    Among the herb garden plants, the catnip is ready for harvesting, and I’ve already cut and dried another pint of oregano. I have cinnamon and Genovese basil plants ready to set outside and parsley and dill have been moved from the safety of their flats to the garden beds. I mix parsley and dill into the herb garden, the butterfly garden as food for hungry caterpillars, and in the vegetable garden so there is always plenty for us all.

    We’ve been busy weeding all of the flower beds in the perennial garden. It is hot, dirty work. Last year, I got behind in the weeding and the weeds took advantage of my laziness to creep into every nook and cranny among the plants. Hubby and I have worked out a system whereby I week from 7 to 8:30 each morning and then he mulches the area afterward. When we finish the entire garden in about two weeks I will start again, tidying up the areas we’ve already done.

    Our goal this year is to keep the garden in top shape as long as we can. The heat is always a problem and keeps me from gardening longer, but I have learned the hard way that a little sustained daily effort accumulates into success.

    May is a busy month, but I have found time to update the monthly gardening tip sheets available free here at Home Garden Joy. I have also started a new short gardening book that I think you will enjoy! Stay tuned, be sure to join our email list for the latest information, and keep gardening and growing!

     

     

    http://homegardenjoy.com/site/2017/05/transitioning-vegetable-garden-spring-summer.html

    On – 18 May, 2017 By Jeanne

  • Vegetables – Grow top-quality carrots

    Vegetables – Grow top-quality carrots

    Carrots are important root crops in commercial and home gardens for vegetable production. Here are some pointers for cultivating them.

    Carrots (Daucus carota) are members of the Apaceae family and are grown for the edible root, which can be eaten raw or cooked. They are rich in carotene (vitamin A). Carrots grow well in cool conditions, as long as there is enough moisture, and they are fairly resistant to cold and frost.

    SOIL

    Carrots need deep, well-drained sandy loam to sandy soil, and the texture is very important because it affects how smooth and well-shaped the roots will be. Avoid heavy, compact soil which will discourage growth. Soils high in fresh organic matter can result in hairy, forked and malformed roots, and stony soil can also produce poor root shapes. The optimum pH (H20) is between 6,0 and 6,5.

    TEMPERATURE

    Carrots are cool-weather plants, but growth slows down if the temperature drops below 10ºC.
    Although not usually sensitive to frost, severe frosty spells can damage the leaves. Roots can be damaged if the soil temperature drops below 0°C, especially if the plants were irrigated the preceding afternoon.
    The temperature and soil moisture influence the colour, shape and quality of carrots. Growth is optimal at 18 – 23°C, although some cultivars can withstand a great deal of heat. High temperatures (above 29°C) affect emergence and quality negatively, causing poor colour and thicker centres.

    CROP ROTATION

    Rotating crops helps to improve the quality of the soil and keep down soil-borne pests. Carrots make good crop rotation partners for cabbage, lettuce, pumpkin and tomatoes. If rotated with leguminous crops, such as peas and beans, they improve the soil’s nutrient levels.

    CULTIVARS

    Try these varieties:
    Kuroda, which offers an excellent yield and has a good shape. It’s 11 – 15cm long and has a thin kernel. Can be produced in warmer seasons.
    Cape Market is cylindrical, 12 – 17cm long and produced in warmer seasons.
    Scarlet Nantes, Flacoro, Fancy and Duke are good choices for autumn planting.

    PREPARING THE SOIL

    Loosen the soil thoroughly by ploughing (or using a fork, hand hoe or spade) to a depth of 300 – 400mm to allow for good root aeration, root penetration and drainage. Crush all clods with a rake or cultivator to obtain a deep, fine tilth. Remove stones because they can cause poorly shaped carrots. It would be even better to build and prepare a raised bed. Remove all weeds before sowing because carrot seedlings are very fine and cannot compete with weeds.

    SPACING

    Allow 25 – 35cm between rows. Thin out at one to two weeks after emergence, when the carrot seedlings are about 4cm high, and again one to two weeks later. This should result in a spacing of 4 – 5cm within the row (80 – 120 roots/m²). Do not thin out later than four weeks after emergence. If the crop is not thinned out, the carrots will be small and malformed. Thinning should take place in the afternoon, and when soil is moist.

    APPLYING FERTILISER

    Broadcast about 1 000kg/ha (100g/m2) of a fertiliser mixture such as 2:3:4 (30)+Zn or 1 100kg/ha (110g/m2) of 2:3:2 (22)+Zn just before planting and work it into the top 10cm of soil.

    Apply a top dressing of 10g LAN per metre of row at three weeks and again at six weeks after emergence. Sprinkle on both sides of the row, 2 – 10cm from the plants (do not sprinkle on the plants). It would be a good idea to remove all the weeds before applying LAN in order to avoid their competing with the carrots for fertiliser. Work into the top 2cm of the soil, using a flat-tined fork. Water well. In areas known to have a boron deficiency, apply 10 – 20kg/ha borax after planting.
    Do not use manure and compost for carrots, because they can cause malformation of the roots and decrease the marketable yield. If manure needs to be dug in, do so with the crop preceding carrots (see crop rotation).

    HOW TO SOW

    Rake the soil surface to a fine-tilth seedbed before sowing the small carrot seeds directly in the soil – carrots cannot be transplanted.

    Put the seeds in the palm of one hand, take a substantial pinch with the fingers of the other hand and rub between finger and thumb as you move your hand forwards and backwards along shallow (1,5cm deep) furrows, until the desired sowing rate is achieved. Another method is to mix one teaspoon of seed with 10 teaspoons of sand and then sow it. Seeding requires some experience and practice.

    After sowing, cover seed with fine soil to ensure better germination. In the warmer months, mulch the rows with dry grass to keep the soil cool and moist, as this will assist germination. Remove the mulch after the seedlings have emerged. (If it is kept on too long, the seedlings will become leggy and the sun will burn them easily.) Emergence may take 7 – 14 days depending on the cultivar, the weather, soil type and season important You will need 3 – 4kg seed. For smaller plots, allow 1g (1 teaspoon) per 2m of row.

    IRRIGATION

    Keep the soil moist after sowing the seeds to ensure good germination. Water carrots regularly throughout the growing season, but take care not to water too much. As a general rule, carrots need about 30mm of water per week. Water every five days if the weather is warm and dry.

    MANAGING THE CROP

    Start off with a weed-free plot so that the carrots do not have to compete with them for nutrients and water. Then weed carrots regularly to keep them free of weeds. If you see any weeds appear, remove them immediately. Being weed-free has a substantial effect on the yield – and your profits. Be particularly careful to remove perennial weeds because they can grow between the roots and will result in poor-quality carrots.

    HARVESTING

    Carrots grow for 10 – 12 weeks from emergence to harvesting, depending on the cultivar and the temperature. In small gardens, harvest them as soon as they reach a diameter of 20mm but are still young and tender. Make sure the soil is wet when you harvest carrots, to make them easier to remove, either pulling out by hand or first loosening them carefully with a fork (start 15cm away from the base of the plants) and then pulling them out.

    Harvest carrots when they are fully mature as this increases their shelf-life. Do not harvest early in the morning if the soil is cold, as this may cause the roots to crack horizontally. Do not leave carrots in the sun after harvesting – take them to a shady place as soon as possible.

    STORAGE

    Most horticultural crops are perishable and can only be stored for a few days. It is best to harvest carrots as needed for consumption or selling. Remove the leaves before storing, to extend shelf life.

    Fresh carrots, harvested when mature, will keep for up to five days at room temperature (20°C), and for 7 – 21 days in a refrigerator.

    WHEN TO SOW

    The following sowing times are recommended for the different countries.

    South Africa

    Highveld: August to mid-March.
    Middleveld (temperate climate zones): August to mid-April. In very warm areas, August to September and February to March.
    Limpopo and Lowveld: February to April and July to August.
    Free State and Northern Cape: August to October and end of January to March.
    Kwazulu-Natal (midlands and coastal region): August to April.
    Eastern Cape: July to April, but NOT in mid-summer in very warm areas. In very cold areas, August to April.
    Western Cape: August to end of March.

    Zambia

    Eastern province, and Sesheke and Shangombo districts: March to July.
    Northern, Luapula, Copperbelt, Northwestern, and parts of Central Provinces:  March to July.
    Sandveld plateau of Central, Eastern, Lusaka and Southern provinces: March to July.

    Zimbabwe

    Mashonaland East, Central and West: February to September.
    Mashonaland west(Kadoma) and Midlands(Kwekwe, Gweru, Gokwe): February to September
    Masvingo: February to September

    Malawi

    Whole country: whole year

    Botswana

    Southern region: February to Septmenber
    Gabarone regione: March to September
    Central region: March to August
    North east region: March to August
    Ngamiland region: April to Augist

    Disease control recommendations

    • Rotate crops.
    • Plant in well-drained soil.
    • Water early so that leaves can dry before nightfall.
    • Do not over-irrigate.
    • Burn diseased plants.
    • Fertilise plants well.
    • Control weeds in and around fields.
    • Remove all plant residues from the field after harvesting.

    REMEMBER: There are no registered disease-control chemicals for carrots.

    On – 17 Aug, 2017 By Digital team

  • Take a look at America’s vegetable garden, home to $5 billion worth of crops | PennLive.com

    Take a look at America’s vegetable garden, home to $5 billion worth of crops | PennLive.com

    Days in the 60s and 70s, and nights in the 50s, all year long…

    Rich, black, crumbly, well drained soil…

    No winter freezes or brutal summer heat waves…

    Plenty of fresh, clean water.

    It’s the stuff of a gardener’s dream – the conditions that we clay-infested, erratic-weather-stressed central-Pennsylvania gardeners don’t have.

    But there is a place where this plant nirvana exists.

    It’s called Salinas Valley, Calif., and the people living there have had the good sense (so far) to exploit most of the acreage for astounding vegetable production.

    This 90-mile stretch of Pacific Ocean coastline, about 2 hours south of San Francisco, produces a whopping 50 to 90 percent of many of America’s most-eaten vegetables.

    Monterey County, where the Salinas Valley is located, churned out nearly 5 billion dollars worth of crops last year, making it the top-producing agriculture county anywhere in the world.

    It’s where America gets the majority of its leaf and head lettuce, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, spinach, artichokes, cabbage, and peas.

    In short, it’s America’s vegetable garden.

    See video of workers harvesting broccoli in California’s Salinas Valley:

    Without it, we’d be hurting at the produce section – especially from winter through mid-spring.

    This part of the central California coast specializes in cool-season crops, ones we have to cram into that narrow window between winter-frozen soil and early-summer heat.

    But in the land of eternal pleasantry, crops such as lettuce, broccoli, spinach and celery can be grown all year. One crop follows another.

    Fields of veggies sprawl like oceans of green for mile after mile – a football field of cabbage, then lettuce, then spinach, then cauliflower, then more lettuce, and on and on and on.

    The only brown you’ll see are blocks just harvested and getting ready to receive the next crop.

    “The goal is three crops per field per year,” says Evan Oakes, a Monterey County Extension educator.

    Mountains flanking both sides of the Salinas Valley essentially make the area a huge walled-in vegetable garden. 

    What makes that possible is the fortunate geography of the Salinas Valley. Mountains flank both sides of the valley, which opens up into the cool waters of the Pacific at its northern mouth.

    The moist, moderating Pacific air funnels into the valley, which is essentially a nature-made walled garden.

    “It never gets hot here,” says Oakes. “We can have days about 80 degrees and nights about 50 degrees for nine months of the year. Winter rarely drops below 40.”

    Read George’s post on “What If We Didn’t Have Such Wild Weather Rides?”

    The soil is also magnificent.

    “There’s such amazing soil here that we don’t have to use much fertilizer,” Oakes says. “It’s so fertile. Topsoils are close to 100 feet deep in a river valley like this.”

    The third key ingredient is water. That one is a little dicier since a single head of lettuce takes more than 3 gallons to grow and a crown of broccoli takes 51/2 gallons.

    Monterey County gets only about 15 to 20 inches of rain per year, and most of that falls in the winter. Twelve inches of rain a year or less qualifies as a desert.

    That forces Salinas growers to tap underground water and rely almost solely on irrigation to water the plants.

    But the Salinas Valley is blessed again there with the Salinas River. Although 90 percent of it is underground, wells start  hitting plentiful, clean supplies just 5 to 6 feet down.

    The neighboring Carmel Valley with its Carmel River isn’t as fortunate. That source has been sucked down to the point where there’s now a moratorium on new wells.

    Getting the crops from field to our tables is done with military-logistics efficiency.

    Workers are harvesting broccoli in this Salinas Valley field. 

    Some crops, such as spinach, lettuce and broccoli, are harvested with a combination of machines and people. Others, such as strawberries, asparagus and artichokes, are harvested by knife-wielding workers who bend over for 8 hours a day, 6 days a week.

    It’s hard work, and few Americans are interested in doing it despite the pleasant weather and pay that can approach $20 an hour (plus full benefits).

    Almost all of the labor is Mexican.

    “This is the first time in our history where we’re having trouble getting enough labor,” says Oakes. “The Latino people are scared to death about coming over the border.”

    He says companies typically find American workers do one day and decide that’s enough.

    Assuming enough hands are on deck when a crop is ready, most veggies are picked and packed right in the field.

    Those boxed strawberries you bought, for example, were touched only once before you opened them – by the picker/packer.

    Lettuce and other small greens are the exception. They’re washed three times in chlorinated water before being packed.

    “The goal is to pick the crop, pack it by hand in the field, get it to a cooler within an hour or two, and get it on the road,” says Oakes.

    Cooling facilities throughout the valley are able to cool picked produce down to 33 degrees in as little as a half-hour. Refrigerated trucks line up outside these plants to haul it throughout the United States as fast as it can be boxed.

    Besides cool-season veggies and strawberries, the Salinas Valley produces more than 44 million pounds of mushrooms a year, grows nearly 67,000 acres of assorted organic crops and 44,000 acres of wine grapes a year, and is California’s second-biggest producer of flowers, ornamental plants, and potted plants.

    The variety is astounding, mainly because pretty much everything is happy growing in the Salinas Valley.

    “When you have water, good soil and this climate, you can go crazy,” says Oakes.

    See George’s photo gallery of 38 pictures from California’s central coast and valleys

    http://www.pennlive.com/gardening/2017/06/americas_vegetable_garden.html

    On – 15 Jun, 2017 By George Weigel

  • A gentle plea for field crops in the garden

    A gentle plea for field crops in the garden

    Wheat in the annual border? Cotton blooming amongst the zinnias?  Rice in the rain garden?  Is that crazy talk?  Field crop plants seem out of place in the home garden, but could it be we’ve undervalued them?  I think we have, and we would all benefit from an occasional foray into growing them.  I’m not arguing for everyone to pull out their roses and put in a patch of soybeans, nor am I advocating for everyone to turn survivalist and attempt to grow a year’s supply of grain.  However, I have been growing small patches of grain and fiber crops in my garden for almost a decade now, and have found the exercise to have a multitude of benefits.

    Teach your family where their food comes from

    I never considered planting field crop plants in my garden until a fateful train ride with my son. First, a bit of back story: My father was an agricultural researcher, and considered identifying major crop plants in any life-stage to be an Important Life Skill.  On any given trip through the countryside, we would have conversations like this:

    Dad:  What’s growing in that field?

    Teenage me:  Er…I don’t know…corn?

    Dad:  No, sorgum.  You can tell because…(and here he launches into a few minute lecture on the agronomy and uses of sorgum)

    Teenage me: Umm…ok. Why does this matter?

    Dad:  This is important!  THIS IS WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM!

    Teenage me: Whatever, Dad.

    I didn’t realize how unique a skill he had given me until years later.  Fast forward a decade, and I am sitting with my, much less jaded, 2-year old son on a train.

    Me: Look at the wheat growing in that field!

    Son: Wheat!

    Guy behind me: Oh, is that what wheat looks like?  Hey, kids, look at the wheat!

    Me (thinking to myself):  Wait?!? This is the crop that made western civilization possible!  How can a grown adult not know what it looks like?  Has the general populace become so disconnected from farming that they don’t know what staple crops look like?  I guess they have.  Wait, I shouldn’t be so smug. Do I know how to grow any of these plants? I don’t!  I’m a gardener; I should know. THIS IS WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM!

    And from that moment on, I vowed to grow a small patch of a different grain or fiber crop in my garden each year to both teach myself and my progeny more about the crops’ life cycle and biology.  You can do this too!

    Test yourself, can you identify the plants in the picture below?  Do you know how to grow them?  If so, congratulations! You get bragging rights over most of your modern brethren.  If not, consider planting a tiny patch yourself.  If you have kids, or are a teacher, the little ones discovering where their food (and fiber) come from can be especially eye opening.

    Become better connected to history

    For much of recorded history, growing grain and fiber crops was what the majority of people spent the majority of their time doing.  In fact, recorded history is arguably the direct result of the domestication of these plants.  By growing them yourself, you will be quite literally be grounding yourself in a part of this history. Want a taste of life in ancient Mesopotamia? Grow emmer.  Studying the Incas?  Plant some quinoa.  Want to learn about the Ethiopian empire?  Try your hand at teff.  Threshing and winnowing your own grains, while fun on a small scale, can also made make you appreciate the invention of the combine and other modern farm equipment.

    Understand literature more deeply

    From Little House on the Prairie, to the Little Red Hen, to the ancient sacred texts of the world’s major religions, staple crops are constantly referenced throughout literature.  These stories will become much more vivid, and the references much more clear once you’ve tried your hand at growing these plants yourself.

    Get crafty

    Seed heads of wheat, broom sorghum, teff, and rice look great in fresh or dried flower arrangements.  Cotton bolls give a southern charm to wreaths, and can be used to make a variety of Christmas decorations. Die-hard fiber nerds might enjoy trying their hand at growing their own cotton or flax for spinning (and simultaneously develop a firm appreciation for the invention of the cotton gin and modern retting processes).  

    Fill in “garden gaps”

    Once I know how to grow a certain plant, this is usually my go-to reason for planting it again.  Many agronomic plants make excellent, inexpensive place-holders.  Warm-season grains like millet and broom sorghum can be used in landscape designs like other ornamental grasses. Pop a few patches of them in the back of the border to give quick vertical accents in the garden, or use them to foil the view of your neighbor’s shed while you wait for slower-growing perennials to fill in.  Other plants can be used as “mini-cover crops” to suppress weeds in an attractive manner until you get around to planting something more permanent in an area.  Wheat and rye work well for this in the fall and over winter. Buckwheat is an excellent temporary filler to plant during the spring and summer and, if allowed to bloom, is attractive to many pollinators and other beneficial insects to boot.

    From educational value to practical uses, field crops have a place in any home garden. They connect us to history and literature, fill gaps in our over-ambitious garden projects, give us fodder for crafting, and yes, remind us of where our food comes from.

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    https://biologistsgarden.net/2017/07/16/a-gentle-plea-for-field-crops-in-the-garden/

    On – 16 Jul, 2017 By biologistgardener

  • Vinegar—A New Way for Crops to Fight Drought?

    Vinegar—A New Way for Crops to Fight Drought?

    Vinegar—A New Way for Crops to Fight Drought?

    By Dan Nosowitz on July 5, 2017

     

     

    We all know vinegar is a home and garden all-star. It can serve as a cleaner, as a pesticide, and has more uses.

    But a team of researchers from RIKEN, a research institute in Japan, have just published a study that indicates vinegar could add another serve another purpose: drought-fighter. Vinegar, the study finds, might actually help plants survive in drought-like conditions.

    The study began when the RIKEN scientists found a mutated strain of Arabidopsis—every scientist’s favorite plant—that was weirdly resistant to drought, and decided to investigate why. This plant, closely related to kale (and broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage—no wonder researchers love it), is not grown as a crop, but it was the first plant to have its genome sequenced and is extremely easy to experiment with because it shows changes very easily.

     

    Research showed that the mutation of one particular enzyme was linked to the plant’s production of acetate, the main ingredient of which is acetic acid (read: vinegar). This led them to a discovery: plants have a switch that decides how they produce energy. Normally, plants like to break down sugars, but in times of drought, they switch to acetate. And plants that produce more acetate are able to deal with drought more easily.

    From our partners at

    That leads to another question: what if we boost the amount of acetate available to plants in said times of drought? The researchers set up an experiment, growing plants in simulated drought conditions and treating them with either vinegar or water. The plants treated with only water died, as would be expected of plants in a drought, but the majority of those treated with vinegar survived. The same experiment was run on non-mutated plants, too, and the results were the same—the vinegar treatment works on any plant.

    This could be a hugely important discovery. To battle droughts, some scientists have experimented with naturally drought-resistant plants like pomegranate, while others are genetically modifying existing crops to stand up in times of less water. But vinegar could be extremely inexpensive and also allow farmers to retain their own crops, rather than tearing out their land and planting something new. The study will have to be attempted with other plants, and measured in larger-scale studies, before we start leaning on it as a potential life-saver, but it’s extremely promising.

     
     
     
     

    http://modernfarmer.com/2017/07/vinegar-new-way-crops-fight-drought/

    On – 05 Jul, 2017 By Dan Nosowitz

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