Re: Re: Spring's coming! Useful website IMHO

Posted by ShepFL (long, long winded response !!) on February 02, 2002 at 22:45:56 from (63.175.91.20):

In Reply to: Re: Spring's coming! Useful website IMHO posted by Terry Nelson on February 02, 2002 at 10:19:37:

Well Terry -
Let's see, I tend agree with you on the taste quality aspect. However, this can generally be overcome by selecting quality seeds and plants. Consider getting some heirloom seeds for the older plants, if you haven't already.

With any home garden I suggest getting the self propagating (not hybrids seeds) if this is what you want for old-fashioned taste - find the foods you & yours like best and keep some seeds for the succesive yrs. In my own family garden, like most in this rural area, I use mechanical means to keep the weeds down (charcter building i.e. land stewardship & chores for my boys now 10-11) but I also use natural and man-made mulch (hairy vetch/platic sheeting), 7-dust, liquid pesticides, commercial fertilizer (periodic side-dressings due to soil leaching), lime, etc. as needed and have had no complaints.

Compost pile is 80% organic but these materials are added as soil amendments since I have two types of soil sandy and heavy clay - neither overally conducive to non-native plant growth.

As to overall quality I have to disagree. The vegetables/trees grown today are usually genetically engineered to be nearly resistant to most common diseases, etc. This coupled with today's scientifc wonders permits high quality, high yeilding returns to all (except full time owner-operator farmers - this is another story unto itself).

To return to totally organic would mean lower yields, increase crop loss due to various diseases, nemotodes, pests, human sickness etc. This translates to more cost for both the landowner and the folks at 84 Lumber or the local grocery store. The radicals, tree huggers and ilk always seem forget to mention this aspect of the equation! Nor have I seen to any of them helping me plant pines. . . hmmm. . .

In my 20 acre U-PICK operation production is what counts! For ground preparation I used fire (controlled burn - see link) and mechanical means i.e. root rake, disk plow, harrow etc. I then applied lime, fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia (liquid nitrogen) as specified by my soil test results.

IMHO Liquid nitrogen (anhydrous ammonia) is one of the most efficient and widely used sources of nitrogen for row-crop production. As you may or may not know, Nitrogen is often referred to as a primary limiting nutrient in plant growth. Simply put, when nitrogen is not available plants stop growing.

Since anhydrous ammonia is a cheap source of nitrogen and readily available in large quantities I use it as nitrogen fertilizer to make it biologically available to my plants. Much more efficient than nitrogen fixing plants which can become competitive for soil nutrients, not to mention naturally weedy. (oops! kind of a long sidebar!)

Last year's U-PICK crops were then hand planted as I had no tractor mounted planter at the time. Alas, the 2001 effort was a resounding flop due to weather not chemicals. We had to much rain early on (late planting), drought after that then monsoon like rains (drowning plants).

Due to the constant uproar in the media and elsewhere for "organic" crops this yr. I am considering it. I must weigh the cost of production against the lower yields to see if it is still profitable. While there is some profit margin to be made, it is slim and only a select client base is willing to pay the added cost. Also, I seriously doubt they would consider picking there own but I may be wrong. If not, that is additional expense that will ultimately be borne by the consumer. Jury is still out on this one as I have not yet decided. If another flop this yr. the land will be converted to pasture, hay or planted pines.

As to meat stock (hog/beef) I buy mine in late summer after fair weigh-in. Generally 4-H/FFA animals not up to show quality. This way the kids can focus thier attn. on their selected show animal & I have a decent butcher animal.

I "finish" them out and then butcher. This makes the kid happy, the kid's folks happy and me happy. This dramatically reduces my total cost of ownership as I do not have to innoculate, or feed & water all spring and summer. Normally no vet bills since it is fair animal and it will only be butchered. For organic meat I go deer, elk & wild hog hunting. Unfortunately this yr. I didn't get out at all :(

For my farm forestry efforts I prefer to use herbicides and hybrid pine trees with nitrogen fixing plants (cowpeas) because it is to much work competing with Mother Nature. All plants grow 7x24 & I am unavailable all those hours (full time day job to support these habits). I have approx. 8,000 pines planted. Some doing well, others struggling to compete with undesirable undergrowth i.e. gallberry. I also plant among them some nitrogen fixing trees i.e.

I have been using mechanical means (bushhogging, disking)for the last 3 yrs. and it nothing but a constant uphill battle. With the herbicides I can quickly and efficiently reduce/remove the selectively targeted unwanted growth. This opens up the floor to "release" the pines long enough to get a good head start. From there it is "just" periodic maintenance both chemical & mechanical.

I am hoping for a return on these large caliper rust reistant slash pines (pulp wood & saw timber) in the next 10-20 yrs. The less I have to invest in any facet of these operations means more in my pocket for more tractors & accesories :), mortgage paydown, college fund, family entertainment etc.

I hope this gives you some insight to the benefits of using herbicides/pesticides and why I choose to do so. For me it is a matter of realizing some ROI on my hobby and rural life style. This helps to further promote and improve mine and my family's quality of life. In this way I can continue to enjoy and expand these simple pleasures I cherish during my stay as one of GOD's responsible stewards.

Regards,
ShepFL

• Controlled Burn on Deer Meadow's - Sanderson, FL

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Re: Spring's coming! Useful website IMHO Terry Nelson 21:56:00 02/03/02 (1)
  • Re: Re: Re: Re: Spring's coming! Useful website IMHO ShepFL 06:28:55 02/04/02 (0)

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