Learning to Cultivate

Thanks to David Conklin for the photo of Paige on the tractor!

This year has been my first year cultivating, and during this time I have had a lot of ups and downs while learning – as you do with most new things. My body has had to adjust and build specific muscles for dragging and changing out tractor implements, and sitting on and driving tractors all day. My eyes have had to learn to be hyper focused on the task at hand, being sure I don’t plow plants out of their place, don’t hit irrigation risers (which are annoying to replace) or pull drip irrigation lines out of place. I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t done any of those things. 😉 Luckily, I haven’t hit any risers – yet.

I have been learning about the different fields and weed pressure. Learning that some beds need to be cultivated multiple times in a week in order to keep the weeds at bay. Sometimes beds still get really weedy and it can be discouraging, but I remember they would likely be way weedier if nothing had been done. Cultivating is a science of timing. Between weather, watering, plant growth/vigor/stature, weed pressure, and implement use, it’s no wonder some crops just get weedy. Flaming, in which you kill weeds by burning the beds after planting seeds but before the seeds sprout, also has a huge influence on the success of minimizing weed pressure. Not to mention, some crops need to be weeded by hand at least once every year no matter what (carrots are an example of this).

My role here on the farm is broadly tractor work, with cultivating being my main focus during the height of the growing season. I’m definitely starting to see a shift in the amount of tractor work needing to be done, as I now have time to join the rest of the crew about 1.5 days a week. Today, I two-row hilled about 30 beds. Two-row hilling is the process of moving soil from either side of the crop and pilling it on the stem. This creates stability for the crop as it gets bigger and helps bury any remaining weeds that survived the previous rounds of the cultivating process. This is the last step of the cultivating process for certain crops, which means I have about 30 fewer beds to cultivate going forward.

Beyond what I do here, over the past week or so, I’ve noticed subtle shifts in the way the air feels, smells, and moves throughout the day. The air is cool at night, foggy in the mornings, and hot and muggy during the day. Somedays, I feel like fall is peeking around the corner. Although this is true, we are also at the height of summer here in the middle of August. Anyhow, cheers to all the seasons, growth, and learning continually.

All the best,
Paige C