Boy, did things dry out fast! For the past month, we have been irrigating the hemp crop and our vegetables for the farm-to-table restaurant at the distillery, opening this fall.
The last of the hay is getting cut and rolled, and we wait impatiently for a part of the silage chopper, which broke after we’d brought in several loads. It should be here tomorrow on the noon truck.
Before we get on to harvest, I want to report how much we love buckwheat as a smother/cover crop. After combining our organic rye in July, we drilled in organic buckwheat. It is in full bloom right now, attracting all sorts of bees and butterflies. We are going to attempt to harvest some of the seed, to save on the cost of organic seed next year.
Once we finish chopping silage (tomorrow, I hope!) we’ll use cattle to glean the field and then plant tillage radish. Our challenge with radish in the past has been the size of the seed – they are tiny – so getting a consistent cover with our hay buster seeder is a challenge.
Mt. Folly is hosting a farmer field day here in late September. Our topics will be hemp, organics, our farm-to-table restaurant and distillery, and the potential for farmers to make money sequestering carbon in organic agricultural soils. Dr. Susan Shore is coming in for the week, and we all hope to learn a lot.
Otherwise, I’ve drafted my aunts to help me plan the garden at the distillery. They have told me, quite firmly, to draw it to scale. That’s my project for the evening.
