CSAFarmersMarket.net

Too Wet to Mow

We are very grateful that it is too wet to mow the lawn today, after three grueling weeks of no rain the plants were looking sad and not growing, for some farmers the only moisture available was the sweat from the farmers brow either from working or worrying about the plants that were begging for rain.

*Depending upon which soil type the farmer has will also depend upon who suffers the most from either too much rain or not enough rain. Law family farm, just north of us, has clay which is great for holding moisture. White Pine Farm has sand which does not hold moisture, so during dry spells they suffer, fortunately they irrigate from their pond. They use drip irrigation that has tiny emitters every foot which allows one drip of water to come out every few seconds, this slow process allows the soil to remain moist for the plants, since it is from the pond it is loaded with nutrients that are not available from well or city water, but even with that the plants are not happy. The drip is simply life support as it does not have what rain water has in it. The sky during a thunderstorm is electrically charged which produces nitrogen oxides and also the rain drops gather nitrogen-bearing molecules from air pollutants in the sky; this added nitrogen makes the plants happy and when the rain falls on their leaves they green up and grow.

*As far as being too wet to mow that sometimes can either be a good or a bad thing. White Pine Farm likes to mow grass and use the grass clippings around the plants to help smoother the weeds and as a way to add more organic matter to the soil. The earth worms love it. They can raise to the surface find moisture and good food to eat as a thank you to the farm they digest the grass and poop great stuff out that the plants love.

*On the other hand when a farmer is putting up hay they need the hay dry. They cut the hay with a haybine, which has rubber and metal rollers that squeeze out more moisture. The hay is left in the field allowing the wind, the sun and the heat to remove the remaining moisture so it can be baled into either round or square bales, if it is not dry enough the hay begins to decompose and heat up.

*I remember a time when my brother put up hay in his barn that was not dry enough. The steam rose from the bales and when he put his hand into the bales his hand scorched from the heat. In a fit of panic he called the fire department and we proceeded to remove the hay. No fire happened that night, but many a farmer’s barn has been lost because of hay that was not dry enough.
Until Next Time
Marian Listwak