Deep in the heart of winter as we start counting the extra minutes of daylight each day, there isn’t a lot that can be done around a vegetable farm. That is, not outside at least. As it …
Stay informed about your community and support local independent journalism.
Subscribe to The River Reporter today. click here
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
Deep in the heart of winter as we start counting the extra minutes of daylight each day, there isn’t a lot that can be done around a vegetable farm. That is, not outside at least. As it happens, there is a figurative mountain of work to catch up on and attempt to get ahead of before the warmer weather throws open the gates of more manual labor.
Given that we’ve chosen to pursue a number of directions with our little farm, we never rest anyhow, but for several years it has been my desire to attend some of the many conventions and expos that relate to agriculture in our veritable fields (pun intended). One in particular aims at a more focused group in vegetable and greenhouse production and is host to many successful growers from the Lancaster area who teach a number of informative seminars throughout the expo. So as a birthday treat to myself, I booked a room and made plans to attend with my lovely wife.
Nothing says vacation like waking up in bone-chilling weather to pack the car and hand the kids off before driving hours away to listen to an extension agent talk about growing pumpkins. Honestly, I was very excited; my wife was just a tad behind me in that excitement while she waited for her coffee to kick in.
We arrived that morning and made the trek across the property to the convention center where the expo was being hosted. We were the odd ones out in a sea of black hats and bonnets. Unsurprisingly to us, the primary demographic of the show was that of the plain sect. We were not unwelcome, but it served as a healthy reminder of the diversity of farmers throughout our state and the range of methods employed, be it for religious and/or lifestyle reasons.
Throughout the next day and a half we listened to a dozen different seminars, splitting our efforts when there was more than one with information of value to us. In between we perused the exhibitors, who displayed their services to the industry with an abundance of literature, free pens and, in the case of my new favorite irrigation company, a free outdoor thermometer. With little rest in between all the mind-swelling information, we were able to enjoy some refreshments and a lovely luncheon, which give credence to my calling it a vacation.
In reality, though, it was a form of work wherein we continued to dig into the methods available for growing our selected produce. As well, it supplied an understanding about the supporting infrastructure of not only our tools and setup, but also the makeup of the very soil and biology that supports and attacks our crops. Many solutions were offered to us and our peers. Fertilizing regimens, herbicides, fungicides, irrigation techniques, simple crop rotation and even natural avenues such as humus, compost and mineral supplements. Ultimately there remains an innumerable litany of options for growing plants, as long as you can make peace with the work and the product. For us, a more organic route is desired, and although it would be easy to simply apply a magic spray to take care of a number of headaches we encounter, at the end of the day we feed the same thing to our families as we sell to our customers. In our minds, God made it best, we just have to figure out how to best accommodate his designs.
The way out here we spend the time inside to learn and grow, so that we can grow all the better when the sun comes back our way. We still have a lot of other bookwork and planning to do before the snow starts to recede, let alone seed starting and other farm work, but for now we get to fool ourselves that the work inside the warmth of a roof is a vacation unto itself.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here