No – this isn’t a paid for ad – I happen to know the elusive Sudstress – and just think a hand made gift like this is way better than a box of “Made in China”.

So with that out of the way – I have a rather sandy soil that actually holds a lot of water (yes – should not be – but it is).  I also have lots of naturally growing white clover all over the place…  so that suggests my soil is already rife with N-fixing bacteria (although they are different spp.).    But – on to the results.

Last spring I planted 4 distinct test patches: classic Sugar Snap and the more resistant Super Sugar Snap – both with and without inoculant.  Both of these seeds were untreated as it seems treated seeds and inoculant are intuitively opposed to each other (a lot of treatment is anti-fungal not bacterial so this statement depends on treatment) .  I also planted a patch of treated Sugar Snap (Thiram as the treatment – a fungicide).

So what did I discover?  Well – first and foremost you stand there after you plant your seeds and wait…  and the seeds treated with thiram emerged sooner and in greater numbers.  What I should have added to the test was treated + inoculant as thiram has no effect on Rhizobia nodulation¹.  I also noted that after you watch these guys grow until late June – the “more disease resistant” crop of the Super Sugar Snap fellows were not so “super” in terms of production.  They had lots of good growth but just didn’t set peas like Sugar Snap.

Now – the last column is important to note – we had a wicked wet spring and summer last year.  Somewhere in June we got 5″ of rain in a 24 hour period…  so these peas had to deal with drenching rains and cool damp disease conditions.  Here – it was very clear that the Super Sugar Snap peas that had been inoculated did the best (likely because they could uptake more nutrients - had more root surface area to get oxygen from the flooded soils and have the bred in disease resistance).

So what am I going to do this year with my data and insight?  Well – if you read here – I’m going to do a face-off between two different untreated seeds and see how things grow.  Ideally – I’d be planting thiram treated Sugar Snap peas – but I didn’t want to order just those from one place and pay all that shipping…  so I bought what I could and we will watch for the outcome.

So – one of the best tools we have when growing (because we control it completely) is to watch the starting times of seeds and to pay attention to the length of time it takes for a plant (or seed) from when it’s planted to when it’s “mature” for harvesting.  And – again – unlike the bin of greens in the produce department in the middle of January – we don’t get to spray the plants with a preservative to make a crop that’s ready one week early “last” until we want to bring it to market the next week…  we don’t get to simply “source” our plants from another region or country…  we don’t get to turn off the weather…  and we sure can’t turn up or down the heat!

Now – in a perfect world we could calculate all those dates – start all the plants when we need to – and sit back…  but, if you have ever been to a farmers market over the course of a summer you will see how each farm has different things that are ready at different times…  the soil – the weather and all the other things you can and sometimes CAN’T think of can conspire to move those dates around.  All we really can do is plan – plant a plan – and build into that plan buffers that can hopefully absorb all the miraculous challenges nature sometimes throws at us.

And if you are wondering – here I’m starting Celeriac – also known as celery root – it’s AWESOME when mashed up with potatoes. Off to my right there are several other trays full of 6 packs like what’s in front of me – FULL of the same.

Fair and balanced reporting – thanks Karen!

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Article

They explain their history and heritage at lending funds to farmers for nearly the last century.  OK – but then, as I always do, I crunched the numbers on their page for “today”: MORE than $160 BILLION in loans to NEARLY 500 thousand borrowers…  Do the math – that’s a debt liability average of $320,000 per farmer, rancher, rural utility, coop, etc.  GULP.

Let me be perfectly clear – I’m not suggesting that Farm Credit is bad – not even close – they are serving a HUGE need!  The chill left running up my spine is by the fact that this need exists so deeply and so direly.  The fact that the backbone of our food supply – and subsequently this country’s sovereignty – is underwater with dollar amounts that should concern EVERYONE – that average of $320,000…  Housing already tanked…  and you need food with that shelter…  that’s the chilling truth.

But enough gloom – let’s watch that video again… (they disabled embedding - so you have to follow their link).

• Kelli got to see a biomass boiler up close – in particular this corn stove – here.  This is something we are kinda seriously considering.  It would easily provide heat for the house, barn and “to be built” greenhouse.  It’s a great carbon neutral solution and it’s also one of the few alternative choices that actually has a realistic payback.
• A plethora of financial lending options.  Given the costs of so many of the elements farms use it’s a scary thing to hear people demand safer food, less antibiotics and fewer hormones all for the same cost.  Farming in general isn’t an inexpensive business to run – and the rewards are razor thin.  People keep pushing and you are going to find a lot more “Made in China” stickers on things in your refrigerator than I think a sovereign country should be comfortable with.  For farmers to keep farming our native soils – food is going to have to cost more…  and that means lots of people are going to have less cash to buy other things… and equation most don’t like.
• Saw a lot of the concern about the GM “Round-Up Ready” alfalfa that is about to be re-released into the marketplace.  Today is the last day you can submit your comments on this to the USDA – here.  I personally go back and forth on this – while I certainly advocate sustainable, local, small and healthy…  it’s not a model that has been demonstrated to be able to feed the nearly 7 billion hungry people on this planet (info here).  I dunno – what is clear is the current GM practices can disrupt the adjacent farms that strive to organic certifications…  and that’s not fair to those small farms looking to raise their crops and livestock in a desired manner.
• It was decided that although the $280,000 combine was shiny red and had lots of cool buttons…  we don’t need it
• Lots of cool and innovative implements out there for tractors now…  lots of ohhs and awwws at the device that lifts a round bale, spins it, wraps it in a tight cover and then sets it back down.  Personally - I prefer square bales (when we get livestock) as the hay is better quality because there isn’t really any “middle”.  But for bigger operations who don’t have the wrapper on the baler – this thing was all the talk.
• Dairy, dairy, dairy – not ever gonna be my thing…  and lots of dairy in NY!
• Lot’s of “If I had money” dreams with all the shinny implements
• Sat in on a vaccination clinic – very good.  For anyone who has that stereotype of a farmer being a hick in a pickup who can’t think…  you better really reconsider.

Farmers now days know more than the average individual about a myriad of topics.  From the difference between a bacteria, a virus and a parasite – to how you treat those different afflictions across the herd.  The difference between a live and dead vaccine – the risks and benefits of each.  Genetics of seeds and their roles in crosses, hybridization and modification.  Soils, equipment, marketing, business plans and finance…

For all the healthy food advocacy I see on the web – all the people who “think” the food system should be a certain way because they saw Food, Inc. – all the “big ag is bad” comments that Twitter spews forth…  I just want to know – how many of those voices have been to a working farm or even a farm show, have actually spoken with farmers, heard what their challenges really are?  There’s a saying about opinions in general…  Personally - I prefer informed dialog, but that’s just me.