ag
/ag171
Welcoming everyone's casts and discussion about agriculture.
Ambitious 2025 Spring Planting Plan.
Mother Nature: I’m going to give you rather narrow planting windows this Spring.
word.
Putting in a big day ~12.5 hours of fieldwork to maximize the window. Heaps of planting, a bit of fertility & rock work, gh chores, and an evening row cover session.
If we don’t get too much precip tonight we’ll plant a bit more tomorrow afternoon, otherwise done with fieldwork til we dry out next week.
Cabernet red onions before planting this afternoon. 3 rows per bed, at 9” spacing with 4 seeds/cell > ~3 plants per block.
Mother Nature: I’m going to give you rather narrow planting windows this Spring.
word.
Putting in a big day ~12.5 hours of fieldwork to maximize the window. Heaps of planting, a bit of fertility & rock work, gh chores, and an evening row cover session.
If we don’t get too much precip tonight we’ll plant a bit more tomorrow afternoon, otherwise done with fieldwork til we dry out next week.
Cabernet red onions before planting this afternoon. 3 rows per bed, at 9” spacing with 4 seeds/cell > ~3 plants per block.
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We planted early…
so we cultivate early.
Not a bright April this far; so we took advantage of yesterday’s sunshine to cultivate (weed) our earliest field planting which had a bit of chickweed and grass that survived tillage.
These shots are Starfighter lettuce grown for mix, we seed 4 seeds/cell in 128s and plant at 6” in three rows.
We succession plant all season, every 2 weeks in the spring, every week in the summer, and tail back to every other week in the fall.
These were transplanted March 19 and will be ready to harvest first week of May ~6 weeks, in the summer the time between transplanting to harvest is less than 4 weeks.
We grow a mature full size lettuce, let the robots and mechanized outfits chase the petite mesclun market.
so we cultivate early.
Not a bright April this far; so we took advantage of yesterday’s sunshine to cultivate (weed) our earliest field planting which had a bit of chickweed and grass that survived tillage.
These shots are Starfighter lettuce grown for mix, we seed 4 seeds/cell in 128s and plant at 6” in three rows.
We succession plant all season, every 2 weeks in the spring, every week in the summer, and tail back to every other week in the fall.
These were transplanted March 19 and will be ready to harvest first week of May ~6 weeks, in the summer the time between transplanting to harvest is less than 4 weeks.
We grow a mature full size lettuce, let the robots and mechanized outfits chase the petite mesclun market.
Bad news for Americans who’ve become accustomed to year round fresh fruit out of season: https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-tariffs-trump-citrus-import-farmers-ca9ecce2bf5d20ef1cc9a283ecaf842a
It’s officially not warm in New England today. brrrrr and not j pow style.
Checked on the earliest direct seeded radishes in the field on Friday and they’re popping nicely.
Sunshine back tomorrow after a 72 hour hiatus.
Checked on the earliest direct seeded radishes in the field on Friday and they’re popping nicely.
Sunshine back tomorrow after a 72 hour hiatus.
Start of the afternoon session queued up.
Warmest day of the spring, well into the 60s on the Southcoast under filtered sunshine.
Warmest day of the spring, well into the 60s on the Southcoast under filtered sunshine.
18723
BrixBountyFarm 🎩
@brixbounty·17:04 04/04/2025
Lunchtime…
Quick photo from the truck.
Big planting day just getting underway.
Kale, chard, and dandelion greens in.
Spinach, lettuce, fennel, cilantro, and dill on the afternoon plan.
Beds will get hooped and row covered.
Blue sticky traps are to catch leaf miner on the chard and spinach, and root maggots - flows which target the roots of brassicas - kale and such.
Quick photo from the truck.
Big planting day just getting underway.
Kale, chard, and dandelion greens in.
Spinach, lettuce, fennel, cilantro, and dill on the afternoon plan.
Beds will get hooped and row covered.
Blue sticky traps are to catch leaf miner on the chard and spinach, and root maggots - flows which target the roots of brassicas - kale and such.
Lunchtime…
Quick photo from the truck.
Big planting day just getting underway.
Kale, chard, and dandelion greens in.
Spinach, lettuce, fennel, cilantro, and dill on the afternoon plan.
Beds will get hooped and row covered.
Blue sticky traps are to catch leaf miner on the chard and spinach, and root maggots - flows which target the roots of brassicas - kale and such.
Quick photo from the truck.
Big planting day just getting underway.
Kale, chard, and dandelion greens in.
Spinach, lettuce, fennel, cilantro, and dill on the afternoon plan.
Beds will get hooped and row covered.
Blue sticky traps are to catch leaf miner on the chard and spinach, and root maggots - flows which target the roots of brassicas - kale and such.
Also very true for agriculture! We have been exporting the job of growing our own food for decades. We have loose import & regulatory protection on what is imported and let foreign producers use chemicals and other cultural practices that are banned in the United States. 👎
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Gem crop is looking good! We test Gems for dry matter content as a way of determining when they’re ready for market. They’re testing at 24-25% which is technically mature but if we let them go a bit higher the customer will have a much better piece of fruit. So we wait.
Wet AM; took the opportunity to visit our ag supplier and get the season’s order in, for our ~5 acres we apply a few tons to the acre of our own custom blended fertility mix.
Add in row cover, some gh plastic, pint containers, rubber bands, misc hose fittings, some inoculants and such and we’ll take delivery of a dozen pallets sometime in the next week or so.
We can order over the phone; yet since their our biggest supplier I prefer to visit in person and reconnect at least once a year. Also allows me to pick up a few items that are needed for fieldwork tomorrow while we wait on delivery.
This is one of their 3 sheds with overflow in trailers around their yard. They historically supplied the cranberry and lawn care industry.
Started working with more “organic” veg growers 15 years back. We aren’t organic; yet use mostly organic inputs.
Good to have reliable suppliers nearby (~30 min drive).
Add in row cover, some gh plastic, pint containers, rubber bands, misc hose fittings, some inoculants and such and we’ll take delivery of a dozen pallets sometime in the next week or so.
We can order over the phone; yet since their our biggest supplier I prefer to visit in person and reconnect at least once a year. Also allows me to pick up a few items that are needed for fieldwork tomorrow while we wait on delivery.
This is one of their 3 sheds with overflow in trailers around their yard. They historically supplied the cranberry and lawn care industry.
Started working with more “organic” veg growers 15 years back. We aren’t organic; yet use mostly organic inputs.
Good to have reliable suppliers nearby (~30 min drive).
We moved a couple of rocks today; first time really using strength muscles in months and months. The joys of New England soils.
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Fixing season still…
Has a local welder do a bit of repair on a tiller while they were working on some other equipment nearby.
Nice bead
Has a local welder do a bit of repair on a tiller while they were working on some other equipment nearby.
Nice bead
The life journey of a plant may be short, but it is full of meaning and benefits.
I hope to one day plant in a large field without using a hydroponic system. ❤️
I hope to one day plant in a large field without using a hydroponic system. ❤️
18723
BrixBountyFarm 🎩
@brixbounty·17:31 01/04/2025
ITAP of a sugar factory… aka photosynthesis,
after a long string of cloudy days the sun has returned and we are back to full production in the fieldhouses.
Slow and steady growth on the radishes whose true leaves were just showing this time last week.
These are now poised for the rapid growth phase.
Target harvest date April 18th.
after a long string of cloudy days the sun has returned and we are back to full production in the fieldhouses.
Slow and steady growth on the radishes whose true leaves were just showing this time last week.
These are now poised for the rapid growth phase.
Target harvest date April 18th.
ITAP of a sugar factory… aka photosynthesis,
after a long string of cloudy days the sun has returned and we are back to full production in the fieldhouses.
Slow and steady growth on the radishes whose true leaves were just showing this time last week.
These are now poised for the rapid growth phase.
Target harvest date April 18th.
after a long string of cloudy days the sun has returned and we are back to full production in the fieldhouses.
Slow and steady growth on the radishes whose true leaves were just showing this time last week.
These are now poised for the rapid growth phase.
Target harvest date April 18th.
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Blueberry 🫐🥰
Hydroponic cultivation and the use of Hoagland nutrient solution for growing blueberries in a greenhouse😌
Hydroponic cultivation and the use of Hoagland nutrient solution for growing blueberries in a greenhouse😌
Grafting a new variety of avocado on top of 4 year old trees.
Making good contact between the cambium layer of the bark on the old & new branches is the trick.
If successful, the top graft will continue growing taking advantage of the 4 year old root system and growing much faster.
Making good contact between the cambium layer of the bark on the old & new branches is the trick.
If successful, the top graft will continue growing taking advantage of the 4 year old root system and growing much faster.
A story in 2 parts.
Spring back door cold front puts the chill into coastal Massachusetts this weekend.
Many such cases; and exhibit A for a solid reason why we choose to deploy heaps of row cover on the farm in the spring.
We just don’t warm up very fast and every crop we have trialed had benefited from roe cover in April and early May.
The row cover a) protects the crops from the coldest nights b) reduces early season wind stress which allows us to skip hardening off most crops c) prevents pest pressure - helpful when you don’t use pesticides d) elevated soil temperature, which increases biological activity which starts the flywheel of soil feeding crop feeding soil = will accelerate harvest dates by 2-3 weeks for many spring crops.
Can be a struggle in the wind, this AM wasn’t too bad all things considered. These are our early alliums - scallions and onions … the scallions will be ready early June, onions early July. Covers will stay on til sometime in May. We’ll open them up to cultivate
Spring back door cold front puts the chill into coastal Massachusetts this weekend.
Many such cases; and exhibit A for a solid reason why we choose to deploy heaps of row cover on the farm in the spring.
We just don’t warm up very fast and every crop we have trialed had benefited from roe cover in April and early May.
The row cover a) protects the crops from the coldest nights b) reduces early season wind stress which allows us to skip hardening off most crops c) prevents pest pressure - helpful when you don’t use pesticides d) elevated soil temperature, which increases biological activity which starts the flywheel of soil feeding crop feeding soil = will accelerate harvest dates by 2-3 weeks for many spring crops.
Can be a struggle in the wind, this AM wasn’t too bad all things considered. These are our early alliums - scallions and onions … the scallions will be ready early June, onions early July. Covers will stay on til sometime in May. We’ll open them up to cultivate
6 years and only 335 hours; we don’t put that much work on our tractors on the farm. All goes well this Kubota will run another 20-25 years.
18723
BrixBountyFarm 🎩
@brixbounty·23:14 26/03/2025
Ag tires aren’t cheap these days… this row crop grower just spent 14K to replace his set.
Which is partially why we haven’t replaced these guys on our second tractor… it’s an early 90s Kubota that is on its last legs and never seems worth putting new rubber on.
We did have to replace one of the rear tires a few years back (safety issue) was ~$800 at the time… which I justified that when this tractor dies I could keep the tire for our newer tractor which has the same size rear tires.
Anyways this Kubota blew a radiator last fall, not sure we’ll make the repairs if our welder can’t manage the inexpensive repair. Was sitting all winter; so just adding some air to move it to a better spot for potential repair.
Our newer tractor which is 6 years young; is in great shape and can do everything we need; just nice sometimes in the busy season to not have to switch implements and run both…
https://x.com/jonathandansel/status/1904628193178640758?s=46&t=TVy9rDl3UkuxmVj4e18bOA
Which is partially why we haven’t replaced these guys on our second tractor… it’s an early 90s Kubota that is on its last legs and never seems worth putting new rubber on.
We did have to replace one of the rear tires a few years back (safety issue) was ~$800 at the time… which I justified that when this tractor dies I could keep the tire for our newer tractor which has the same size rear tires.
Anyways this Kubota blew a radiator last fall, not sure we’ll make the repairs if our welder can’t manage the inexpensive repair. Was sitting all winter; so just adding some air to move it to a better spot for potential repair.
Our newer tractor which is 6 years young; is in great shape and can do everything we need; just nice sometimes in the busy season to not have to switch implements and run both…
https://x.com/jonathandansel/status/1904628193178640758?s=46&t=TVy9rDl3UkuxmVj4e18bOA
We cultivated one of our fieldhouses today; knock back the germinating weeds and kick start the crop’s next stage of growth.
Close up are radishes, seeded 2 weeks ago; if you look closely you can see their true leaves with proof of silica…
Close up are radishes, seeded 2 weeks ago; if you look closely you can see their true leaves with proof of silica…
Early fieldhouse tomato update.
Potted up into 24s last Tuesday.
Seeded one month ago; these have ~ 2 weeks before planting into a fieldhouse.
Wet and raw day in the low 40s here; so we stayed busy in the greenhouse.
Potted up into 24s last Tuesday.
Seeded one month ago; these have ~ 2 weeks before planting into a fieldhouse.
Wet and raw day in the low 40s here; so we stayed busy in the greenhouse.
18723
BrixBountyFarm 🎩
@brixbounty·16:12 14/03/2025
Tomatoes seeded Feb 25th have true leaves and are ready to be potted up into larger cells in the greenhouse.
Too nice of a day for greenhouse work today, so we’ll push that task ‘til Sunday or Monday when it’s raining.
Too nice of a day for greenhouse work today, so we’ll push that task ‘til Sunday or Monday when it’s raining.
Willy grows food in the Hudson River Valley - here’s a quick video of a Randall calf he shared on twitter.
Also markets at the Pleasantville Farmers Market in Westchester.
Enjoy.
https://www.littleseedgardens.com
https://x.com/partialtruth/status/1904167144381628606?s=46&t=TVy9rDl3UkuxmVj4e18bOA
Also markets at the Pleasantville Farmers Market in Westchester.
Enjoy.
https://www.littleseedgardens.com
https://x.com/partialtruth/status/1904167144381628606?s=46&t=TVy9rDl3UkuxmVj4e18bOA
