Farming 101
[ Planting ] [ Growing ] [ Pest Mangagement ] [ Harvesting ] [ Clean-up ]
We use the same basic vegetable production system as most growers in
south Florida. However, we do make some modifications, since we grow such a
variety of crops and harvest them to be eaten immediately. We are NOT an organic
grower, and do not plan to become certified organic.
However, we are constantly working towards developing sustainable
production systems. This includes using many methods and materials that are
recommended for organic production.
Pre-plant
operations
Summer
is the time for improving our soil and servicing equipment. While our summer
cover crop grows, we usually try to take some days off to rest and catch up with
family and friends.
By
mid-July it is time to disc up the cover crop. We disc 2-3 times, waiting 3-7
days between those runs. It doesn’t take long, because organic matter breaks
down very quickly in our hot wet summers.
Usually after the cover crop is tilled in, we hire a backhoe to clean out
the ditches. Although we use drip irrigation rather than using the ditches to
raise the water table, these 
ditches are critical to rapidly get the water out
of the fields when it rains a lot. After that, the blocks (ours are 65' by 1000'
) are graded, to spread out the soil that is brought out
of the ditches. It is
best to use a laser leveler, but, we don’t always do that because it costs a
lot.
Compost.
Then it’s time for our secret weapon: compost is spread on our fields 
as heavily as we can spread it-usually at least 20 tons per acre. Time is
usually the limiting factor for how much we use.
Our
compost is made on our farm from local horse manures, produced by the many
horses which overwinter
in our area. It’s lucky for us that there are so many
horse farms and training facilities in the area, because horse manure with wood
chip or pellitized straw bedding makes a great compost. It’s brought to the
farm by dump trucks, usually from Dec.-May.
Miguel or Chago uses the front end loader to put it into windrows (long
narrow piles) that are about 12' high by 15' wide. As time allows, they will use
the loader to turn it. Ideally, that would be every 1-2 weeks for the first 2
months, and then every 3-4 weeks for 2-3 months.
Although
our small crew is appropriate for most things we do, the bedding operation is a
little tricky with so few people. First we spread over the fields about 1/3 of
the fertilizer we need for our first crop. Then
the “bedder” is used to form the beds by pulling up the soil into
beds that are about 8" tall and 30" across at the top. The
“ditcher” makes the first cuts to create our cross ditches for drainage out
of the field. These are called “shovel ditches”, because they were originally
made by hand with shovels.
Mulches.
Next comes the plastic and drip tape. On beds where we plan to plant tomatoes or
squash, we use a
plastic with a reflective silver finish. The bright reflection
confuses flying insects, especially whiteflies, so they aren’t as likely to
land on our crops. On other beds, we use a degradable plastic mulch that saves
us picking it up. The best biodegradable mulch, of course, is compost. We do use
it as a mulch, especially on solid-seeded crops where we can’t use plastic.
We’d 
prefer to use only compost as a mulch but it doesn’t do as good a job
on weed control as the plastic mulches do.
Drip
irrigation. The plastic machine is fitted with a spool so that it can be
used to lay the drip tape at the same time as the plastic. At Green Cay we use
two lines of drip tape because the soil is so porous that water tends to go
straight down. We’ve found we can keep these beds more moist by using the two
lines. At the farm in Loxahatchee, though, the soils is “heavier” (has a
little more clay), so one line works well. The plastic machine unrolls the mulch
plastic and pulls soil up to cover the edges. But, the ends and the shovel
ditches must be cut by hand, folded back and mounded with soil to keep it down.
Only irrigation tape (no plastic mulch) is used in the beds where solid rows are
to be seeded.
Solarization.
If time allows, we like to “solarize” the block where our salads and greens
are grown. This means that, instead of covering those beds with an opaque
plastic mulch, we’ll use a clear mulch. If the weather is mostly sunny for 4-6
weeks, temperatures under that mulch can reach over 120°. This is an effective
way of killing most of the plant pathogens, weed seeds, and nematodes in the top
4" of the bed without sterilizing the soil or adding soil fumigants. After
this process, we’ll cover the beds with the regular mulch plastic or uncover
them as needed for open-bed planting.
Since
the bedding operation requires a lot of time and specialized equipment, it is
easiest to get it done before we get busy with a lot of planting and growing.
Although they may not be planted for months, most of the beds are put up from
mid July to mid-Sept. Isn’t that what you would like to be doing in the heat
and humidity of a Florida summer?
