Who would not want to be involved in creating a rich, diverse ecologically, planet saving universe – something to be proud of and to share to the world. Wow, yet another dry Spring / Summer. Anybody who questions climate change cannot deny that our weather is definitely changing!
With these dry times carbon has never been more important (as if it ever wasn’t), holding more water in the soil to give crops those extra days growing is vital. This was very apparent in my Spring Beans, as where the cover crop had not been grazed and the soil had a good thatch on to keep it covered and insulated from the extreme weather, I had twice the crop of beans!
A new couple of crops for me was the introduction of Corn Marigolds and Corn Flowers grown for seed production. These are grown to be put into packets for individuals, to be able to grow their own biodiversity in their gardens and is through “Yourgreen”, a process that I am proud to be part of as Green Farm Collective encourage everybody to play their part in providing biodiversity for our insect and bird life.
Wheats were also variable in yield this time, with water storage (ie, carbon being at the heart of the solution in being able to store more water). The best yield coming in at 12t/ha achieved of just 50 kg of soil applied nitrogen and 28 kg of foliar applied nitrogen. This was a fantastic result for me and one which I am very proud of as this is obviously net zero wheat. Additionally, the crops were environmentally friendly since I am not polluting the environment in its production, from soil run off of nitrogen and phosphorous which in turn pollutes our water ways and oceans. Working together we can make the differences needed to heal the planet in which we live.
A new habitat has also been created here in the form of a pond being cleaned out and made functional again. This was done by creating different levels within the pool to allow wading birds to work and live. Moving forward, the introduction of lily pads and different plant species should hopefully increase biodiversity. This project was carried out by ourselves this time and I hope in the near future to involve a sponsorship company to generate similar projects