A lot of behind the scenes prep work goes on at Bee Heaven Farm before the first seeds are planted. The cover crop, which fixes nitrogen and other nutrients, has been mowed and tilled under to also add organic matter to the soil. The next step is to create rows of raised beds, where the vegetables will get planted.
Making beds
The bedding attachment behind the tractor cuts into the soil and shapes it into a bed with channels on either side (where tractor tires pass). Native soil is not very deep in Redland. It averages about 1/4 inch over limestone rock. At Bee Heaven Farm — after rock-plowing, years of building up organic matter, and mounding up the beds — soil is maybe 4-6 inches deep, and very rocky. That’s it! That’s what your food grows in! The beds then need to be shaped and leveled by hand with a hoe. Rows of plants will then get planted by hand or with a seeder in each bed, either as transplanted starts or directly seeded. Tomatoes are planted in one row, beets in 4 rows, greens in 8 rows, or anything in between.
Bedding attachment in action
This past Saturday when I arrived, Farmer Margie was driving the tractor with the bedding attachment on the back, making passes up and down the main planting area. The bedding process wasn’t going very well. I saw one row wasn’t straight, kind of tapered into the next row. As she climbed down from the tractor, Margie explained that was where the tractor had actually slipped in the ground. The soil was wet from scattered rain showers blowing through because of a cold front. The wet soil was also getting compacting into clay-ey clumps, losing aeration and fluffiness that had been created by tilling. (For a detailed explanation of soil compaction and air spaces, read Margie’s post on tilth at Bee Heaven Farm’s Blog.)
Wet soil clumps
Margie grumbled that she would have to wait until the weather cleared and the soil dried out, then till all over again to erase the curving beds of compacted soil, and attempt bedding again. Clearly every step of the growing process is affected by weather, in ways both subtle and obvious. Too much rain, not enough rain, too hot, too cold, too windy — the farmer is almost always at the mercy of the weather.
