Hello Everyone. This is Matthew writing. Happy Autumn! It´s been a beautiful week on the farm. Radishes and Arugula are back in full swing, green beans have returned, and young greens seem to shoot up as soon as we put the seeds in the ground. Whereas up north the autumn equinox marks the beginning of the end, here in Georgia it is almost like a second spring. On the farm, this translates into a whole new round of planting. After devoting a couple of months to harvesting and maintaining our summer crops, beginning to plant again was like the return of an old friend. In this newsletter, I will try to elucidate the planting process at Serenbe Farms.

We begin where it is most appropriate, with the soil. Hopefully you have read RJ's article on cover cropping from a few weeks ago. I will try not to repeat too much of his fairly comprehensive overview. For our purposes here, the cover crop is a "green manure," a living source of nutriment (particularly organic matter and nitrogen) for our soil. The first step in preparing our beds for planting is mowing the cover crop. Ideally, we mow considerably in advance of the prospective planting to allow the organic matter (cover crop) to begin the decomposition process. Microorganisms require significant amounts of nitrogen to carry out the decomposition process. If we incorporate the organic matter too soon, these microorganisms will temporarily "immobilize" nitrogen in the soil. This would draw nitrogen away from our young plants that require it for growth.

So, we wait for a couple of weeks (don´t worry, we have other things to do!). When the time comes, we use the tiller to incorporate the organic material into the ground. Unfortunately, with a base of crusty red clay, we need more than just the organic matter from our cover crops to prepare our soil. In roughly a week, the farm crew shoveled about six tons of compost onto our beds. These two steps, cover-cropping and composting, are for me part of the great satisfaction of sound farming practice. Not only are we not depleting our (already depleted) soils, we are actually building and improving them in a visible and tangible way.

To prepare a fine bed for planting, we use a spader. The spader, as its name implies, mimics the action of digging with spades into the soil. It accomplishes this, however without detrimentally affecting the soil profile. This means that the subsoil is not excessively drawn into the topsoil and that neither soil is excessively pulverized − an action that leads to compaction and hardpans. The spader loosens the soil to allow for optimal root growth while leaving the soil profile intact.

When planting, growers have two choices to consider: transplanting or direct seeding. Each has its own merits. Transplanting (starting the seeds in individual cells in greenhouse trays) requires an additional investment in trays, potting mix, and time managing the greenhouse. Some of the advantages resulting from the controlled environment of the greenhouse are: uniform germination, increased chances of survival (plants are sheltered during their most vulnerable stage), season extension (less of a concern in the fall), and decreased weed competition. Direct seeding is much less management intensive on the front end, but often requires greater management following germination. Plants must be thinned to optimal spacing for growth, and seeds often fail to germinate, resulting in large gaps that must be reseeded.

We do all of our planting by hand. We use our row−marker, a two person, wheeled implement to imprint a grid across the beds. In the case of transplanting, one person will remove the plants from their cells and lay them out on the grid according to optimal spacing. The other two will dig a hole, plant, cover, and firm each plant into the ground. It is especially important to cover the top of the root structure to prevent evaporation of moisture and the subsequent drying−out of the plant.

For direct seeding we actually sprinkle the seeds directly into the slight depressions left by the row marker. The action roughly approximates that of sprinkling salt into a pot, but requires a great deal more accuracy to ensure optimal seed spacing. We then cover the seeds with from 1/8 of an inch to one inch of soil (the smaller amount for the smallest seeds as well as those that require sunlight for germination like lettuce).

Whichever method we employ, we always welcome the plants and seeds into the ground with a generous watering. For the transplants this greatly reduces the shock of arriving suddenly in a new environment, and the seeds require water to begin germinating. Recently we have planted carrots, beets, radishes, arugula, spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, kale, collards, broccoli, cabbage, bunching onions, and all of your favorite asian greens (the names of which I can´t pronounce). We hope you will be enjoying them over the next six weeks. Onions and garlic are on deck, but they need to over-winter, so something to look forward to for next year! Have a great fall, and we hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Matthew, Paige, and RJ