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depend to simplify fieldwork on your farm?The key is to act like a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree : stop work so firmly and let nature do some of the body of work for you .
The following is an excerpt fromThe Lean Micro FarmbyBen Hartman . It has been adjust for the vane .
Unless otherwise mark , all pic and illustration right of first publication © 2023 by Clay Bottom Farm .
Our rule is to leave roots in the ground to feed the soil.
Farm Like a Tree: Simplify Fieldwork
A single tree , though it never moves , can be astoundingly productive . Mature pecan and chestnut Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree acquire about 100 pounding of egg in a single time of year ; a tidy Malus pumila Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree will produce 15 bushel of apples in a year ; a cabbage maple tree , in a full time of year , will deliver 20 gallons of sap .
How do they do it?In the past few years , we have plant one C of trees on our farm , reforest area that we are not using to grow crop . I ’ve find and thought a lot about trees recently . Here are four notice that I retrieve help oneself explicate their productivity .
1. Trees Work Ahead
tree diagram can be so productive because they spend long time preparing . The fruit and ballock Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree that we planted , for example , use their first few season to create a inviolable scaffold of branches before producing heavy loads of fruit . They cook in advance for high productivity .
likewise , we ’ve learned that it is better to set up carefully before jumping into production .
Before our season start , we take caudex , making sure we have place enough ( but not too many ) words covers , grapple contain- erbium , Lycopersicon esculentum boxes , and other supply that we will need in the months forwards .
As I write this , in the midwinter , we are fix to graft tomatoes in a greenhouse in March . We are disinfect tray , landscape painting cloth , and the germination chamber and taking stock-taking of labels , stakes , and other supply necessary for the job .
We work out beforehand in the field , too . If we desire to utilize a bed in the spring , we ’ll prepare it in the spill , adding compost month ahead of when the bottom will be constitute . ( The compost itself was made at least a yr onwards . )
We have more fourth dimension in the fall , so we are less rush and more likely to do a better job . It is honest not to farm in the moment , when you are prone to always play arrest - up . cerebrate ahead and prepare .
2. Trees Leave Plant Matter In Place
Our formula is to impart tooth root in the ground to bung the grime .
tree see the value of a dead leaf . A full - grow maple tree has about 500 square feet of leafage weighing about 500 lb .
The full chloroplast surface arena of a single tree equals about 140 square miles — an telling solar array . By gloaming , these leave-taking are full of carbon , nitrogen , phosphorus , potassium , calcium , and other nutrients.7
It is a great tragedy that so many hoi polloi finger oblige to throw leaves in the trash — or , worse yet , to burn them .
The Tree we imbed do n’t move their leafage . They just let them drop and molder in - situ , in their origi- nal office , to feast themselves and organism in the soil sprightliness .
Many nurseryman move dead plant out of the garden at the end of the time of year to clean up the garden and supposedly prevent disease .
For many years , because of what we were teach , we cleaned up in the fall like this , take out works , roots and all , and moving them to a compost mint .
Now we take a different approach . As much as virtual , we lease old plants molder in position , where minerals from their leaf , stalk , and roots eat the grease , like a tree .
3. Trees Practice Quiescence
Conventional wisdom say that trees in winter are dormant to conserve free energy . Aboveground , this is mostly true , but new research shows that belowground is a different story .
Michael Snyder , writing for Northern Woodlands magazine , explain , “ Tree beginning seem to maintain a readiness to grow independent of the abo- veground role of the tree diagram . That is , source remain mostly inactive but can and do serve and produce during wintertime months whenever soil temperature are lucky , even if the breeze aboveground is brutally frigid . ”
This is called winter quiescence, where roots are resting but ready.
It is a natural selection maneuver important for the health of the tree . “ It is this trait that allows evergreens to absorb soil water and avoid wintertime desiccation in their needles , ” writes Snyder . Quiescence “ appropriate all species , include decidu- ous hardwood , the opportunity to expand their root systems in search of water and nutrient in advance of spring bud break . ”8
On a farm , winter is a dandy time to both sleep and expand .
Days are brusk , and there is less work to do . It ’s important to catch some Z’s more and run less .
But the cold season is also the honest time to explore unexampled growing techniques , redesign pecker , and chitchat other farm to learn new skills in homework for the spring . Trees are a case study proving it is potential to rest and prepare at the same fourth dimension .
Notes
Recommended Reads
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The Lean Micro Farm
How to Get Small , Embrace Local , Live Better , and Work Less
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