Autumn

 

 

We're planting rye. 

 

Didn't think fall was a planting season?  It is.  (In North Carolina my friend Courtney replants her entire yard from her spring flowers to her fall flowers.  This reminds me of that.)

 

After chopping corn, the field is full of corn stalks and leftover weeds.  We used a disc to cut the weeds and uproot the stalks.  We chisel plowed it to help break up soil compaction. 

 

The headlands are the parts around the outside of the field that get driven on all the time.  It gets compacted - think, like a driveway.  For instance, a neighboring farm planted radishes to break up the soil in their headlands. 

 

We're having a contractor work our field down with a soil finisher, which makes a smooth bed.  Then he'll plant the rye. 

 

It'll grow this fall and when it gets cold enough it'll go dormant.  Then in the spring when it warms up it'll start growing again - like grass.  We'll cut it in the spring for cattle feed. 

 

By doing this, we'll get another crop out of the field before we plant the corn.  It's good for the soil, because the rye itself helps keep the nutrients in it.  It also covers it to help prevent erosion over the winter. 

 

In the meantime, we're enjoying the fall.  Some years the leaves are nice, and some years they're gorgeous.  This year is spectacular, as well as the weather.  70s and sunny! 

 

I guess ... at least one good thing came out of the drought.