Wednesday, April 30, 2014

By Rob Sutter


If you want to talk about challenges in the agricultural realm, going about farming during the wintertime may just be one of the tallest orders to consider. The cold weather brings about a number of different elements and each of them may serve to make this particular endeavor more challenging than it has to be. With that said, though, growing organic food during the cooler months does not have to be a tremendous challenge. If you'd like to know more, here are 3 methods worth keeping in mind.

1. Never forget the importance of mulch. It is clear that this can come into play for the sake of growing organic food but very few people understand how exactly it can help, in this regard. If you are a new grower, you will be happy to know that mulch can actually keep soil temperature and moisture regulated, allowing it to withstand even the harshest of winter elements. Simply put, mulch is one farming aspect that you should not want to overlook by any stretch.

2. Water your crops as early as possible before instances of snow kick in. One of the reasons why this is so important, as authorities along the lines of Colle Farmers Market will tell you, is because of how plants of all types will be able to take in moisture prior to freezing. For those who do not know, not only does freezing make the ground more compact but the water will not be able to supply organic food with the nutrition they need. The earlier you go about this process, the better.

3. It is important to be mindful of fertilization as well. While you may think that this can be done during the winter, I would make the argument that this should not be the case, seeing as how winter is viewed as a period of hibernation for many plants. Let's say that you were to go about fertilization anyway; chances are that you would throw off the natural periods of growth for these plants. Yes, growth is integral but not at the cost of disrupting nature.

I can only hope that these points will be able to help you as far as farming, in all senses, is concerned. It's clear that going about this process during the winter can provide a sense of challenge; perhaps it is more than most farmers would like to tackle. However, the steps listed above should be able to help render this process a little less painstaking. If you decide to follow the steps in question, perhaps you will see far greater yields in terms of farming.




About the Author:



0 Comments:

Post a Comment