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Year of the Patriot: Gardens
Strelets:
--- Quote ---Our next crop to harvest will be Rye.
Really the only market around here for it is cover crop seed.
--- End quote ---
The farm next to us in here in southern England grows rye to feed to their own hogs.
bjrogg:
Thanks Marc. I try to make modern technology and methods complement old practices. They really do work very well together.
Pat they’d probably have to be in them for a few decades minimum. I’ve been doing this full time for 38 years. Really though I have been doing it for more like 53. I grew up with it and I have seen so many advancements. I was doing this long before GPS or GMO’s . I hoed a lot of weeds.
Strelets I’m sure rye would make good feed. I’m sure it has lots of uses. Including making whiskey. I have been told my last name actually means rye farmer. Around here though non of the local grain elevators handle it.
Bjrogg
bjrogg:
I don’t think I have seen this pair before. They were by my dads farm yesterday cautiously sharing a meal. Not sure what it was, but the guy with the white head got his fill before the younger one could eat. There was also a hawk and several crows waiting in the trees for their turns.
Bjrogg
bjrogg:
Picture
bjrogg:
Sorry for the double post.
This is another modern practice that I have adopted. It’s a modern product made from a material as old as man himself. This is a Class A Biosolid. It is refined and processed waste from Detroit City.
In order to be a Class A Biosolid it must have all pathogens cooked out to a undetectable level. It also has a non vectoring product added to it to keep insects from being attracted to it. It can be used on any crops including your garden.
We were asked to try this product several years ago. I did some research and decided to try it on one of our fields. I could see the product works well as a fertilizer, but it isn’t nearly as convenient as commercial fertilizer. I see it as a renewable resource though and the next year I bought some to use.
Here it is regulated by our state. Across our northern boarder Canada classifies it simply as a fertilizer.
Here we have storage rules saying it has to be spread within 21 days of receiving product. All fields must have recent soil samples to monitor phosphate and nutrient levels. There’s a bunch of paperwork to do and documentation of applications. Because of Canada’s proximity to Detroit and it being classified as a fertilizer. Much of this product I’m told went north. Actually south.
Last year with the border closed (still is) that product needed a new home. I was told that half of Detroit’s waste is incinerated and half made into this product. They are hoping to get to 100% this product. They make 200 tons a day I’m told.
I think this is a good use of what most people see as waste. Like I said though. It isn’t nearly as convenient as commercial fertilizer. What would take a couple hours with conventional takes a few long days with the Biosolids application. It’s also dusty and has a odor. It is very bulky so it’s a huge pile of stuff to store and apply. After using it now for several years I’m learning how to use it more efficiently. I bought a litter spreader designed for spreading chicken litter. It’s much better suited for the job than a commercial fertilizer spreader.
It works very well with my cover crops. The red clover will scavenge the nutrients and trap them for my real crop.
If you have used a rest room in the Motor City in the past several years. Who knows. There could be a small part of you on my farm now.
Bjrogg
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