Last edited Thu May 30, 2019, 08:27 AM - Edit history (1)
The trick is to guess which it is you are going to get. My problem is the constantly changing weather patterns. To get around this constantly shifting weather, I plant both.
Last year with torrential rains, hail and cold, I had a crop of vegetables and fruit so large, I had to give a lot to the food bank. This year it looks like we are back to our rainy spring and drought like summer.
There are some things you can do to give your crops resistance to sudden weather changes:
Mulch, mulch everything, then mulch some more. Mulch your pathways to suppress weeds, keep run off to minimum and slow down wash off. Mulch your rows to suppress weed, keep moisture in the ground and protect seedlings from the force of rains, hail and cold.
Stake to prevent plants from being crushed by downpours. I have large row sized cages of formed up chicken wire I put over delicate seedlings or small plants.
Plant on slopes to ensure excess water is not left standing.
Plant seedlings and not seeds to prevent them from washing away. If you have to plant seeds, form small banks in front of them to keep them from washing away. These small banks also are great for droughts because they keep water there.
Delay plantings of heat loving plants as long as possible in rainy cold years. Plant as early as possible in dry years.
Cover seeds and seedlings when first planted to let them get rooted before exposure to excess cold, heat or rain. (Also be gradual in the removal of row covers as sudden temperature changes can cause overexposure damage even to plants in the ground.)
Most folks have probobly heard all of these but it is their continual application that keeps you harvesting in the worse weather. But it is a lot of manual labor and you rarely find equipment designed to do what you need. I have designed several pieces of equipment to do some of the things I can't purchase equipment for. I hire extra part time help when first planting.
I think the huge farmers with house sized tractor plantings each year are going to have to find a new way to farm.
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