As part of the mission of Hamill Farms, we are undertaking many projects. These projects serve as examples of what we intend to do with Here We Grow. As a service, we can provide all of the following services and more:
Three Sisters:
Planting corn, beans, and squash together to play out their symbiotic relationships. We are also planting a fourth sister - sunflowers. This project follows indigenous horticulture practices.
Results from Three Sisters:
The results were varied between successful plant maturity and fruit set, and deficiencies and stuntedness. From being on contour, certain rows in this plot displayed better water drainage. While other rows farther away from the keypoint (lower portion of the plot, where water collects and runs off), displayed too much drainage and drought stress faster. Hardpan, as I discuss in the diverse plot project, was also formed on this plot due to extreme weather conditions. Generally, the squash performed the best, whilst the corn and (pole) beans exhibited poor growth due to insect / animal stress, drought, and phosphorous deficiencies.
Marigolds grew well in the rows closer to the keypoint, and showed beautiful colors. Used the milk-water solution to the powdery mildew (fungus) problem on the cucurbits (squash). The milk-solution performed well, to our surprise. Native grasses and opportunistic plants became to competitive for some rows, blocking much light. The period of the most growth was after the heavy rains settled early July and the over-saturation drained to healthy field saturation. Although, this field saturation led to drought in late July and mid August.
The organic pepper spray solution that I applied for the insect and animal pressure seemed to work at certain degrees. It fended off the larger animals (rabbits, and deer), but could not control all insects (blister beetle, grasshoppers, corn flea beetles). I then tried a mineral oil solution (as described on my organic pesticide blog), on the corn flea beetles and other insects. This solution had some success as a direct spray smothered the insects, cutting off their oxygen supply. I had a 85% success rate for the milk-water, 65% success rate for the pepper spray, and a 80% success rate for the mineral water solution.
Diversity plot:
On the South East plot of our garden, we experimented with several different varieties and a few different plant families. Such families includes Solanaceae (night shade family) family, brassicacaea (the cabbage family), Asteracaea (the sunflower family), and Fabaceae (the legume family). We planted them strategically next to fellow companions, natural trellises, and shade casters.
We found varied results with our varieties in certain locations on the 50'x50' plot. Plants that thrived: Pole bean, Sweet Potato, Nasturtium, one row of Easter Egg Radish, Stevia, Merigolds, and Yellow slicing tomatoes. Plants that experienced deficiencies, toxicities, heavy pest pressure, or heat/drought problems: Red Slicing tomatoes, pepper varieties (most notably ghost and habenero varieties), spinach, leeks, 2nd planting of radish, cabbage, and eggplant.
After harvesting during the entire month of September, Drew came to some conclusions for the successes and difficulties between the varieties. At certain soil locations (pedons) on the plot, nutrients in the A-horizon (Organic material layer, topsoil) retained enough nutrients after our cultivation to provide for the plants. While other pedons displayed heavy nutrient leaching (nutrients illuviating to deeper horizons). The soil problems for the plot loomed large as hardpan developed after the heavy (flood events) rains in June made way to devastating droughts in late July and August. The tillage(about four inches into the ground, topsoil-six inches) deemed to be too deep and made the soil vulnerable before the hard rains and drought.
Fencing:
We hope to come up with a sustainable solution that will aid in the process of keeping larger animals out of the farm's garden.
Here James Coughlin was cutting down branches from a fallen Oak Tree for the posts of our fence.
James carrying the wood posts for our fence. Utilizing his shoulders for efficiency.
If you concentrate, you can see the fishing line strung from the wooden post. We strung and tied five tiers.
Conclusion of the fencing experiment:
The fence did in fact fend off the deer for about a month, until they figured out how to step over or under the invisible fishing line. Because of the booming deer populations in America, deer are becoming more and more brave and brazen to get to the food source and survive. And when they realized they did not get killed or hurt by this fishing line, they found that they can use their head to lift the bottom line and crawl under, or scale the six foot barrier. I did however find a couple skulls/bones. This tells me coyotes where able to hunt inside the plot.
Indigenous Design:
Indigenous design is a process we intend to incorporate into our farm. Practices such as key-hole design and the three sisters design use the natural flow of the local environment in a way that creates a more sustainable practice.
We used wooden stakes to measure the area and diameter for this keyhole design. In this keyhole, we planted nasturium, radish, sage, dill, etc.
Orchard:
Our orchard will be a relatively small effort with only 7 trees. We will monitor how the trees perform while maintaining an ecosystem in which the trees can survive and flourish.
We planted varieties of apple, pear, and peach.