Question

on a visit to
organic farm
Diary entry.
​

Answer 1

Answer:

GOOD MORNING..........

Answer 2

Answer:

Soil spills out of every crevice of my clothing. My fingernails are lost in the potato beds. And my new harvest knife nicked its first cut in my thumb. Some of these surprises are fun, like my new calluses, desensitization to animal poop, or finding humor when a cow steps on my boot.

But despite these occasional strenuous pleasantries, I have to say that with hardest part of the season coming to a close, much of the magic that first enchanted me is still very real. Lush, green fields bursting with purple clover pom-poms and blades so crisp they could slice a melon really do exist. Especially on organic farms like Sylvester Manor that utilize cover crops. (You might find me frolicking through them when my boss isn’t watching).

Diary of an Organic Farm Apprentice field covered in oats and clover

A fallow section of our field covered in oats and clover. • photo by Cristina Cosentino

In fact, most organically cultivated fields rarely contain patches of naked brown soil. Instead many are picturesque checkerboards of vegetables alternating with rich grasses, clovers, or oats. In truly organic production, farmers sow cover crops before, in between, and after vegetables on fallow (unplanted) sections of the field. But why allocate square footage to inedible crops when you could grow, say tomatoes for $5.00 per pound instead?

Cover cropping plays a rehabilitative role in restoring the soil nutrients that are depleted during vegetable growth. Cover crops are planted specifically to protect topsoil from wind and rain erosion, catch and recycle nutrients, prevent and break up soil compaction, suppress weed growth, retain water, and add organic matter (decaying residues of plant and animal life that supply nutrients to living plants and promote beneficial soil microbiology). Some commonly used cover crops are clover, alfalfa, hairy vetch, oats, rye, sorghum, and buckwheat. In lieu of heavy fertilizers, many farmers kick it up a notch by using green manures, or leguminous cover crops that fix nitrogen in the soil through rhizomes, special bacteria found in root nodules of legumes that make nitrogen available for plant uptake.