Well A new planting season is among us. With all that is going on in the world, we have spent many hours debating a plan for this year’s harvest. I wish I could say it’s easy to buy seed and plant it and wait for it to grow.
When we plan, we are looking at what we need harvested. What we need is to feed Guernseys over next winter the best possible forages. We plant corn, so we can chop the whole plant and store it in the silo. Corn is a grass, and it becomes a part of the winter diet when the grass has gone dormant. This year, we were able to find a non-GMO corn seed out west and are having it trucked in. Soybeans we grow and save as protein. We roast them and use them for the milk cows in the winter as a treat when we milk. We roll the bean vines and use as a bedding. Wheat and Barley that is planted as a cover crop is chopped and fed as a hay ledge. If we have enough, we save some and add it to the soybeans for the milk cows in the winter.
With the cost of fertilizer, freight and seed it will make it a hard year. So, there is a lot of thought as to our game plan this year. Our boys and young stock are grass fed, as are the cows, so that leaves a lot of hay that we need to put up. Bedding will come from bean stalks, corn fodder, barley and wheat stalks.
Everything we do we are thinking into the next season. Sometimes we run out and have to purchase extra feeds, or bedding. Sometimes we have extra and even had some to sell. I think this year, I just hope we plan it right. Mother nature will also play a big role in the end result.
Speaking of planting for the future, we have also planted blueberry, raspberry and grapes. We won’t have a harvest this year but hope to in the future. We planted asparagus last year but won’t have any to harvest until maybe next year. We used to have a grape harbor years ago, and I want to bring it back.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the here and now, but somethings we need to plan ahead. I am guilty of that. I get to Christmas and think wow I want to make this cheese for the holidays. Well, I should have thought about it months ago. Sixty days to age gets me all the time. However I’m on it this year. Keep your eyes out as we move closer to the holidays. Here is to planning ahead.
From farm to Table, follow the journey.