Let’s see, which quip that confuses a straightforward cultivation process with a fearful experience shall I use here? “We had a harrowing experience today?” “The later stages of pollinator plot preparation are harrowing?” “Today Mona used the tractor to drag a harrow around the plot.” is probably a less misleading description of today’s activity. And today is in mid-September, 2022.
We think of that tractor as the “new” tractor. But it’s the same age as our sprayer (and happily, in better condition). The harrow is part of a larger cultivation system. We hope that several passes over the dead vegetation will 1) break up the duff (dead vegetation) and 2) plant the weed seeds that are already on the soil surface.
Why, you ask, are we trying to plant weed seeds? The hope is that if we can get them to sprout this year, so we can spray the sprouts, that’s fewer weeds to deal with next year when the pollinator plants are growing. It would be better to cover the soil with plastic, and destroy all the seeds – but that’s not going to happen on this larger plot. It would also be better to harrow and let all the weed seeds sprout in the spring so we can take next season to fully sterilize the soil in the plot – that’s not going to happen either. If we’re going to do this in one season with the available labor and fixed income of two seniors, this is what we can do – we harrow and spot-spray one last time.
Next: Harrow and Spot Spray