I thought I would share some photos of our beds we have prepared in advance for our Fall Aronia planting (as well as Spring Elderberry ) . The beds were laid out 12 ‘ on center for the most part . A couple ended up wider to miss tree stumps and one ended up narrower (human error ).We are planting for hand harvest ,the spacing isn’t critical. We double plowed the rows with the BCS tractor with a rotary plow attachment ,then triple tilled with the BCS tractor with a tiller attachment . We added some wood ashes on the final till to sweeten the soil a bit .
Yesterday we covered the beds with landscape fabric to control weeds . One step we skipped was spraying Round-up before plowing and tilling .Although this is recommended ,we used the more expensive landscape fabric method in order to keep herbicides out of our fields . Our goal is to follow organic practices to produce healthful berries and medicinal herbs, no one wants toxic chemicals in their foods and medicine . However , I refuse to do the government paperwork to certify organic ,as that is toxic to my soul .
The landscape fabric is rolled over the bed then stapled down with 6″ staples . We also use rocks tilled from the field to help hold the fabric down as the staples don’t hold well in tilled ground . We finished 10 rows yesterday ,5 more to do Friday
A farmers work is never done .
The Aronia field after fabric is laid down.
The Aronia field before fabric.