How to Till a Field of Favas without a Tractor

Mowing Down the Favas

In the fall we planted a large area with fava beans as a cover crop. Some of the benefits of cover crops include fixing nitrogen in the soil, competing with weeds, hosting beneficial insects, and preventing erosion. At some point, though, the cover crop has to be cut down, chopped up, and turned under the soil. Most farmers would use a tractor with disc and rototiller implements... but not us. A tractor is a huge investment that we haven't made yet, so we're using what we've got, a lawn mower and a walk-behind tiller. We set the mower on its highest setting, and leave off the side shoot attachment, which causes the grass/favas to clog the chute and stall the engine. Then we run over the favas with the mower several times until they are finely chopped. Next we come with the rototiller and till them several times, starting on the shallowest setting and moving deeper. When the majority of fava material is covered in soil, we stop. We leave it to decompose for a week or two and then come back with the rototiller for a deeper tilling and to make the rows. It's a slow process, but so far so good!

Tilling Under the Cover Crop

Now we have our first rows of tomatoes planted!

Zucchini, Here We Come!

Newly Planted Zucchini

The summer planting has begun, and what better way to start than with zucchini, the quintessential symbol of summer bounty. Last year lots of folks told us they prefer the "regular" green zucchini. Well, your voice has been heard. We've planted our first row of dark green zucchini and put in some yellow crookneck too, for your wild side. By the way, the row marker is made of a sliced up yogurt container, an idea I gleaned from Stone Lake Farm.

Our potato mounds are off the hook! I am happy to report they have fully recovered after the light frost a couple weeks ago that blackened their leaves and sent me into a panic.

Healthy Potato Mounds

Gal putting together irrigation systems

Beautiful weeds. Ooops, I mean wildflowers. Does anyone know what these are?

Spring Harvests are Coming

Some of you may be wondering what happened to us all winter. Well, we've been working through all the torrential rain to prepare for spring. Now that the soil has dried up a bit, we're out in the field every day, tilling, planting, weeding, and installing irrigation. The biggest project has been tilling under our fava beans, which we grew as a cover crop. Without a tractor, this is a huge job. We've been running them over with the rototiller, chopping them with the lawn mower several times, and then tilling them under with the rototiller. We're about halfway done now, and we'll be planting summer crops soon in the field where the favas were. In the photo, you can see our new best friend, the old Troybilt rototiller.

The first apple blossoms

And, the first radishes of the season

Welcome to One Acre Farm!

If you want to keep up with the goings-on of One Acre Farm or learn more about what we do, this is the place. One Acre Farm is a small (really, just one acre) farm growing all kinds of vegetables and fruits. We are located in Morgan Hill, California, and we sell our produce via CSA to folks living in, or very close to, Morgan Hill. A CSA is like a subscription service for produce. Our members receive a bag of super-fresh, organic vegetables every week delivered right to their doors. Part of the goal is to build a sense of community--We are your farmers, and this is your farm. More importantly, though, we hope that when you taste our veggies, you breathe a deep sigh, and say, "Wow, I never knew _______ could taste so good!"

There are two of us farmers, Michelle and Gal. We are working very hard, eating very well, and loving it.