Our transplanter is setup to put 3 plants in the ground, our seeder, can seed 12 rows. One of the things Cameron and I are looking at is how density effects weed growth. We need to get a better understanding of how and when the finger weeder comes into play and when does the brush hoe. Looking at the setups of these two styles of growing, I am sure we can only use the finger weeder on the transplants since there is a lot more space between the rows.
For years I’ve listened to Nigel talk about both of these tools, but never thought about how differently they would work, or when they would work. The little bits of information I have sometimes are so incomplete. But walking around and looking, observing what is going on, we are starting to understand the systems.
With that understanding comes the knowledge to know what questions to ask. I am hoping in the next couple of weeks we will have time to get out in the fields with Roberto and Ramon to learn when we brush hoe and when we finger weed. In the mean time, it is fascinating observing how certain plantings seem to crowd out weeds, and others almost invite them in. Another factor I have observed is the weeds on our land are far worse than on the 40 acres we lease. The difference there is the chickens have been on the 40 acres for the past couple of years. This year we are moving them over to our side. I am hoping, after a year of chickens, we will see great improvement with fertility and a reduction of weeds of on our side of the farm.