2012 Garden Report from Circle of the Sun
Dan and Margo Royer-Miller were apprentices and staff at Ecology Action from 2006 through 2009. Since then, they have been working on a new GROW BIOINTENSIVE farm on Dan's mother's land in Ohio. 2012 was their third growing year there, and a very challenging one. We are following their progress because we believe it will supply important information for others just starting out as GROW BIOINTENSIVE farmers. Challenges, though difficult and sometimes frustrating, especially during times of climate change, can provide good learning tools for future production. Carol Cox, former EA garden manager, visited Dan and Margo last summer. For the second time in three years we experienced extraordinary drought. Between spring's last frost (April 27) and fall's first frost (September 23) we received 13.8 inches of rain. The most remarkable part is that, most often, the rain we got was during one strong-to-severe storm every two to four weeks rather than any long, slow soaking. To date this year we have received 28 inches, as compared to 49.6 inches at this point last year. Our area's average rainfall is 39 inches. Additionally, this year's
drought was accompanied
by strings of exceedingly hot
days. Temperatures were, at times, mind-boggling. The
winter was very mild; only 5
nights dropped into the single
digits (Fahrenheit) compared
with 17 nights of single-digit
or negative temperatures in
the winter of 2010-2011. This
summer echoed the warmth, For conventional farmers in this area it was a disastrous year, as the record-breaking heat /drought combination broke the proverbial backs of their crops. We were able to water ours, so they fared a little better; crops didn't die outright, but they didn't thrive or even produce modestly. We brought over water at the rate of approximately 660 gallons a week, or around 2.25 gallons per bed per day. Of course, some crops got watered every day according to need, and others were watered less than once a week, but the numbers above are the average. Naturally this season has given us cause
to rethink our procedures. We'll need much
larger rainwater storage to make use of
this year's type of weather patterns, for
instance. This was our first year applying
compost to all beds, and we expect
successive years of compost application to
make a big difference in retention of water
in the soil. We believe that, as we raise the
level of organic matter in the soil, this kind
of season will cause our crops to shine in Our crops did suffer. Our sorghum,
the best performer in 2010 and 2011, and
our pearl millet were late going in (soil
too dry to prepare and not enough water
to get beds ready to dig), and as a result
did not reach maturity by the end of the
season. We did get appreciable biomass
from them although the data aren't in yet on exactly how appreciable. Most of our
flour corn was planted in plenty of time,
but pollination was nearly nonexistent due
to heat. Amaranth was severely stunted,
as were our tomatoes. One variety of
the latter, Principe Bourgese, produced Another challenge for the crops this season was a notable pest population. We did have plenty of beneficials present, but had more aphids (corn, sorghum, and kale), stalk borer, hornworm caterpillars, and a variety of beetles than we've had before. We're attributing this to the mild winter followed by stressful summer conditions for the plants. On the other hand, our cereal grains,
especially rye and fall-planted wheat, did
do reasonably well. Our 150-sq-ft section
of cereal rye produced at the rate of 7.3 lb
per 100 sq ft of grain and 13.8 lb per 100
sq ft of biomass, which thoroughly beats
last year's yields of 2.3 and 4.6 lb per 100
sq ft respectively. One key reason for the difference may be that we transplanted this
year's rye while last year's was broadcast.
We planted two varieties of winter wheat: We did have some main season
successes. Kale has once again surprised
us: though we made sure it got priority at
watering time, we didn't expect the yield
of 181.2 lb per 100 sq ft that it has given
us to date. (GROW BIOINTENSIVE high
yield is 153 lb per 100 sq ft.) And it isn't
necessarily done yet, either! We also count
our onion harvest a success. While they
yielded a paltry 12 lb per 100 sq ft, we
had something around 90% survival and One more garden note is Alten's favorite
activities. Our two-year-old was never far
from the tomatoes and had to learn our
procedure of weighing crops first before
eating. He eventually became a happy
helper using the scale and counting with
us. We also had to convince him that the
green tomatoes should stay on the plant.
His joy overflowed during the final harvest
of the year when he got to pull ALL the
tomatoes! His other favorite garden task
We are in the midst of our own
transition, too. In late October we added a
fourth member to the Royer-Miller family: May you all have a restful winter, and
be emboldened and ambitious in your
farming and gardening in 2013! top | Newsletter Home | Article Index | Archive
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For the second year in a row we offered
a three-month course in partnership with
Ecology Action, GROW BIOINTENSIVE
Agricultural Center of Kenya (G-BIACK),
and the Multinational Exchange for
Sustainable Agriculture (MESA). As
with last year, we had two skilled women
from Kenya, Esther Kiruthi and Asbeta
Kangara. They were put through the wringer as we crammed all the knowledge
from EA's six-month course into half that
time, including tours of other farms and
instructions on building solar box cookers
and solar food dehydrators. Our hearts
go with them as they transition into using
the information they learned during their
summer with us. Check out our blog to