A Day of Family Sowing

A while back Stewart started planting small test patches of cover crops and food fodder crops around the property. Somehow, on those days, we all seem to drop most everything else we’re doing to gather, kneel down in the dirt, poke holes, and plant seeds.

There’s just something about playing in the dirt that attracts all age groups.

So Belle and I headed out to join the big and little men at a corner of the property where we have put in some swales and planted nitrogen-fixing autumn olives.

The plan was to plant a bunch of Sunn Hemp around the swales to see how they would do. This is a potential fodder crop for goats and we wanted to see how well it would do on a patch of land that I lovingly refer to as the face of the moon.

Everyone got in on it, poking holes with sticks, dropping seeds, waiting for rain. And eventually it came up, though it doesn’t look spectacularly healthy.

Also planted in various patches around the land are buckwheat, hairy vetch, and clover. We’re hoping to continue to throw seeds out when rain is in the forecast and, if the chickens don’t eat them, we’ll most likely practice a chop and drop technique.

Something about these days where we’re all working together on a project just makes my heart overflow with gratitude for this little family, this little piece of land, and this precious time we spend together, sowing.

What are you sowing these days?