It is time to start learning about planting crops. One would think that's it is just a matter of slapping your rototiller into the dirt.......throw in a few seeds......and then be the Donald Trump of farming.
Righto......
I actually starting this crop learning process back in 1958. I got a "Garden Magic for Kids" from Santa Claus. The Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction opened in Disneyland in 1959.....I was a little farmer that long ago ! Out in the back yard of the old Arcadia, Ca house....I had commandeered an area which was a unused flowerbed. The time I spent out there was hundreds of hours.....the fascination of ground prep to seeding (from the box directions) was amazing that one could make a farm....at my age! By mid summer, I was supplying the family with tomatoes and squashes.
What a hoot it was to watch a seed go to a fruit!
But now the "unused flowerbed" is a little wee bigger :-) The first year at the farm, I roto-tilled an small area for a family garden, out front. Bouncy bouncy, banged that tiller. Ended up having to use a shovel to "break" the ground. That's exactly what I learned....."break" the ground first!
There is now a large area behind the Berry patch that has been "broken"....farmers call this "ripping". Oh yes.....a tractor did it...not a shovel! I'll be out there.... with the rototiller.....then with the barrel stamp. The stamp is a gizmo with hundreds of jagged teeth that breaks up the dirt clogs finer....and levels the ground slightly.
Okay now.....how the hell do I water this area? The next 101 lesson.....tape irrigation application.
