In Net-Zero Farming Planning- we only try to put in the ground what we never want to take out. Whether we are permaculturing the fields, woods or doing the landscape, our goal is to plant once and harvest forever. We do expect to do some maintenance from time to time but we want to save our energy for valuable time activities.
So, we are mainly grass farmers and we do several grasses and they each have a purpose.
The fields we work from year to year are different in that they get harvested and then a new cover crop is planted to harvest before the next spring planting.
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We're still working on perfecting our schedule but it looks a little like this: First spring, plant beans and harvest in fall and put down annual rye grass or winter wheat and compost. Harvest the wheat and make hay. If we plow that down - spread more compost and plant early next summer for a short season crop (maybe beets). Pull those up in the fall, spread more compost and plant crownvetch or something to put away for hay the next year early and turn into the soil. And the process goes on- if we are going to work the land then we want to rotate the planting to those that will give back to the soil and ready "ready it" for a next season crop - even here in the northern climate.
The choice of planting what next is in part determined by what the soil needs, how much time a crop has to grow and even what is readily afforable to the budget. Doing "what the market says is hot" is what everyone is doing so by time my crops come in - it might not be so hot.
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