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Erick Hovey is a blues guitarist and singer from Fort Dodge in Iowa. He learned to play the blues at the age of ten years, but had already tried his hand on the old piano in the living room. Erick listened to the radio, especially station KAAY out of Little Rock, Arkansas, where he first encountered the blues-based music of Clapton, Pink Floyd or Zeppelin. He remembered well those first lessons and has followed the same path of blues.
  Four years later, Erick stood on the stage. He played for years in many configurations experimenting with country blues, jazz, rock and funk music, which still echoes in his compositions. He enjoys performances in juke-joints, though famous for performances at concerts and festivals throughout the Midwest. In free moments working on his 400 acre farm,  he composes records and performs. When the time comes to sow or harvest,  he  puts aside the guitar and sits on the tractor.
His independence has its price. Erick has not earned wealth, or media fame, while doing what he loves, developing his own original style. Blues fans in Europe are fond of him and play his music on stations from the Netherlands to Poland. Erick’s music is fresh and original, he sings from the heart about what we feel about our lives, hopes and dreams.
  Iowa is a land of prairies and endless fields, where the landscape dotted with a few towns, elevators, and recently, the slender towers of wind power. For Erick,  farming, just as music, is not only a source of income, but a mission and a way of expressing himself. "Farming and blues has a lot of ups and downs -  he says - every day is a clash of fate." Erick observes, collects impressions, and then converts it into music.
  His first two albums, ''What You Blue About "and" Prairie Dance Music "gained critical acclaim for the deep, expressive groove, sincere vocals and his own, unique style. What is the recipe for the blues? "Be creative and break the rules –he  says - blues is an intriguing combination of discipline and freedom, are here the structure of rhythm and chords, building bases blues groove, and a lot of room for improvisation. Blues gives rise to many different musical directions. "  
  Erick recently sent us the latest two CDs released in 2009,''Recycled Souls "(aimed specifically toward the blues-rock) and" Blues Farm "(based on the blues, but enriched with many other musical tones), which today we listen to on Derf  Radio. Erick plays guitar and is accompanied by drummer Jeff Foreman, Doug Hines on keyboards and Dan Lodden on bass. Erick composes even while driving a harvester, using a portable digital recorder to outline the emerging ideas. "Songs come to mind at the strangest times, not always when I desire, so I always have with me the sound recorder."
  Erick writes us: "I sit on his combine and listen to Radio Derf, greetings from Iowa for all Polish listeners". "Do music for yourselves,  for nothing have your current trends" - advises.

Radio Derf / Poland

Erick Hovey CDs Reviewed

Blues Farm and Recycled Souls

By Richard Greaves / Blues In Britain Magazine

Erick Hovey is from Fort Dodge, Iowa in the Midwest of the USA. He combines being a farmer (5^th generation) and a musician. He is a singer and guitarist who started gigging when he was fourteen and put out his first CD about fifteen years ago. He has released these two CDs at the same time. I’m going to concentrate on Blues Farm which is the more blues oriented of the two. All songs are original and there is a core backing band of keyboards, bass, and drums together with occasional horns.

  The CD opens with “Ball And Chain”, which has  a slow, reggae-ish beat and some really good spare and moody guitar work. And this sets the scene for the whole album with tastey and often understated guitar work rather than fret burning speed playing and high volume. “Know Who You Are” is an up-tempo blues with horns and the one appearanceof a harp player (who is good) and some tough guitar, really liked this one. A complete change of style for “Soda Pop Girl” which is a 50s style swing blues with piano and trumpet spot on. With the line “She likes driving, I like drinking beer” this song hits the spot. Another of my favorites! “Patchouli” chugs along nicely with some BB King style guitar. There is a late night feel to the mainly acoustic “Running With A Full Moon”. “Fight That Monkey” is another highlight with a good guitar intro, nice stop time, good lyrics, and topped off by tasty guitar throughout. There are more good lyrics in “Baby Come Home” and then it’s back to that swing jazz style on “Missing Part” where again the band have it nailed. Next another favorite, “I’m Through”, which is a shuffle shot through with good guitar work. The reggae style comes up again on “Talkin Bout Love” and then it gets a bit more heavy on “Going Down” which lyrics-wise borrows from “Going Down Slow”. The CD rocks out with “Can’t Fall Down”.

  The second CD. Recycled Souls maintains the same high standard of musicianship but is more in a singer/songwriter mode with the songs showing blues influences rather than being more directly blues linked. The backing musicians don’t overplay and get it right for the style of each tune. Erick has a good almost “smoky” voice and is a very tasteful guitarist (think latter-day Eric Clapton for instance). A couple of the reviews in the promo blurb call Erick a hidden gem of the US Midwest  and I can only concur. I really enjoyed these CDs.

Hello Erick Hovey,

I am the webmaster of www.bluesforum.nl & www.bluesforum.com and I am sending you this note because your cd’s Recycled Souls and  Bluesfarm are both running for the Bluesforum.nl CD Award 2009. The direct link to the Award topic is at the bottom line of this mail.

 Bluesforum.nl is the largest Dutch-spoken blues community on the web. Bluesforum.nl has over 1800 registered members and a lot more unregistered readers. In October 2009 there were over 500.000 page views.

We often had the question from bluesfans who do not speak Dutch if they could join the Bluesforum.nl. Therefore we recently started an English spoken bluesforum, by the name of Bluesforum.com.

 Main goal of Bluesforum.nl is promoting the blues. The Bluesforum.nl team would be really thankful if you could add a link to www.bluesforum.nl or www.bluesforum.com  in the link section on your website.

On behalf of the Bluesforum.nl/.com team,

Ziggy

Administrator Bluesforum.nl & Bluesforum.com

Direct link to our list on Bluesforum.nl: http://www.bluesforum.nl/smf/index.php?topic=4269.0

Direct link to our list on Bluesforum.com: http://www.bluesforum.com/blues/index.php?topic=144.0

Bluesforum.com on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bluesforums

Thank you so much Erick!
Derf was so moved, when he read your letter.
Your CD are already on our playlist. It's a pleasure to broadcast your music.
Good, soulful blues, true and moved. (and beautiful graphic!) I showed your CD's
to Polish Blues Association and our musicians.
I'll gladly present your bio to our listeners, but I found only a few
information about you in the Web.
Would you be so kind and tell us more about you live, family, home, music
traditions in Iowa and your plans? Are your parents and family musicians too?
Is the blues popular in Iowa?
I'm sure, that this article enjoy much interest among our listeners.
Thank you for your work and passion Erick! Good luck!
Agnes & Derf
------------------------------------
Agnieszka Górka
Editor
24hRadioDerf
Dział Literacki i Kontakty z Mediami
http://radioderf.info
http://blues.org.pl
tel.kom. +48-888-92-18-70
os.Orła Białego 22 m 4
61-251 POZNAŃ
POLAND

Dear Erick,

Your parcel with your music has reached me safe and sound last week,  thank you so much. I am very sorry for not letting you know about this sooner but I had a busy time in my day job – a couple of high-profile projects to close and little time for blues related activities.

I like your music a lot. I would call it roots music with a deep bluesy feel, a bit different than classic blues, very interesting. From fat grooves and rhythmic patterns, through strong vocals and meaningful lyrics, all the way to a tight backing band – all that makes listening to your albums a pleasure. With two volumes being released together this is like journey into your neck of the woods, very cool.

Definitely there’s room for that in my radio shows. I will be happy to play your stuff on the air. I will keep you posted on that.

Thanks again for the music Erick and one more time sorry for my late reply.

Keep in touch and best wishes,

Przemek Draheim 

phone:    +48 609 97 35 29
e-mail:     draheim@blues.pl
website:   www.blues.pl/draheim

Erick, I'm a community member at WMHB, Colby Coll, in Waterville, Me. I help out reviewing the new rock. One of the great things about the gig is you never know when you'll hear a great record from someone you're not familiar with. I gotta tell ya, I listened to 'Souls' this morning & thought it was great. Liked every track. Hits our new rock shelf tomorrow, & I'll get to your blues cd next week. thanks again for sending it along. Best, Jeff/WMHB

Hi Erick.
this week I received the cd's, thank you very much.

"RECYCLED SOULS" and "BLUES FARMS"
I could hear their music and I have to say I liked it, I think about cd's excellent and very quality.
lodges soon the new in my radio.
greetings.

Josep
RADIO VILAFANT
JOSEP PALMADA
C/. FIGUERES, 5
17740 VILAFANT
SPAIN 
redhotblues@hotmail.com
 www.radiovilafant.net

Top 3 weekly #lastfm artists: Muse - 6. Erick Hovey - 4. Fink - 3. http://bit.ly/13QKN72:36 PM Sep 21st from Tweekly.fm  (sent to TheMailbox webcast 9-09

"Erick Hovey is a complete and exciting musician who at any time, knows what works and what to do….I warmly recommend that you do not miss the musical piece of work called Recycled Souls". "Erick Hovey has managed to build his own blues style….you will discover some new elements on the Blues Farm cd that will surprise you"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Miaden Loncar, soundgaurdian.com, Croatia, 8-09

Scene Scribe

Cityview, Des Moines, IA

By Michael Swanger

Iowa farmer-musician cultivates music, career his own way

Erick Hovey has the kind of freedom some people might envy. By day, he drives a tractor, working the tranquil 400-plus acres he inherited from his father on a farm in Fort Dodge. By night, he picks an electric guitar in local taverns and pubs, playing a mix of music that pleases him, yet doesn’t fit neatly into one musical category.

He is living life on his own terms.

But freedom comes with a heavy price. The 50-year-old Hovey isn’t getting rich working as a farmer and a musician, and lest some overseas airplay, he toils in relative obscurity from the media at home. Both vocations, you might say, have taught him a lot about the blues, which inform his rocking, roots sound that also encompasses pop, reggae and country.

“There are a lot of ups and downs in farming and the blues,” Hovey said. “Every day’s a gamble.”

Hovey’s Midwestern sound, however, has become a sure bet with disc jockeys in places as far away as France, the Netherlands, South America and Canada, where his two new independent albums that he released in June are enjoying airplay. “Blues Farm” includes 12 original blues-based songs like “Ball and Chain,” “I’m Through” and “Goin’ Down,” and has landed on the charts of Real Blues magazine. Its counterpart, “Recycled Souls,” includes 14 original blues-rock, reggae-tinged and pop songs like “When Will I See You Again,” “Ain’t Done With You” and “Ask the Stars” that revolve around a central theme of reincarnation.

“It’s funny, I haven’t received much press, but the blues DJs overseas are playing both albums. I guess they’re looking for stuff they haven’t heard before. Here [in the United States] you’re lucky to hear from anyone in radio,” Hovey said.
The northern Iowa native, who began playing guitar at age 10 and performing concerts at age 14, said he is pleasantly surprised that blues DJs have embraced both albums since “Recycled Souls” wasn’t intended to be a blues album. He decided to release both records at the same time following three years of stockpiling new material at his bass player’s home recording studio in Humboldt.
“I had such a backlog of material that I wanted to release them both so I wouldn’t forget them,” Hovey said, adding that he has a dozen more he wants to record. “We spent a lot of Sunday afternoons and winter nights working on them,” adding, “I’m not the only farmer in the band.”
The backlog of material is the result of Hovey’s ability to document ideas for songs when they strike. He often carries a portable recorder with him while working in the field, or jots ideas down on a piece of paper.
“I write songs just about anytime except when I sit down and try to do it,” he said. “That’s why I like to carry my recorder with me so I can hum a few bars or sing some lyrics. The goal is to document it and put your hands on it later and use it.”
That kind of hands-on approach defines Hovey’s farming and musical methodology. Whether he is engaging in wetland restoration on his farm and applying sustainable farming techniques he learned previously from working as an organic farmer, or writing, recording and performing real, honest music with the Erick Hovey Band or sitting in with other original Iowa acts like H&K (Kirk Hoffman and Heather Kelly) and FRB (Freedom Rock Band), there is a natural order to things for Hovey.
“I just want to put my own music out there and see what happens,” he said. “You can never predict what people will like. A lot of my stuff is cryptic and can be taken in different ways. If it provokes any thought at all, that would be good.” CV  8-20-09

Erick Hovey, Musician and Farmer - a Blue Collar Review
By Mick Polich - 07/26/2009 - 03:10 PM EDT

Somewhere, deep in the small towns, cornfields, wind turbines, and processing plants of northwest/north central Iowa, stinging notes cry from an electric guitar as a man sings as honestly as he can about loss, life, and the afterlife…….

Folks, let me introduce you to my friend Erick Hovey, and his unique way that he approaches his vocations, missions, and passions in life and music.

Erick is farmer who has a place outside of Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he tills the land, and probably works one of the last respectable vocations left on the planet. Farming is stewardship to the earth, and in our age of more enhanced, processed, and biologically engineered ‘super foods’, recently more and more people have been waving their middle finger at the big food engineering companies, and getting back to the garden, so to speak. 

Erick is also a master musician, and has been touring NW Iowa, playing fairs, outdoor shows, clubs, and recording music when he’s not on the tractor. He’s released two CD’s this year, ”Recycled Souls”, and “Blues Farm”. To Erick, the blues is the best genre to express himself in, but isn’t limiting to his fertile imagination in arranging and peppering his music with seasonings of jazz, funk, old power trio rock, and newer folk fusion styles. But to me, the biggest part of Erick’s approach to his art and life is the organic nature with which everything blends together – everything is explored, and added in a positive fashion.

I have listened to both “Recycled Souls” and “Blues Farm” with equal aplomb and openness – “Souls” is the more rock-oriented CD of the two, while “Blues” takes the concept of  decades of blues music arrangements, throws them into the blender, and makes a nice little salsa from old-time jazz, ‘70’s disco/funk, blues – rock, and folk blues. Yeah, Erick is a friend, but I say all this because on my way back this summer from our annual Andrews family reunion in Storm Lake, Iowa, I flipped “Blues farm” several times in my car, as it’s thoughtful, spiritual –and – sensual based lyrics  and music ran my brain. I’m not blowing smoke –this stuff is the real deal.

With that, let’s review Erick the musician first, before we delve into Erick the farmer, and see how everything ties into his life and world.

“Blues Farm” is an apt title to this collection of essentially blues based material, but with many, many dollops of stylistic flair from other music offerings (and you can download his stuff from iTunes, or go to his website to purchase his songs). Right out of the chute comes the song “Ball And Chain” (this is my son Andrew’s favorite – probably the groove - plus he likes hearing the chorus over and over). Musically, the minor key funk/disco groove of this piece reminds me of many 1970’s recordings from the Kings (Freddie, Albert, B.B.), Johnny Otis, and music from perennial blues label Tomato Records.  With a rhythm guitar worthy of backing James Brown, Erick’s bruised tenor voice sings,” I see you cut yourself, standing in the rain”. From the opening line, this song could be a metaphor for ‘the ball and chain’ of life – depression, a bad marriage, bad luck (which are classic blues themes). The redemption, or possible release, may be hinting at suicide, perhaps in this case – and then the reasoning not to go that path. Powerful song, powerful music.

“Soda Pop Girl” has grown as a favorite of mine – it’s Tin Pan Alley swing, and the encompassing lyric of having a partner who drives you around so you can merrily drink. Plus, the song is a humorous nod to the usual sexual double entendre – cars, ’riders’, and ‘driving home’.

“I Wanna Know Who You Are” – about really digging into the soul of a person – is another favorite. Set against a classic Howlin’ Wolf styled stomp shuffle, this number features a standout harmonica solo, and gritty, small - amplifier – overdriven – sonic – crushing guitar tones, urging the listener to get up, get down with it, and find out some facts about looking into some souls. The rest of “Blues Farm” just gets better and better….

Overall, what draws me to the music of “Blues Farm” is the ability of the songs to take the myriad of blues styles that span from the early Chess sides of Muddy Waters, the electric Chicago blues of Buddy Guy and Otis Rush, and the white-boy rock-influenced power blues that many of us baby boomers grew up on, THEN, fuse lyrical content that has not only good humored nods towards classic blues and rock cliches’, but spans the afterlife, and existentialism as well. Sometimes it’s spooky, sometimes it’s raw, spiritual, and sensual – everything for the purist and the novice as well.

Now, Erick the Farmer……

Farming is centuries old stewardship to the earth – said before, say it again, don’t underestimate the importance of farming, especially now. First, I find it amazing that people are completely ignorant where their food comes from on a day - to – day basis, but when we contract diseases from overly processed food, chemically enhanced food, or destroyed food  from mishandling and improper growing techniques, then we’re pissed off. People just expect food to be there, especially in the United States, where over consumption seems to be the American Way. Given the recent ‘back to the land’ reports of young people turning to farming as a way of fully knowing how their crops are nurtured and tended, it’s no small wonder that some folks are realizing conservation of the soil, the use of chemicals v.s. organic farming, and the questions of the uses of ‘super seeds’ – seed groups bioengineered to produce bigger, better crops. Face it, folks – the way of the farmer is the way of the world because it’s the way to your survival as a species.

Why do you need to know that Erick Hovey is a farmer as well as a gifted musician/songwriter? Because not only do the two vocations define Erick as a man, they are organically tied and interwoven, as essential to his being as breathing. Erick’s music needs the toil of the land, and the toil of the land needs Erick’s music.

In our e-mail correspondence, Erick sent me a multi – page ‘manifesto’ that details everything from soil conservation to better land management, to the balance of economics of farming, providing the population with a food supply, and trying to do it al thru sustainable agriculture and a balanced, healthy respect for nature. And you know what? Those are just PART of the topics in this intriguing, yet urgent, work.

I’m convinced that we as humans are always receiving messages and signs, and it’s up to us to have our antenna up if we want to decipher them. Of course, I’ve been reading Morgan Spurlock’s “Don’t Eat This Book!” which details his film documentary on eating a diet of McDonald’s for a month – then, Erick sends me his study. Sure, friends, I’m from the Midwest, and have grown up around farmers and farming, so there is a predilection towards said subject. But come on, peeps – who ever considers that our resources for food production are limited, and unless some changes keep taking place, our food supply will be compromised  in 30 -50 years? Laugh about ‘tree hugging’ all you want, but when the day comes when you have no more Chicken Mc Nuggets at the dinner table, we’ll see who has the stupid grin with the thought balloon of ‘damn naturalists, anyhow’ above their head……..

Erick and his wife Betsy have gone from organic gardening to farming, getting it down as a sensible science, relishing it as their life’s work. They are a complementary couple as most compatible couples go – Erick, with his impish, ah-shucks grin, the mover, deep thinker, and Betsy -  quiet, friendly radiating charm and grace. Erick, armed with a bachelors degree in agriculture, and Betsy with a masters in English (please forgive my syntax lapses, darlin’), set out to give back to the land, their shared history and heritage, and their community. Judging from what I’ve observed, they’ve done so in fine fashion. Echoing the virtues and policies of my favorite American president, Thomas Jefferson, they have worked with nature as nature has worked with them. And in continued harmony, Erick has grown an impressive side career of making and playing music around the north central/west regions of Iowa.

I wish I had more space to delve into Erick’s passion and love for the land and music – after all, what started as a simple CD review could have actually gone on for a couple of columns to get more fascinating details.

All I can end on is this – start picking up on Erick’s music, and you can start with “Blues Farm”. This has been a short primer, but hopefully, one that gives a little more insight on my friend, musician and farmer Erick Hovey.

Erick Hovey is not your typical farmer, nor is he your typical blues guitar player, yet if you met him on the street you would think you are meeting Joe Average. However, the 5th generation gentleman farmer from Badger is one of Iowa's best guitar slingers in the state. As typical with Erick, he doesn't do things like the rest of us. Instead of releasing one CD, he puts out two. Recycled Souls, and Blues Farm, are two great discs of blues, jazz, and blues rock. Both these discs are similar. You really can't put Erick into a box. In one track he sounds like Eric Clapton, then the next song he is David Gilmore, or chunking along like a train in a jump blues style. Hovey's guitar just soars through out this disk. It isn't that over the top, wish I was Stevie Ray Vaughn style of guitar, but the playing of a guy who knows what he is doing and making great music.
Furthermore, his writing style is incredibly eclectic.
Erick kind of takes words from out of the ether, and sometimes an almost zen like quality of word play. Then at other times it is just down and dirty blues.
Throughout the disk Erick is supported by Dan Lodden on bass, Jeff Forman on drums, and the breathy ethereal vocals of Heather Kelly of H &K. A few friends drop by to help Erick out, Andy Schinder plays bass on Sweet Fire Rain, from Recycled Souls, while harp maestro Andy Blumenthal blows on harp on Blues Farm. Then there is also some piano player I have never heard of named Tom Gary, that sort of plays piano and organ on a few tunes:-)

This is a great CD to pick up. I can't recommend one over the other, just buy BOTH!! CD Baby has both discs.                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                       Tom Gary, Blues Historian

I received your  CD's and took the time to listen to them. I put all of the songs on Rocket 88.  I wasn't sure what to expect but for some reason I had it in my mind that this is some "bar band" that played
 songs like "Wang Dang Doodle" and other standard blues songs. Boy was I suprised! We all have ideas as to what the blues is all about. Traditional, electric rock and so on. I can't classify your style of blues as I feel it is unique. Your songwriting abilities are amazing to say the least and your delivery is fresh and compares to no other. If the big recording companies haven't signed you by now, then they need to open their ears and get this music in the hands of blues lovers around this globe. My comments are more about enjoying your music as an artist. It was like finding that "rare blues pearl" in a sea of sound alike blues songs. Reviews might say "vocals similar to John Mayall or songwriting similar to John Campbell", but the truth of the matter is you are Erick Hovey, and NO ONE can write and sing songs like YOU!

I found that I am repeatedly playing your CD's and look forward for them to come up in our playlist. Erick, my only advice is to keep on doing what you are doing as hard work will pay off. Thank you for this music as this is the injection the blues needs.
 
  P.S. Just so you know that this is not a false pat on the back I did have a negative thought when I skimmed throught the first CD. I heard a fair ammount of wah-wah that I felt might have been over done. But when I actually listened I can't recall ever hearing another guitarist master that sound with such grace and command. Absolutely a grasp on what the blues is all about. Thanks again Erick!
                                                        

                                                                                                                                                  Tom @ Rocket 88 FM

Blues Farm is a soulful groove! *****

By Mick Polich – July 8,2009

Can’t say enough about Erick and his music, which I have followed for many years now. Those of you who don’t know this fifth-generation Fort Dodge, IA farmer/musician will be dutifully impressed –

The songwriting, lyrics, production, and arrangements on “Blues Farm” will have you hitting the replay button often. The great care in details – guitar tones, the homage to different eras of blues and blues-rock recording, insightful lyrics – all combine for a heady mix of meaty, soulful grooves. Just goes to show you that Iowa boys play their music card decks close to the vest until delivery – no boasting, no grandstanding, just deliver the musical goods when needed.

And boy, this delivers!

"J.J. Cale meets Tony Joe White"

- Terry Iredale / Tecka's Tracks

SUMMER-TILL

(NO-TILL ROW CROP PRODUCTION WITH CULTIVATION)

INTRODUCTION

    "Summer-Till" is a term I use to describe a commonsense approach to residue management in Iowa corn and soybean fields. This type of farming follows one rule:

• Never till the soil unless there is a growing crop present.

    This is the prime directive that dictates all other actions and ensures the preservation of the very medium that makes large-scale agriculture possible. With this rule in place, profits then follow as one works to reduce inputs by banding fertilizers and chemicals and controlling weeds mechanically with row crop cultivation.

Cultivation hastens the decomposition of residue and can increase the amount of organic matter in the soil. Cultivation can create an immediate flush of nitrogen, and reduce the risk of building up herbicide resistance

    A farm program that provides incentives for better conservation of our soil resource is the key to a sustainable agricultural future. The summer-till method of farming ensures that soil loss is at an absolute minimum because tillage operations take place only when the soil is protected by a growing crop.

     No-till farming is the only method that ensures zero soil loss. By providing conservation program incentives that allow cultivation between the rows of growing crops, no-till farmers would no longer have the need to occasionally till up a field in order to incorporate the large amounts of residue that build up.

    Organic farmers and farmers growing crops for energy would also benefit greatly by paying special attention to the timing of residue management.

Summer-till is a sustainable alternative to farming methods that expose too much soil to erosion at times of the year when the soil is most vulnerable to the forces of wind and water. 

MY EXPERIENCE

    Seventeen years ago I began to transition 675 acres of corn and soybeans in Webster County, Iowa, to no-till. The ten-year average cost of production (97-2007), for these acres is $1.70/bu. for corn and $3.22/bu. for soybeans. These costs apply to 530 acres that are tiled and crop shared. Costs for 145 acres of poorly drained and cash-rented land are 30% higher. These averages were achieved by routinely adjusting inputs and application of those inputs, to find that optimal economic yield.

     It began in 1993; a growing season fraught with heavy rains and flooded fields. The last 80 acres planted were very muddy. I had two choices. I could drag the planter through the field or hire an airplane to seed the field to soybeans. The residue on top was very dry, so I opted to pull the planter through and found that I could do so without getting stuck or excessively plugging the planter. One month later I removed some sweeps from the cultivator and found that I could achieve some weed control without excessive plugging. At harvest the extra residue presented only minor problems. Things were not perfect but I had as good a crop as I could have had using any other methods, and costs were considerably lower.

    Since then I have been working out the bugs one by one and continue to fine tune and adjust to changing environmental and economic conditions. Through it all, one simple rule has stayed constant. Never till the soil unless there is a growing crop present. This is the prime directive that dictates all other actions and ensures the preservation of the very medium that makes large-scale agriculture possible. With this rule in place profits then follow as one works to reduce inputs by banding fertilizers and chemicals and controlling weeds mechanically with cultivation.

    The long-term benefits of reduced tillage are impossible to miss. Soil loss is no longer a concern and soil building and soil health are now the focus. Earthworm population increases became evident by the third year. Increased water holding capacity was noted from the start. Better water infiltration was observed beginning in the fifth year. Fewer compaction problems are present and profits are up. 

                                 (figure 1)  Soybeans planted into cornstalks (see pics)

PREPARATION

     Seedbed preparation begins from the seat of the combine at harvest the previous year. My main goals at harvest are to leave residue attached to the soil, to chop and evenly distribute residue that passes through the combine’s chopper and spreader, and to minimize traffic over the field. All of this can be achieved with out any specialized harvest equipment.

     I leave the harvested plant stems and stalks attached to the soil after harvesting the crops in the fall. In the case of soybeans following corn, ( see figure 1), certain steps must be taken to ensure proper establishment and development of the soybean crop the following spring and early summer.

     It is important to adjust the combine at harvest to ensure that most of the stalks left behind are evenly cut and sticking straight up. Some varietie’s stalks are tough and stringy and end up laid over across the row no matter what adjustments are made to the combine. In this condition the cornstalks can present a barrier to future operations resulting in uneven placement and emergence of the soybeans, interference with planter monitor wires, and later on in the season, plugging of the cultivator. I have found that it is best to avoid corn varieties that have stalk characteristics at harvest time, that interfere with the next crop’s success. The best place for the previous year’s corn residue is firmly rooted and sticking straight up in the air. When cornstalks are left standing in an upright position from October to June, they tie down the soil, protecting it from wind and water erosion. A cornstalk standing upright is also out of the way in the spring and early summer when planting and cultivating operations are made easier by the reduced mat of trash on the surface. Standing cornstalks also catch snow and residue that blows or washes in from sources outside of the field. To keep the stalks intact and upright, I use a combine with a wheel spacing that straddles the rows. If the stalks are driven over and smashed down, they become a barrier to future operations. Even distribution of crop residues over the whole soil surfaces is critical for consistent seed placement and germination as well as uniform herbicide application. To keep traffic over the field to a minimum, I avoid unloading on the move from the combine, and follow the same traffic patterns for all operations, including the removal of loads of harvested grain from the field.

PLANTING

     Both corn and soybeans are planted using a 1981 John Deere 7000 planter set up with dry fertilizer and auger fill attachments. No other attachments are used. In the spring, the field of last year’s cornstalks may require a chemical burndown treatment before planting soybeans. I try to apply the burndown with equipment that doesn’t smash down any of the upright stalks. If the local elevator applies the burndown, I request that they use a rowgator rather than a Big A so that the rows are straddled and not run over. I place the soybean seed 4-6 inches to the side of the cornstalk row, at a population of approximately 140,000 to 170,000 seeds per acre, or 8-12 seeds per foot in 30-inch rows. If all of last year’s corn stalks are standing upright and the remainder of the previous year’s residue has been chopped and evenly spread by the combine, the soybeans have no difficulty emerging. By the time the soybeans are planted, soil temperatures are usually right for germination, and emergence is an easy group effort. If the cornstalks are cut off evenly and standing upright, the planter easily clears them without tearing out planter monitor wires. The planter’s markers may come in contact with some of the cornstalks out at the marker’s end, but rarely with enough force to uproot them. In a wet spring, the planter units plug only when a bare patch of soil is encountered. If evenly spread residue is dry on top, the gauge wheels of the planter stay dry. This allows the soybean seed to be placed accurately, even if soil conditions are less than ideal underneath. The planters units must be well maintained to keep the double-disk openers and fertilizer disk openers cleanly scraped. In a very wet spring when the seed trench may not be completely closed, the residue on the ground provides some sun protection for swollen soybean seeds. This seems like the lowest-impact solution to planting in extremely wet conditions. The alternatives are to work the soil repeatedly to dry it out, experiment with planter attachments that create a desirable seed trench, or seed by air.

     As the soybean plants develop, they are protected by the rows of cornstalks. When viewed parallel to the crop rows on the cornstalk side, one has trouble seeing the soybean crop at all until it tops the stalks or until the stalks are cultivated out. With the abundance of residue, there is little possibility of crusting after planting with summer till. There are also fewer crop injury problems associated with chemical-covered soil splashing on seedlings during heavy rains.

                              (figure 2)  Corn planted into soybean stubble (see Pics)

     I plant corn into soybean stubble ( see figure 2), and apply dry starter fertilizer with the planter. The fertilizer disk openers are adjusted for a 2x2 band of urea, DAP, and potassium, with the formulation and rate varying from year to year. Even at slower planting speeds, enough soil is disturbed by the fertilizer double disk openers (about a 4 - 6- inch strip), to leave a darkened area over the seed trench that can be warmed by the sun and speed emergence of the corn seedlings. When very wet conditions are encountered at planting time, the fertilizer disk openers can be raised out of the soil, and the fertilizer dribbled on the surface. This may be necessary to avoid stirring up too much wet soil that will plug the planter units that follow behind. A band of fertilizer applied in this manner still seems to be as effective as the same rate broadcast. Another way to avoid stirring up soil in wet conditions is to replace just one of the double disks with a new one. This creates a sharp leading edge where the new, larger-diameter disk overlaps the edge of the older worn disk blade. A double-disk opener modified in this fashion slices cleanly through wetter soils with a minimum of disturbance. The same can be accomplished by using single-disk openers to apply fertilizer. Delivery systems that apply a band of fertilizer without exposing a strip of soil work best. While a strip of bare soil can hasten emergence by warming the seedbed quicker, it also presents a potential soil erosion problem.

     I supplement the starter with applications of phosphorous, potassium, and liquid nitrogen as needed. The liquid nitrogen is often applied in combination with a burndown and a grass herbicide. This burndown is usually applied after the corn has been planted but before emergence. At a soil temperature of 66 degrees, corn can emerge as early as 7 days after planting; so exact timing of a nonselective herbicide application is crucial.

     Row cleaners, seed firmers, and other attachments would appeal to me more if they were designed to be removed and repositioned more easily. My soils are heavy and often wet, so flexibility is important when planter adjustments need to be made quickly and often. I would also like to find a planter that allows for more flexible placement of the fertilizer openers on the toolbar so that all of the units would be out of the way of old crop stems and stalks, without interfering with the flow of product from the hoppers. 

CULTIVATING

    Cultivation and the resulting reduction in herbicide usage, is what makes this system work. Aggressive, shallow cultivation chops the previous year’s plant residue and incorporates it into the soil, building it up and increasing the efficiency of the earthworms and microbes. No thick mat of residue builds up over the years, and by late summer, the field closely resembles one conventionally tilled. Using cultivation as the sole tillage activity also ensures that any soil exposed by the operation will be protected from wind and water erosion by the growing crop. Bare soil is never exposed at a time when it could be vulnerable to erosion.

     Cultivating corn planted into soybean stubble presents no special problems. Cultivating soybeans planted into standing cornstalks requires some modifications to the cultivator.

I use disk hillers from old R series John Deere cultivators to tear out the rows of standing cornstalks. The uprooted butts of the stalks are cut 1 to 3 inches below the soil surface at a slight downward angle, and thrown to the center. The disk hillers are staggered on the the rig pipe so that they don’t throw trash to the same spot and cause plugging. This staggering of the disk hillers is something that is missing on high-residue cultivators that I see on the market. Without staggering them it is all but impossible to cultivate soybeans that have been planted into standing cornstalks. Plugging can also occur if the stalks were left too long and stringy and laying partly over on the ground. While this stringiness can be a genetic trait of a particular variety, it is more often a result of excessive harvest speeds or worn stalk rolls on the corn head. Worn stalk rolls can be replaced or a bead can be welded on to the flukes to make them more aggressive.

     Behind the disk hillers and centered between the rows, is a straight cutting coulter. I use old tru-vee disks that are removed from the planter when they have been worn down to 14 inches or less. They are mounted using JD R series gauge wheel shanks and U-bolt clamps. They slice through the residue that has been moved to the center by the disk hillers ahead. The cutting coulter helps prevent hairpinning that can occur on the sweep behind.

     The sweeps or shovels are 16 to 18 inches wide. They mix chopped residue with the soil, then throw it back as mulch against the growing crop. This places the mulch in such a way that for a second cultivation, the disk hillers chop into the bulk of the residue. When drought conditions occur, one cultivation pass provides enough mulch up against the rows to retain soil moisture and get the soybean crop to normal maturity without any yield loss. With the sweep and the disk hillers, few weeds growing between the rows get past the steel.

      It is possible to cultivate at high speeds and without shields, as the disk hillers can be adjusted at different angles and depths. These adjustments vary the volume of soil moved. One or two cultivations are sufficient to control weeds between the rows and keep the residue from building up. Cultivating hastens the decomposition of residue, resulting in a darker-colored surface that absorbs more heat from the sun than a field of undisturbed residue. Cultivation can create an immediate flush of nitrogen, may increase the amount of organic matter in the soil, and reduces the risk of building herbicide resistance. I have found no reasons not to cultivate and every reason to treat it as an integral part of no-tilling the heavier soils I grow crops on.

    If enough of the residue remains at harvest, it may become necessary to install a rock and dirt guard on the bean head to cut down on the amount of material entering the feeder house of the combine. The previous year’s cornstalks can contain dirt (especially in areas where flooding occurred), and when this extra dust is mixed with moist green soybean seeds and stems or green weed materials, dirty seed coats can result. This is more of a problem for seed beans, where sight quality is important.

MORE ON WEED CONTROL

     A burndown herbicide treatment is usually required at planting time for both corn and soybean crops. For corn planted into soybean stubble, I prefer to apply Roundup simultaneously with a grass herbicide and 32% liquid nitrogen, after the corn has been planted. By making this application after planting but before emergence, one can avoid weed problems in the seedbed that may come about from the displacement of herbicide-treated soil the planter would leave behind. The burndown application for soybeans planted into cornstalks is usually a preplant treatment as the weeds have had more time to establish themselves by the time the beans are planted. 2,4-D can be added to the burndown when early weed pressure is present, but must be applied well ahead of soybean planting to avoid crop injury.

     I have been happy with the weed control between the rows after cultivation. Controlling weeds in the row, however, is another thing. Banding herbicide works well early in the season, but with both corn and bean crops, there are weeds that show up later in the season. This is particularly true when you band first then cultivate, stirring up weed seed and moving it up against the row. When cultivation precedes the banding of a herbicide, weed control between the rows can be improved. This may be due in part to the fact that, early on, weeds are more shallowly rooted and can be controlled more easily by the cultivator. Giant ragweed escapes are the biggest problem in corn, and late-germinating water hemp in soybeans. A second application of herbicide is an option, but I would like to explore chemical-free alternatives such as smother crops, in-row cultivation, nighttime cultivation, and flaming.

     My ultimate goal is to find a way to produce corn and soybeans in rotation while reducing the amount of chemicals applied. The biggest challenge here is how to do so without tilling before the crop is well established (my prime directive). I raised organic herbs and vegetables for three years on a small scale using raised beds. This was a sustainable enterprise with local markets. Organic production on a large scale seems often to involve preplant tillage, multiple-year rotations with multiple crops, and livestock as a part of the operation. This all translates into more labor, machinery, and risk of soil loss. Finding ways to save or build soil, reduce chemical usage , and ensure profits while reducing labor would appeal to someone like myself who puts a high value on free time.

     Concentrating on reducing soil loss ultimately leads to cost savings for the farmer. The important thing to remember is that the optimal or economic yield (that point where input costs and yield are balanced to maximize profits) may mean a lower yield, but the farmer is still making more money while farming in a more sustainable fashion. If yields were expressed in $/ bushel costs, then a truer picture of the balance of inputs, management, and luck would be represented. It does not have to mean a compromise when the bottom line meets the Earth’s resources and an opportunist can become a conservationist or a preservationist.

CONCLUSION

     Statewide an average of half the thickness of the original topsoil has been lost since the tall grass prairie was converted to cropland. Accelerated erosion induced by human activity is the most serious form of soil degradation because the rate is so rapid that surface soil may sometimes be blown or washed away right down to the bedrock. We are halfway there already. By reducing soil loss, the farmer can save money and ensure that future generations will have something to work with. Future farm policy could ensure a bright future for our soil resource by treating timing of residue management as the most important criterion.

MARKET GARDENING      For, as when the red-cheeked, dancing girls, April and May, trip home to the wintry, misanthropic woods; even the barest, ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send forth some few green sprouts, to welcome such glad-hearted visitants  (H Melville)

JUST FELL OFF THE TURNIP TRUCK 

We had lived  for one year on an acreage in central Iowa, between the picturesque Norwegian community of Story City and Ames, home of Iowa State University. And in that one year we grew a small kitchen garden. It was nothing special—lettuce, radishes, onions, peas, and tomatoes—on the site of an old garden rock-hard because of a drought. The next year we paid a neighboring farmer $15 to plow our entire back yard with his four-bottom plow so that we could grow organic garden produce for a living.

Later we were asked if we had done it because we had seen an ad in Mother Earth News promising that a family of four could support themselves on a one-acre market garden. We hadn't seen the ad, so we could not blame our naiveté on that. Besides, we were going to support ourselves on only one-third of an acre. (Though, in our defense, the raised-bed method of gardening that we intended to use asserted that we could grow the equivalent of three acres of produce on that one-third acre.)

There was no one reason for what we did. The decision was based in part on a desire to be self-sustaining and independent, good old-fashioned American values. What Jefferson and de Toqueville called for and what industrialists and eccentrics have heeded ever since.

              I don't remember when we first got the idea to plow up the yard and grow things, but it was immediately apparent that a commitment of this magnitude would guarantee adventure. We called the local elevator and soon had the name of a neighbor who had a four-bottom plow. After clearing the idea with our landlord, ( thanks to an impressive looking but factually vague, map / proposal), we called the neighbor. He came with his plow and for $15 turned over 3.2 acres of back yard sod. As he drove off down the road, we stood scratching our heads trying to comprehend what we had done.

 Actually we had put about six months into planning the project , and it looked nice and neat on paper. We knew what we would grow, when to seed , transplant , harvest, and how all this would be accomplished. We knew what markets we would target and how we would promote the business. We knew it all and it all turned out to be different. Perhaps we had premonitions of this and so as we stood scratching our heads, a cold fear gripped us.

 We soon warmed up as we grabbed shovel and rake and began to prepare raised beds. Each bed was four feet wide and twenty five feet long or one hundred square feet, with a two foot path around them. When we finished weeks later there were 110, 100 square foot raised beds. (more on beds)

 By this time we knew there was no turning back. Not only was our yard transformed into something resembling a military cemetery full of fresh graves, but our basement, kitchen, living room, porch, and bed room were all full of seedlings in varying states of health and maturity. In addition to this we had four large cold frames and six smaller ones on the south side of every building on the acreage.

 All this time the small rural community we lived near had been speculating about our intentions. We were to busy to guess what was being said, but did find time to run a Norwegian flag up a pole that was on the property. We imagined that with this action we were forgiven all our idiosyncrasies and firmly embraced by the community. Norwegians accounted for about 90% of the population within a five mile radius, and now that we were one of them, why then we must be hatching some clever and cutting edge project that will surely be a success. When I stopped by the local car dealership to vote, a local man called me the most ambitious man in the county. In reality I'm sure there were many who simply thought we were very ambitious fools.

 A man who raised horses four miles down the road, gave us 300 feet of trickle irrigation hose and offered tips on raised bed culture. He had been stationed in SE Asia somewhere while in the military and had observed sweet potatoes being grown in raised beds.

 The man who owned and operated a fruit and vegetable stand 3 miles away and called everybody "friend", directed us to 3 acres of river bottom. "Well I'll tell you friend, if you don't have a drought that ground will raise great squash friend".

  A man 15 miles down the road offered us all the hay we wanted. He wanted to clear his haymow of loose old hay. We showed up initially with our van and stuffed it full. The rest of the loads we used my Dad's dump truck and soon had a storage shed near our garden full of hay that we used as mulch.

 A man ¼ mile down the road raised turkeys and offered us a load of manure to start our compost pile.

The county tree trimmers dropped off loads of wood chips that we used to mulch the paths between the raised beds.

 A man with a five star Italian restaurant in an old drive-up bank in town, offered to buy herbs from us.

 A woman from the small business development association gave us all kinds of expensive and time consuming strategies that would make us known.

 A friend's mother gave us old flats and clay pots by the dozens. Local greenhouses gave us old flats by the dozens.

 A friend gave us stern advise about growing organically and we took her words seriously.

 About this time it was late fall. The yard was plowed up and the outbuildings were emptied to make room for supplies. We knew that winter would scarcely allow time to research and seed.

 There were seven outbuildings on the farm. The largest, a barn, was full of the landlords belongings and those of his friends. The next largest, a corn crib, was full of the landlords firewood. There were two machine sheds that were half full of the landlords machinery. We used half of one to store lumber and build the larger cold frames in. The other was full of junk, so we cleaned out the remaining three buildings and made it full of more junk.

At first, we had no intention of using our back yard as a garden. We were looking for land that was already tilled, and so we drove over to a produce stand just west of Story City on Highway 169 for guidance.  The man who owned and operated the stand  was excited by the prospect of being able to buy more locally. He graciously gave us the name of an elderly woman, Ida, who might rent out three acres of river bottom. We visited this woman and found her to be a delightful 90-year-old. Her farm, at the end of a gravel road, was tucked into the edge of what is now a greenbelt managed by the Department of Natural Resources. She was the last one remaining on a family farm of vegetables and orchards. We were served brownies and coffee at her dining room table where she had laid out photographs from 70 years ago, one a picture of her father and family standing solemnly in front of grapes vines that twisted across a fence, and she told us stories about raising cucumbers for a pickle factory that used to be in the area. For years her farm was planted with Iowa's two staples, corn and soybeans, but she generously offered her land for our project. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that a chemical called Septor had been used the previous year, and because there had been so little rain, its effects carried over from the previous year—certain death to most vegetable seedlings.

         GATHERING INFO.  We now began planning in earnest. We read every thing we could get our hands on that related to organic gardening. A local man had been quite successful raising and selling organic produce in the area. While we didn't get a lot of information about his methods we were inspired by his success and dug deeper for facts.

 John Jeevons, a famous gardener who employed the raised bed culture was a big source of information. History of French intensive method of double dug raised beds.

 The local county extension service offered a lot of information through the horticulture and agronomy departments at ISU. We became regular callers to the hort hotline We never called on Fridays when calls were taken on the air for the horticulture day radio show. This was because we were asking every question that we could possibly think of and a good percentage of them were stupid questions. In this way we gradually sorted out fact from fiction and raised as many new questions as were answered. We always received good advise but felt that organic methods of farming were not well represented at that time, by the panel of experts. At that time ISU did not have an organic extension specialist as they do now.

 Having both recently graduated from ISU, we knew where to go on campus to get specific information. Betsy had a masters degree in English and I had a bachelors degree in Agriculture. You would think that my coursework would have prepared me for an organic gardening project but in fact I was severely burdened with facts about synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery. Betsy on the other hand was starting with a clean slate and could begin research with a purely organic mindset. I was able to salvage from my education certain knowledge concerning soil structure, water management, nutrient requirements, plant physiology, and of course the only thing anyone comes away from collage with, the ability to know how and where to get information.

  One day we brought home a book about the Findhorn project. Beautifully illustrated, this book that tells the story of the early days of the Findhorn Community in Scotland and its communications with the devas of plants and meetings with Pan and the Elemental Kingdom. I had read it some five years earlier and I wanted Betsy to read it just for fun. I didn't buy into the concept 100 percent or totally dismiss it either. For our entertainment, Betsy verbally abused the plant divas while we gardened. We both thought this was funny, but at the same time it seemed slightly sacrilegious. I think Betsy found the book more interesting and credible than she let on, but she felt we were already living on the edge, and by mocking the Finhorn concept she was holding on to that last thread of normalcy. I mean, here we were living in the in an isolated farmhouse, burning wood for heat and kerosene for light, eating vegetables grown in our plowed up yard, and depending on selling those vegetables for income.  Actually we had quite a sane and satisfying lifestyle but at the time we felt a bit out of touch with the mainstream. We supplemented the income from the market garden with other part time jobs. Betsy was a proof reader and editor at the ISU press and I played in a country band and a blues band.

CLEANING UP OLD FARMSTEADS  Since then I have cleaned up three old Iowa farmsteads that I rented and Betsy has helped with two of those. We now believe that our purpose here on earth, is to rent farms and attempt to safely dispose of all the junk. On an old farmstead, junk may include the following: rusted farm machinery, rusted livestock feeders and waterers, rusted appliances, rusted lawnmowers and lawn furniture, rusted wire fence, rusted paint cans, rusted nails, bolts and nuts, and rust That's right, shovel fulls of rust mixed with dirt and unidentified powders. It is the unidentified powders and liquids that disturbed us most. All were safely gathered up and taken to the nearest county's toxic clean-up days.

 We used a small shed next to the house for firewood. Behind the shed which we had filled with hay was the compost pile.

COMPOST  To begin the compost pile we placed 12 foot posts across oneanother and then alternating turkey manure, soil,and hay and more posts. Also added were the usual kitchen scraps and undiseased plant material from the garden.  As the pile cooked the posts could be shifted (with the help of a chain and the van), and the bottom of the compost pile could be stirred. This along with a lot of shoveling with the garden fork, soon had things cooking. The turkey manure proved to be very hot stuff. Soon our compost pile was huge and providing an excellent soil amendment. We kept ashes from our wood stove nearby to adjust pH as needed for each raised bed.

 One fall day I looked out towards the mulch shed and adjacent corn crib. I saw a large volume of smoke issuing forth from behind these buildings. Upon closer examination I discovered that some hot coals from the wood stove had been blown from the ash pile to the wood chip pile and onwards to the compost pile where sparks were being transmitted to the corn crib. Now all of these things were situated about a dozen feet or more apart and separated by sod, but the wind was gusting hard and from just the right direction. My first concern was the corncrib where the flames were already licking up the side of the building. Inside was stored seven cords of fire wood belonging to several different people who had worked very hard to cut split and stack it all. Quickly connecting four garden hoses together, we spent the next three hours hosing down the area. Soon all was back to normal and we were able to reflect on the event. At the moment I first saw the smoke our dog Babe was lying on the grass in front of the fire in the path of the thickest smoke, apparently unconcerned We thought this was strange since she was the type of dog who would get unduly excited if a cloud passed overhead.

 We also experienced a chimney fire as well as a grass fire set off from a spark from the chimney.

 Winter arrived and the compost pile stayed warm even when the temps. dipped below zero.

 RAISED BEDS

 We decided to make most of the beds 100 square feet or 25 feet long X by 4 feet wide, with 2 foot paths between each bed. This enabled one to reach comfortably to the middle of a bed from a standing or sitting position on the path. (diagram) To begin we stretched twine the length of the garden along one side of the perimeter. Then we staked out another line four feet from the first. Within these two lines we staked out the 25 X 4 foot beds separated by 2 foot paths. This stretched twine was laid out on long steaks so that it would stand 3-4 feet off the ground. This was so the beds could be formed underneath without disturbing these all important guides.

 The 2 bottom plow had done a wonderful job of inverting the sod that was our lawn. It was march by the time we were first able to work the soil and we began by flipping over the few chunks of sod that had not been inverted by the plow. We worked at this one bed at a time, shaking loose soil from the sod slabs that were in the path area and bed edges. We then placed the slabs (grass down), in the middle of the bed for it's entire length. Next we shoveled the remaining loose sod-free dirt from the path area and filled any depressions within the bed. This left us with a long mound of loosely and randomly staked, upside-down sod slabs in loose dirt. Some of the sod slab undersides were exposed at the surface of the bed and these root masses we wanted covered. We knew that as it warmed up the sod would simply start growing up from the underside of the slabs from the thick mass of rhizomes that made them up. So to bury the remaining sod slabs, we ran a small rototiller up and down the paths loosening up the soil. We then raked this soil up onto the beds and covered them evenly. This had to be done 2-3 times on each path to cover the beds well, and lowered the paths several inches while raising the beds by the same amount. As time and rain worked at these newly formed beds, depressions would occur where ever sod was decomposing and air spaces would collapse. These depressions we filled with a compost/path -siol mixture. For the most part the beds held their shape well and few of these depressions developed.

 After the beds were formed we treated them several ways. Most of them were covered with a thin layer of compost which was raked into the loose soil covering each bed. Then a 6-1 inch layer of hay was placed over the entire bed. At the time we thought this hay mulch would prevent the beds from drying out and warming up but we also knew it would provide an excellent seed suppressing blanket. As it turned out the beds that were mulched in this manner warmed up just as quickly as the beds that had been left bare. Perhaps this was due to the heat generated by the decomposing sod within the bed. The mulched beds did however remain wet for a long time after a significant rain. If a mulched bed was to receive transplants, holes had to be formed through the hay mulch to dry a patch of soil several days before the transplanting took place.

 On the paths we placed 6-12 inches of wood chips that we had collected in great piles from the county tree trimmers. They were happy to bring their trucks by when they were full and dump them wherever we asked them to. The chips did an excellent job of suppressing weed growth within the path and provided a dry walk-way after a rain. After one particularly heavy series of rains the wood chips in one small section of the garden did wash away to a lower prospect a few beds away. Since the whole of the garden was situated on a gradual incline drainage along the paths was even and orderly even after 3 or 4 inches of rain had fallen all at once. The redistribution of the wood chips showed us what we might have known had we conducted a proper survey of the area before putting steel to earth. One load of wood chips contained a high percentage of walnut. Walnut have an allopathic effect on many plants. These chips were especially good at suppressing weeds.

  Six beds we covered with black six mill? Poly. This kept weeds at bay, warmed the soil and kept it dry. When it came time to direct seed a vegetable, we simply punched holes in the poly using a steel tube section from an old vacuum cleaner,and placed the seen in the hole. At the end of the season we removed the poly.We left two beds covered with the poly over the winter and the following spring we spent a lot of time picking up the small pieces that had broken down. We decided then that we did not like using the poly for this reason and never did again.

  Most of the beds were transplanted or direct seeded into bare soil and kept weed free by mulching hay around an emerged or transplanted crop. The few beds that were not mulched required intensive hand weeding.

 One bed in the very center of the garden was left bare and allowed to grow what it would. This weed bed served as a lure for insects and seemed to keep the surrounding beds pest free.

  We had been advised by experts to remove all of the sod before forming the beds. They were concerned that the sod would continue to grow and compete with the crops and that it would make for an inconsistent growing medium. Our reason for not removing the sod was mostly due to the work that would have been required to do so. We also felt it was best to disturb the soil as little as possible. Already we had violently assaulted the topsoil by inverting 12-14 inches of it. It seemed best to turn the sod under , cover it with soil and mulch and just leave it at that. Besides if we had hauled the sod away we would have been left with sunken not raised beds and dirt would have had to be brought in to raise the beds. Our method proved successful when one year later we were able to thrust our arms into these beds up to our elbows. The sod had broken down and the rhizomous root systems made for a very permeable growing medium. The mulch on top of the beds kept the earthworms busy plowing in more organic matter. There were a few slabs of sod that found a foothold in that zone between the bed and the path where the hay mulch met the wood chip mulch Some of these slabs had to be removed and were used to fill in depressions in what little yarn we hadn't plowed up.

 Once the beds were formed, we tried to walk only on the paths. This helped keep them very permeable. During wet periods they never became saturated and they would dry out quickly after a rain. During dry periods they acted as sponges and wicked up moisture from below, requiring only a little irrigation during extended dry spells.

 While we were able to stay off of the beds, our dogs and visiting friends had trouble remembering this rule. Our two collies never walked anywhere but on the beds. They were not heavy enough to damage the soil structure but were hard on tender seedlings. Friends would come to visit and stand on the beds while flexing their knees like they were checking for loose floor boards.Years later when we were notilling corn and soybeans, neighbors thought nothing of driving across your field just to visit or take a short cut rather than following  permanent traffic patterns that were already laid out. The resulting compaction had lasting effects , especially if the traffic occurred when the soil was wet.

 There were a few beds that we choose to form using a roto tiller to break up the plowed sod. The action of the tillers blade created a hardpan that left the beds wet long after a rain. When they finally would dry out, they required additional tillage to break up the hard crust that formed on top. The soil structure of these tilled beds improved after all tillage was stopped.

  Most of the paths remained dry enough to walk on after a rain and most of the wood chips remained where we had put them. There was one corner of the garden where the land sloped to a lower elevation. Here the paths did hold water and the wood chip mulch floated away. Around these few beds we had to live with occasional standing water in the paths as our only alternative would have been to do some major tiling to drain the area. We built the beds in this corner of the garden up with extra compost and while they were at times surrounded by submerged paths were never saturated themselves and produced fine healthy plants. We did not however, plant any root crops in these beds.

IRRIGATION

 There were several artesian wells in our immediate vicinity. Two of them were on the property we were renting, one across the road, and another an eighth of a mile down the road. The latter was a popular place to go with your trunk load of milk jugs and collect drinking water. The spring across the road was plugged with a giant pipe and valve, but not before it had made the site locally famous. As we gathered from visits with locals and old newspaper articles, the artesian flow had fed a Lake back in the……It was called Lake Comar and was a very popular summer hangout. So popular in fact that a grandstand had been built for entertainment and the house we were renting was a store and gas station. Johnny Weiesmuller even came to Lake Comar to give fancy swimming demonstrations. Today Lake Comar is little more than a clump of trees growing in a mucky depression in the ground. The bandstand was converted into a barn for storing hay and has since been torn down. There must have been some moisteur in the old lakebed because one day we came home to find an enormous snapping turtle at our front steps. It's shell was the size of a bushel basket and it's head was the size of my fist. The site of this creature was enough to prompt us to gather all of the pets indoors and immediately administer the broom stick test. The snapping turtle did not break the handle in half, but chompped down with enough sincerity to impress us greatly. After a few minutes it lumbered off to lake Comar and disappeared into the tangle of vegetation that was apparently it's home. The turtle had most likely been living there undisturbed for the past few decades, no doubt taking up residence after the lake was drained.

  Two artesian wells on the property we were renting.. we put to use immediately. One had been tapped by pipe and hydrant and issued forth with enough force that we were able to use it to water beds with a hose and sprinkler head. The other spring flowed freely from a pipe and into a stock tank where the overflow disappeared into the surrounding porous soil. This flow we routed to the potting processing shed where we plumbed it to the upper portion of a large stock tank. Within this we placed a smaller stock tank and secured it inside the larger tank by means of steel bars affixed to the top of the larger outer tank. The large tank would fill with water and a controlled outlet at the bottom channeled the water to drip irrigation hose in the garden. This continuous flow of cold spring water in the larger tank, provided us with a place to rinse just harvested produce to remove the field heat. The smaller inner tank left enough room around it to allow room for rinsing and floating coolers of market ready produce. This inner tank, when capped with an insulating cover,  became our refrigerator for holding produce for market

 COLD FRAMES   While we were forming beds and starting transplants indoors, we began putting out the cold frames that we had made over the winter. These we built from scrap lumber and were of various shapes and sizes. One was made large enough to walk into and was outfitted with an electric heater and shelving for the flats of seedlings. For ventilation the lower half of one end had a sliding door. If yet more ventilation was required, the entire cold frame could be lifted up in the front and propped open. The smaller cold frames were of various designs that had been dictated by the building materials we had on hand and all could be moved about easily. When we needed more cold frames we used some 4x7 panels from an old screen porch. The old screens were removed and replaced with clear poly, then simply leaned against the south side of one of the outbuildings. These worked well for the more hardy plants.

 The poly we used was 6-8 mill sunsaver with a UV inhibitor built into it.

 After some trial and error, we learned when to ventilate and when to insulate each cold frame according to crop. To insulate the cold frames during cold spells or at night, we used a variety of materials. Old sheets and blankets were employed but we soon ran short. To cover the large walk—in cold frame we cut up an old carpet and rolled it onto a wooden pole. When we needed it we simply rolled it down over the cold frame like a shade. This also provided protection from the sun on particularly hot days or days we would be absent. We put together another covering by sandwiching some old fiberglass batt insulation between two pieces of clear poly and fastening it throughout with staples into strips of wood lath. This gave the covering a quilted effect and the lath strips provided rigidity and weight.

  To repair small rips in the sunsaver poly that were caused by ice  icicles or small punctures from dog claws, we used poly repair tape. This was 4 in. wide with adhesive on one side. We used an entire roll in two growing seasons.

 We had a large collection of ceramic wine bottles that we painted black and filled with water. These were then placed inside the cold frames where they would absorb heat during the day and release it at night.

  We really didn't like the idea of using poly at all. The black poly we used for mulch was not treated with a UV inhibitor and could only be used for one season. If you didn't remove it by then it would began to break down into smaller pieces and then had to be painstakingly gathered up. Then there was the problem of how to dispose of it.

  For the cold frames the 6 and 8 mill sunsaver poly with the UV inhibitor was good for 3 to 5 years. It paid to invest in the greenhouse quality poly. We didn't have to replace it often or worry about adding more nondegradable to the local landfill or burning it. Both methods of disposal left a bad taste in our mouths. When ever possible, a cold frame made from recycled lumber and glass storm windows is best.

  The hardiest plants went into the cold frames first. We soon found that it took vigilance to keep the cold frames properly ventilated. As it turned out it was easier to keep them warm at night than it was to keep them cool during the day. If we overslept, which happened often when the band played far from home, the sun would quickly raise the temperature inside the cold frames and wilting would be a problem.

 FARMERS MARKETS   It was time to go to our first farmers market pre-season meeting. The first meeting we attended was for the farmers market in our home town of Story City, IA . Population……. The meeting was held at the senior citizens center and we soon found out why. Most of the vendors at the meeting looked as though they were old enough to be permanent fixtures there. All were old friends and seemed to regard us a young couple who had mistakenly entered the wrong building.

  Here's how the meeting began. A veteran gardener/vender, lets call him Clarance, told the assembled. "I had heart surgery over the winter, as you all know, and the doctor asked me what I do to relax. I told him I was a market gardener and he said "that's nice". The room filled with howls of laughter that went on and on. To us it began to sound like a sinister laughter that jabbed out of some hidden irony. What was this business going to be like? Were we crazy enough to hang with this crowd? We were then introduced to the group.

  Clarance  sold vegetables that he had left over after his main occupation, making wine out of vegetables. Like most of the vendors we met over the next few years, he was a fiercely independent nonconformist. He only attended open markets and loudly condemned the ones that  charged a per market or annual fee.

    And then there was Mr. and Mrs. X. Mr. X was a school bus driver who talked like Judd in the masterpiece theater series Poldark. You could never understand what he was saying but it must have been funny because he cackled every 3 seconds. They sold baked goods.

  The Ames farmers market was held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It was considered a closed market by vendors who sold at the smaller towns markets because there was a large annual fee. One could also pay by the day a fee of $25. This was to discourage those who might show up to sell only occasionally and keep the regulars in. The regulars paid the annual fee which was much cheaper if they attended on a regular basis and soon paid for out of the profits.

  This market had a history. They were well organized and well attended. The average age of a vendor was much younger than the smaller town markets. There were a few exceptions. One man,  a farmers market veteran, was 80+ years old. He would show up in his old beat up pick-up truck and sell ground cherries and  gladiolas. He was a wealth of information, especially if you wanted to know how things were grown before chemicals were around.

 Another veteran was the pie guy and his wife. They were true hawkers. "How bout a poiy, you get some poiy?" The pie guy never let up. All throughout the 4-5 hour market, "How bout a poiy", was as much apart of the market atmosphere as the passing of the train 50 feet away or the Saturday musical entertainment, dulcimer, autoharp,  and flute. The pie lady must have spent the entire week baking. They brought 30-50 pies each week and sold them all. Pie guy didn't bake so hawking continuously for 4-5 hours was his contribution.

  These veterans clearly loved what they did and were often producing and marketing against their doctors wishes. Each market could have been their last but each week they were back year after year. There is no doubt in my mind that selling their produce at the farmers market is what kept them alive.

  There were vendors that were quite seriously into the business of produce. These individuals usually sold outside of the market  to restaurants and grocery stores, or had their own retail outlets. They went for the seasonal products in a big way. When tomatoes came into season they had thousands and thousands of them. It was the same with cucumbers. I remember sitting there at our stand with potted herbs, tomateos, okra, swiss chard, kale, and other less popular items, while the vendors next to us sold cucumbers as fast as they could bag them up. The customers came to the farmers market that time of the summer to buy cucumbers. Just cucumbers. Nothing else. They were like zombies. "Must have cucumbers". We could have given herbs away along with 5 dollar bills and still not attracted anyone's attention. Then by the next weeks market the zombies had turned back into regular customers and would stop to ask us what tomateos were.

I really like where I am right now in my family tree. The fifth generation to farm the original home place. Five generations of farmers have left enormous marks on the north central Iowa landscape, but have not erased all of what Iowa was. I can still find remnants of prairie in a ditch or fencerow, but I am more likely to find medicine bottles in the walls of the barn or stop in the barnyard to pick up a square nail after a rain. The machinery of my great great grandfather sits behind an old machine shed that houses my modern equipment. I can touch and smell and see and feel those before me. They are still within my reality. It is so real to live and breathe in the essence of four previous generations, when everything that isn't wetland or prairie has their signature on it. The old machinery still sits intact but too fragile to disturb, the wooden parts still bolted to the rusted steel parts. Wood weathered gray with dust, green with moss, the grains raised one-quarter inch. Steel rusted burnt umber so completely that it's hard to imagine any other finish. Levers frozen in the position they were last placed. Fine adjustments lumped over orange. What was going on when these implements were parked behind the machine shed? Was that the intended final resting-place or were they just waiting for the next season then unexpectedly replaced with a new piece of machinery? Now there they sit eighty years later. Time has given them value. Not right away of course. For the first thirty or forty years you just want to get rid of the stuff. Cut it up and sell the iron. But after eighty years it's a treasure. Preserved to give stories more meaning.

 Thanks for parking it, discarding it, forgotten in it's little out-of-the-way spot behind the machine shed.