Toronto Star. April 18,2010
Farming is a mixture of art and science, but this planting-by-posterior method is new to me. I think that if you want to bare your backside in the back 40, well, that's your business. The repercussions of my trying this new method in our road field beside a busy Warden Avenue? That might lead my neighbors to form some conclusions of their own:
1. That I've found a clutch of killdeer eggs and gone broody.
2. That I've forgotten that old maxim that it's the footprints of the farmer that are the best fertilizer.
Call me old-fashioned, but it think that it's best to go with the science on this one.
Corn is the first vegetable crop that we plant. The tried and true method for corn is to take a thermometer (a soil thermometer; don't get ahead of me here) and place it 2-3 inches into the ground. If it reads 10 degrees C. or above; you're good to go, or in this case, plant.
We're reading about 7 degrees today, so we'll probably hold off for a few more days. In any event, we'll certainly hope to be earlier than May 15, which was our 2009 first planting date.
Happy Earth Day!
Guy
