“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!”

We’ve been changing out the bags on our Japanese beetle traps in rapid succession. Next year we’ll be adding two traps to the small yard and probably 4-5 for the big yard. This is the worst we’ve seen it since we put in the small yard some 4 years ago.

In less disgusting news…we mowed down an area near the large hopyard that we hope to use to begin a compost windrow. As we are a Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) Farm, we follow organic standards, which means rather than being dependent upon synthetic/chemical fertilizers to return nutrients to our soils…and since we do not have livestock that produces manure…we need to rely on our own “circle of life”.

Meaning, we will begin using our grass and leaf clippings, tree clippings, etc. once they’ve been run through a chipper/shredder, and then been placed in a long row and turned and monitored for temperatures. The long rows are referred to as “windrows” and we’ll be using the bucket on the tractor to turn them at specific times. The hope and intent is, that rather than having to buy all of our compost, we will instead be able to provide a large majority of them on our own.

You can learn more about composting and windrows here.