The birds loved the open earth, and the cows and horses - well, they didn't care a hoot!
We just need some dry weather now to burn off what we can to leave some charcoal in the ground ready for ploughing in a few weeks.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Mulching in the rain
Well, today worked. Kind of. Rob brought his great big green tractor down and we mulched as low as possible in this wet weather. The tractor>mulcher pin fell out about 2/3rds of the way, and thankfully Rob managed to fix by using our neighbours spare part.
The birds loved the open earth, and the cows and horses - well, they didn't care a hoot!
We just need some dry weather now to burn off what we can to leave some charcoal in the ground ready for ploughing in a few weeks.
The birds loved the open earth, and the cows and horses - well, they didn't care a hoot!
We just need some dry weather now to burn off what we can to leave some charcoal in the ground ready for ploughing in a few weeks.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Weather
Planned to mulch/plough this week. And, after 4 months of dry weather it started torrential rains at the weekend. Oh. Slight delays whilst we decide how to move forward...
Sunday, August 14, 2011
More waiting time
Well thankfully just a few drops of rain recently. The dry spell has helped keep the Kikuyu grass stay down.
Growing with Kikuyu grass, at least organically is looking like a major challenge. We will stay organic and see what happens...
So, the tractor is in pieces and the next slashing guy available with his mulcher to come early next week. So more waiting patiently.
We also had our first (not invited, or booked in) visitors today "looking for the hemp". So, we will be placing our DO NOT TRESPASS signs and taking our address from our website down now!
Meanwhile our hemp building is coming along with some excellent support from some great companies - more on that soon from the Hemp Farm.
Growing with Kikuyu grass, at least organically is looking like a major challenge. We will stay organic and see what happens...
So, the tractor is in pieces and the next slashing guy available with his mulcher to come early next week. So more waiting patiently.
We also had our first (not invited, or booked in) visitors today "looking for the hemp". So, we will be placing our DO NOT TRESPASS signs and taking our address from our website down now!
Meanwhile our hemp building is coming along with some excellent support from some great companies - more on that soon from the Hemp Farm.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Gear gone
Well, a couple of hours of mowing succesfully today and then the gears went on the mower. So back to the shed to fix...
Yes! I will take photos more regularly from now and include in the posts. Watch this space.
Yes! I will take photos more regularly from now and include in the posts. Watch this space.
Another hiccup
Well today the farmer visited the land to plough after we had slashed the grass further down. Still no luck. So tomorrow its back with the disc cutter mower which will strip it down to the earth - this takes longer. For this grass there seems no choice.
While at the farm today I took delivery of a large mill to commercially produce some hemp foods on site. Watch hemp foods australia for more on this later.
While at the farm today I took delivery of a large mill to commercially produce some hemp foods on site. Watch hemp foods australia for more on this later.
Monday, August 8, 2011
The field - beginngings
I am going to grow three crops, in three different locations, using different varieties and different methods.
The most exciting of these trials will be in the grounds of the Hemp Farm. The land size will be approximately 8 acres (of a 20 acre plot) and the land has been fallow for about 20 years. Close to the ocean, the soil looks sandy and until recently was covered in two very strong grasses.
The farmer suggested, rather than slash the grass to bring in the neighbouring cows. 4 weeks later, they had eaten the grass down very low.
The plan was to come and plough the land. However, at first try we recognised the grass was still too high and required either slashing, disc cutting or mowing. We slashed a small part and will try another method today.
The most exciting of these trials will be in the grounds of the Hemp Farm. The land size will be approximately 8 acres (of a 20 acre plot) and the land has been fallow for about 20 years. Close to the ocean, the soil looks sandy and until recently was covered in two very strong grasses.
The farmer suggested, rather than slash the grass to bring in the neighbouring cows. 4 weeks later, they had eaten the grass down very low.
The plan was to come and plough the land. However, at first try we recognised the grass was still too high and required either slashing, disc cutting or mowing. We slashed a small part and will try another method today.
Preparing to grow hemp - what, why, where and how
It has been a while since I last grew hemp. Though I advise many other companies, work with hemp farmers, processors, manufacturers, distributors and more - growing hemp personally has not been a focus.
This year is different. Focussing on empowering others to take their own sustainability into their hands, rather than the big multi-nationals is my focus. I started "How To Start A Hemp Business" as a consultancy business which soon led me to realising that to truly walk my talk I better be growing hemp locally. So, that is what this blog is about - to document my progress of this crop for you!
Why grow hemp? As well as a demonstration crop it will have a use - to supply hemp seeds to Hemp Foods Australia who are Australia's largest supplier of organic hulled hemp seed, hemp oil and hemp protein.
Where to grow hemp? This crop is being grown in Byron Bay at Australia's first and only open to the public display farm. Here you will be able to learn about all aspects of growing and processing hemp - everything from the seed to the end product. I won't go into all the offerings of the hemp farm, as you may do this by visiting www.hempfarm.com.au. Right now we are completing the building...
How to grow hemp - well, that is the point of this blog. All of the facts, figures and pre-planning have already been taken into consideration using all the data I offer in the book "Growing Hemp For Profit" (highly recommended reading if you are considering growing yourself).
Next post will share our first steps to date...
This year is different. Focussing on empowering others to take their own sustainability into their hands, rather than the big multi-nationals is my focus. I started "How To Start A Hemp Business" as a consultancy business which soon led me to realising that to truly walk my talk I better be growing hemp locally. So, that is what this blog is about - to document my progress of this crop for you!
Why grow hemp? As well as a demonstration crop it will have a use - to supply hemp seeds to Hemp Foods Australia who are Australia's largest supplier of organic hulled hemp seed, hemp oil and hemp protein.
Where to grow hemp? This crop is being grown in Byron Bay at Australia's first and only open to the public display farm. Here you will be able to learn about all aspects of growing and processing hemp - everything from the seed to the end product. I won't go into all the offerings of the hemp farm, as you may do this by visiting www.hempfarm.com.au. Right now we are completing the building...
How to grow hemp - well, that is the point of this blog. All of the facts, figures and pre-planning have already been taken into consideration using all the data I offer in the book "Growing Hemp For Profit" (highly recommended reading if you are considering growing yourself).
Next post will share our first steps to date...
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