Richard Raynor

Hello Friends,

I have been happily thrown into becoming a farm manager for a local farm.
After studying some of Helen Atthowe's videos (time is at a premium right now and i'm trying to soak info up while getting things done!), I felt compelled to try her system. This is my first year as a farmer, managing 3 acres.

I'm planning to use white clover for green manure, planting tomatoes, peppers, carrots and sunflowers together in a row.

In companion planting, I hear Tomatoes and Carrots like eachother very much!
Similarly, I hear Peppers and Tomatoes are very happy to have Sunflowers as well.
Frankly, this feels like "abstract farming", and I have a feeling I'm going to get into trouble.
If I'm planning to use a plastic ground cover (porous, but barrier to weeds), which type/color would you use?
What do you think about multi alphabet soup all in the one row on the ground cover? Too edgy for the novice?
This is a cash crop field, so I can get goofy as long as things continue to be marketable.

Thank you!



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Verena Sofia
Outreach Volunteer

Thank you Jay!

Sorry, I thank you for the book recommendation. Unfortunately I have 2 days to nail down with the owner and farmer what we are going to plant where, and I cant devour, process, and integrate the book, and design a planting scheme in two days. So I'm doing what I can with what I've got. The book will serve for careful and very scrutinous study when there is more time for that. Thank you much appreciated!

Wow, I just looked up the links and devoured the info. That is absolutely fascinating. I'm trying to get a sense of how to do this with the help of some automatic equipment (planting tractors), the kids love using, and how to do this reliably and have some organization... over 3 acres of fully prepared and plowed fields ready for what ever I have in mind. I wish I knew more about this!

If you can forward more links of this kind, I would love it... I'm looking for them myself, but am only a novice, and am grateful for any and all info anyone sends my way.

I just bought 45 lbs of white clover, the short kind. I watched a video where the lady is planting beautiful tomatoes and peppers on a plastic ground cover, followed by a dense sowing of clover. All she does for weeding is mow the clover! It provides nutrient balance, coolness and moisture in the summer to the cash crop, and NO WEEDING!!! I love it. So we are looking to do some of that.

Any one have ideas to combat a pest that sucks strawberry plants and leaves behind a foamy saliva? Maybe should post in new thread. Thanks for any extra info! Much appreciated!

Hi All, I've been thrown into this and I'm loving it! What a great forum! I have been studying crop rotation and companion planting non-stop for a week now. I'm a newbie, and helping an autistic friend who offered me to help him re-start his farm after laying fallow 20 years. I am determined to read, study YouTube, and read all our seed packets to plan as best as I can. But my head is spinning in regards to crop rotation and companion planting. We have farm implements. My buddy is an antique tractor and heavy equipment wiz and has that side covered. What we don't have covered is companion planting and crop rotation.

I just finally understand what "green manure" is, and "live mulch". I LOVE the idea! I decided to submit my head spinning queries to you to see what you might come up with. I've attached a layout of the farm from the last two years... it's about 3 acres, sunny and excellent soil. We have irrigation covered from the water in a huge pond he dug long time ago.

If you had this land with this kind of history. What would you plant for 2012 (this year... yes. Seedlings are in the green house, and the direct seed just arrived). The question is: WHERE WOULD YOU PLANT WHAT?

We are planting everything. And I mean everything from bock & pac choy, to lots of carrots and cabbage, significant amount of Kale (very important), lots of winter squash, salads, some pole beans, some snap beans, a wee bit of sweet corn (as little as possible, would like to use 3-sisters), radishes, beets, a fair bit of tomatoes and peppers, a wee bit of strawberries and potatoes.

How would I plant all these things, so that I don't have to weed like crazy? How would you plant things in preparation for fall planting of overwintering? I simply LOVE the idea of green mulch. This is supposed to be a commercially viable farm, so thanks for keeping answers relevant

Much Love!