Spreading Compost

In order to add both nitrogen (to fertilize the crops) and organic matter (for tilth), Rick at Abundant Fields Farm and I went in on a lead of organic composted cow manure from Mt. Scott. It arrived on a rainy day when the truck couldn't reach our fields so a large pile if compost had to be spread across the fields, A tough task when new farmers don't have a tractor or a compost spreader? Thankfully teamwork prevailed, Rowan used the EMSWCD's utility tractor to till in the spread compost, our Friend Rick brought his tractor down from Sandy to load truck loads of compost for transfer to our fields and Farmer Rick and I used elbow grease to spread out the compost. 

End of Season PS: Sadly I anticipated a relatively healthy reserve of organic matter in the soil that would break down and release nitrogen to the growing plants. Therefore I under applied the composted manure which resulted in stunted early season growth until I determined the problem early in the summer. At past farms I worked we would only apply the compost or fertilizer onto the growing beds instead or across the entire field, however since I am without a tractor I did not have an option to apply the compost over the course of the season as I established beds, but instead had to apply it all at once. The result is I ended up diluting the compost by applying it on areas that would become paths. First year farmer lesson learned #1.