Tomatoes and Beans? In a grape growing forum? Let me explain.
I could also title this thread: "Plans for my new vineyard, or not"
This April I acquired a very charming 12 acre farmstead with lots of character with the idea of growing grapes and fruit trees and starting a winery.
Here is an arial view of the property and a view with areas I had mapped out for planting, etc. The red area may have some higher spots that could be planted as well.
I have been planning on killing off the weeds and quack grass in the areas marked in yellow, preparing the soil and planting grapes next spring. Actually I was going to start spraying it this weekend.
One of the first things I did in April was to take the area marked in magenta between the barn and machine shed and till it up for a vegetable garden.
Here's the before and after:
I worked hard on this vegetable garden. Got a lot of things planted and when the veggies were starting to sprout realized I needed to fence out the rabbits as they were eating everything to the ground.
Last week I was looking at a newly sprouting garden. But I was seeing some signs of distress. I thought it might be lack of water since it was getting pretty dry. By the weekend, I knew it was more than water. This is what was happening to my veggies:
Tomatoes:
Beans:
Eggplant:
What is causing this damage to my plants? At the same time the corn is growing just fine and looks like it will be giving a very nice crop. I suspect one or more of these may be the problem:
These herbicides work great in the roadside ditches and along the railroad tracks to kill the leafy spurge and other broadleaf weeds while not affecting the grasses at all. The problem with these herbicides is that they can persist in the soils and grasses for years after application. They are not readily degraded even in composts. As a matter of fact they have been causing problems in municipal and commercial composting facilities for some time. Legumes and tomatoes and, unfortunately, grapes are very susceptible to these compounds at the low part per billion level.
Where do they come from? Well, in municipal facilities it is often grass clipping from lawn treatments or golf courses that contain these herbicides. On my farm? I am pretty sure it is "ditch hay" that was fed to the horses. This is hay that was harvested along the roadside ditches. These herbicides are taken up by the horses and pass intact through their urine to contaminate the ground and manure. Folks with organic gardens have had problems with contaminated horse manure from these herbicides. I have confirmed that the previous owner fed his horses ditch hay last winter. He claims they were confined to the smaller pasture between the barns and to the east. Unfortunately that yellow area to the right on my map may be unsuitable for grapes for the next 4-5 years or longer.
Laboratory tests for these at the ppb levels is very expensive. The best way to test for the presence of them is to do bioassays with soil samples. I will be collecting soil from various areas of my property and some of the manure samples and pot them up. I'll plant some peas - one of the most sensitive plants - in those pots and see if they show signs of herbicide damage when they grow. It will take a month or more to see the results. But it is the easiest way.
I've learned a lot this week researching all of this. I thought I would pass along this information so you all can be aware. Be careful using horse manure to amend your soil. And if you have horses, for heavens sake, do not feed them ditch hay. Make sure the hay you get is free of contamination.
I could also title this thread: "Plans for my new vineyard, or not"
This April I acquired a very charming 12 acre farmstead with lots of character with the idea of growing grapes and fruit trees and starting a winery.
Here is an arial view of the property and a view with areas I had mapped out for planting, etc. The red area may have some higher spots that could be planted as well.
I have been planning on killing off the weeds and quack grass in the areas marked in yellow, preparing the soil and planting grapes next spring. Actually I was going to start spraying it this weekend.
One of the first things I did in April was to take the area marked in magenta between the barn and machine shed and till it up for a vegetable garden.
Here's the before and after:
I worked hard on this vegetable garden. Got a lot of things planted and when the veggies were starting to sprout realized I needed to fence out the rabbits as they were eating everything to the ground.
Last week I was looking at a newly sprouting garden. But I was seeing some signs of distress. I thought it might be lack of water since it was getting pretty dry. By the weekend, I knew it was more than water. This is what was happening to my veggies:
Tomatoes:
Beans:
Eggplant:
What is causing this damage to my plants? At the same time the corn is growing just fine and looks like it will be giving a very nice crop. I suspect one or more of these may be the problem:
These herbicides work great in the roadside ditches and along the railroad tracks to kill the leafy spurge and other broadleaf weeds while not affecting the grasses at all. The problem with these herbicides is that they can persist in the soils and grasses for years after application. They are not readily degraded even in composts. As a matter of fact they have been causing problems in municipal and commercial composting facilities for some time. Legumes and tomatoes and, unfortunately, grapes are very susceptible to these compounds at the low part per billion level.
Where do they come from? Well, in municipal facilities it is often grass clipping from lawn treatments or golf courses that contain these herbicides. On my farm? I am pretty sure it is "ditch hay" that was fed to the horses. This is hay that was harvested along the roadside ditches. These herbicides are taken up by the horses and pass intact through their urine to contaminate the ground and manure. Folks with organic gardens have had problems with contaminated horse manure from these herbicides. I have confirmed that the previous owner fed his horses ditch hay last winter. He claims they were confined to the smaller pasture between the barns and to the east. Unfortunately that yellow area to the right on my map may be unsuitable for grapes for the next 4-5 years or longer.
Laboratory tests for these at the ppb levels is very expensive. The best way to test for the presence of them is to do bioassays with soil samples. I will be collecting soil from various areas of my property and some of the manure samples and pot them up. I'll plant some peas - one of the most sensitive plants - in those pots and see if they show signs of herbicide damage when they grow. It will take a month or more to see the results. But it is the easiest way.
I've learned a lot this week researching all of this. I thought I would pass along this information so you all can be aware. Be careful using horse manure to amend your soil. And if you have horses, for heavens sake, do not feed them ditch hay. Make sure the hay you get is free of contamination.