As soon as the chickens moved onto their new pasture, and all the equipment was moved out of the way, Ramon rolled in with his big tractor. These are the beds where we will be planting potatoes this spring.
Potatoes are a hungry crop, perfect after pasture and chickens. If I had ordered a large truckload of chicken manure to be applied to this soil, I would not want to plant potatoes for a few weeks to let all the nutrients mellow. The young roots could be burnt by all the nutrients in the soil. As our chickens have been running over this ground depositing nutrients in little packets on a daily basis, the soil has already had sufficient time to absorb everything and do its mellowing work. We still need a decent rain before we will plant, which is why Ramon is keen to prepare the beds before the end of the week. It thrills me to see he is right on this without me having to make the call. These guys have listened, learned and put the knowledge right into action, and it makes me very proud.