Everything’s Coming Up Flowers
The significance that flowering plants play in how we cultivate isn’t lost on us. Flower farming is essentially the lifeblood of what we do- the female Cannabis Sativa plants create large alien looking psychotropic flowers- cut, dried, rolled, smoked. We often joke that we are “flower farmers”, after all it is the truth of what we produce. To say Flower Farmer, it feels earthy and gritty and beautiful, closer to the reality of what we have been experiencing as growers for the past few decades in its most distilled sense. A flower with multitudes of experiences and sensations that blossom from the depths of its care.
But it’s not just the flower that ends up on the shelf that we are farming. The weed plants we cultivate, the entire journey, is aided by the benefit of many different flowers along the way. Each one guiding the course of the process.
So now, here we are in spring, seeing the direct success of the seeds we planted in the winter that have laid dormant for many months without any guarantee of their germination. Mustard, clover, brassicas, vetch, all working together to shield and nurture the soil in their own particular way.
Mustard and Brassicas- Both a natural bio-fumigant that suppress pathogens, parasitic nematodes, and detrimental, unwanted fungus in the soil. They easily choke out weeds and have long tap roots that naturally aerate and break up the soil to prevent compaction.
Clover and Vetch- Both nitrogen “fixers”, they work with naturally present bacterias in the soil to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form for or cannabis plants. The roots form dense networks which help increase organic matter, reduce compaction, and increase overall nutrient retention. Clover blossoms especially are an important food source for pollinators, notably bees!
Another key element in planting cover-crops is to prevent topsoil loss. When row cropping it is essential to maintain year round soil cover (although with the way we farm we are lucky enough to have no trouble with this). When soils are bare for long periods wind and rain can literally blow or wash away precious topsoil. Topsoil loss in its extreme can lead to “desertification” where soil can completely lose its nutrient content resulting in “dead” soil. Our farming ethos is centered around creating “living” soils, ones that are full of beneficial bacteria and fungi, that cohabitate to help keep our cannabis plants healthy against various fungal and pest pressures.
