Friday, October 16, 2015

Mustard Field Report

I had one more fun afternoon photographing the Monarchs in the mustard field.

I was right the mucky mucks in the mustard field were invited press…hence the clipboards.  One of those “articles” appeared in the local paper.   I will quote an Agronomist “The pungent crop repels insects and when ground up adds a biomass mixture that benefits the soil and potato crop.”

Mustard field

They cut down most of the crop and disced in what remained.

Discing the mustard field

In the newspaper article they also said “We could hear the hum of the honey bees.”  Bees and pollinators being big on their earth friendly list…

I don’t know…our supply of bees is few…we have some sting you and it hurts like the devil Wasps.   Not many Black Flies and Deer Flies…and mosquitoes were manageable…the Asian Beetles swarmed in over the weekend…they were attracted the sauna…and Far Guy is waging a war with them.

The air was pungent yesterday with the smell of mustard…not a very pleasant smell…although Missy next door said she didn’t mind the smell.  She said jogging by the very yellow field just made her happy.

The field was worked up before the flowers could set seed…I believe the seeds are small and can be ground up and used as mustard.

In this area 1,000 acres were planted in mustard this year, they plan to plant 5,000 to 10,000 acres in a rotation.  The mustard will be planted after peas have been harvested.  The other rotation crops are corn, wheat, dried beans and potatoes.

So much for the field report.  I hope all the Monarchs are on their way south.

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous shot of the butterfly!

Cynthia said...

The butterflies are like flying autumn leaves. I hope all your monarchs make it to their wintering grounds in Mexico and beyond safe and sound!

Mike@Bit About Britain said...

Stunning shot of the monarch. So, 'mucky mucks' are representatives of the press; I'll remember never to become a journalist!

linda m said...

I sure hope all the Monarchs make it to Mexico okay. They are one of my favorite butterflies. Thanks for the Farm Report,; I find it very interesting. Have any of these "mucky mucks" ever farmed before or do they just sit behind their desk and write their articles based on some other schmucks views. Have a great weekend. I'm going on an adventure tomorrow.

DJan said...

Good field report, but I am basking in the butterfly picture. :-)

Pauline Persing said...

Glad to hear the Monarchs passed your way. Did you know that the first tagged butterfly in the Mexican mountains found by the leader of the search for the monarch's wintering grounds was a monarch tagged in Minnesota? Learned that when Steve and I went to Brukner's Monarch Celebration a few weeks ago.

Paul said...

The Asian Beetles were real pests this past week while I was shingling an porch roof. They were biting too.
I hadn't seen too many the past couple of years. This must be the cycle year?

Linda Kay said...

Love the butterfly picture!

Tired Teacher said...

Well, the corporate farms are rotating crops - that's a good thing, at least.

Sam I Am...... said...

Nice to see something being planted other than soy beans and field corn...neither of which I eat.

Country Gal said...

We have fields like that here to but no butterfly's any more they have all taken off on their ling journey and it is to cold here now . Lovely photo . Thanks for sharing , Have a good weekend !

Red said...

...and the agronomist has never farmed in his life but is telling people what to do. Oh well!

Linda Reeder said...

So it was a cover crop. Good to know.

Karen said...

The fellow up the road from us planted a lot of mustard crops while he worked on perfecting the drainage in his field. Sure better than leaving the field bare.
Now if that was an exact quote from the agronomist....it doesn't read properly to me. It made it sound like the soil is a crop as well as potatoes. Shouldn't it read 'benefits the soil and 'the' potato crop'.

Karen said...

The fellow up the road from us planted a lot of mustard crops while he worked on perfecting the drainage in his field. Sure better than leaving the field bare.
Now if that was an exact quote from the agronomist....it doesn't read properly to me. It made it sound like the soil is a crop as well as potatoes. Shouldn't it read 'benefits the soil and 'the' potato crop'.

Bob King said...

Love the butterfly pic!

Bob King said...

Love the butterfly pic!

MTWaggin said...

That is really interesting to learn about! The butterflies are off to warm places I am sure.