Attached is the 2008 Planting Plan for the Sebastopol Energy Garden. Within the document are site maps with designated locations for each crop, calorie assessments, a plant inventory, and the budget for the purchase of seeds and plants.

Updates on plantings, and lists of what is currently growing at the Sebastopol Energy Garden can be tracked on our Farm Notebook Site

We are working to tie up all the loose ends related to the Dryland Grain Demonstration. Repairs are complete on Steve Heckeroth's scratch built electric tractor, ET-7. We are excited to use it once we finalize the details related to land acquisition. If you want to know more about the basic parameters of small grain production I encourage you to read The Small Grain Production Manual produced by UC Davis.

The Small Grain Production Manual presents essential information on producing wheat, barley, oat, triticale, and rye, from growth and development through seedbed preparation, fertilization, and irrigation, to pest management, crop rotation, cover cropping, and harvesting and storage. It also includes an overview of small grain production in California as well as a trouble shooting guide.

The Manual is available for free download from http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu.

To view the full PDF click the link below.

While a bulk of the focus in 2007 has been to establish an Energy Farm Demonstration Site at Brookside Elementary School, in Willits, CA; we realize that intense vegetable production is a piece of the larger picture in the attempt to reduce the high energy inputs to the food and agricultural system. In addition to building and testing post-petrol tools and methodologies for intense vegetable production we are duly interested in conducting research and developing templates for grain, oilseed, and livestock production. As always, farm products will be produced locally for local consumers with the aim of promoting both local food and energy security.

This been said, I would like to share a project proposal titled: Steps toward Local Food Security—Little Lake Valley Grain Production. We have been shopping this proposal around the community of Willits and many people seem interested in fostering the development of a local food system and very excited about the tools and methods we seek to employ.

Steps toward Local Food Security—Little Lake Valley Grain Production

WELL, and other local organizations, have undertaken several studies and workshops on local food security in the 95490 zip code, with a population of approximately 13,500. Based on historic production data, a key initial conclusion of one study suggests that if a localized agricultural system would grow a diverse supply of food for this population, then approximately all of the 4000 acres of prime agricultural land in Willits would be needed for crops. Research noted both a demand and supply gap related to local grains. Also lacking is the processing and storage equipment needed to carry out successful grain operations.

In response to this research, we are seeking 3-6 acres in the Little Lake Valley to perform a dryland (i.e., non-irrigated) grain demonstration. This project seeks to “Ground-Truth” a number of assumptions related to yields, time investment, labor, required tools and infrastructure, and consumer relationships as they pertain to localized grain production. A dryland grain demonstration is important to local food security because grains have high caloric value, ease of storage, and can be grown in a manner that does not rely on energy dependent irrigation infrastructure.

We will test an electric tractor, whose recent repair is being provided by the Post Carbon Institute, to sow grains. This tool is not only quiet and light on the environment (little greenhouse gas emission), but it easy to drive, powered by renewable energy, and is assembled in Mendocino County. A special feature of the electric tractor is that it is capable of powering many small electric devices in the field such as portable threshers and winnowers.

Key project goals include:

- Test Steve Heckeroth’s ET-7 electric tractor at a significant scale

- Deeply investigate the methodology of dryland cultivation

- Re-invigorate and strengthen agricultural relationships in the community

- Inspire community members to support a local food system

- Enroll youth and experience into the formation of a local food system in Willits

- Save seeds for the most successful varieties of oats, wheat, barley, and triticale

- Test the effect of companion planting and the use of mycorrhizal fungi in small grain production

- Demonstrate the opportunities to create localized agriculture within the United States and create templates for replication

- Watch for vulnerabilities in agriculture in relation to future energy scarcity and global climate change

To fulfill the aims of this project we are looking to secure the following resources:

- Land --We are seeking 3-6 acres suitable for agricultural development (Class I or II). No irrigation infrastructure is necessary for land to be approved for the project.

- Equipment -- Much of the equipment we need already exists in Willits and may not be fully utilized. If you want to lend, donate, or trade for the use of a disc, harrow, and/or a seeder we would be very interested in cooperation.

Jason and I have been thinking about the possibility of growing grain in Little Lake Valley, in Willits, CA. Grains are a key calorie crop that is almost completely imported to the area. There is data related to historic grain yields in Mendocino County. I wonder what sort of yields might be expected from today’s soils and climate conditions.

Historic Grain Production Levels in Mendocino County

Yields per acre, bushels

Crop 1899 1909 1919 1924 1929 1934 Avg. Avg. Lbs Cal/Acre

Barley 30 23 27 22 28 27 26.2 1256.0 1,998,248

Corn 31 27 20 16 28 23 24.2 1353.3 2,136,913

Oats 31 27 26 31 34 28 29.5 944.0 1,669,936

Wheat 20 15 15 15 21 17 17.2 1030.0 1,541,910

Potatoes 105 128 88 104 115 93 105.5 6330.0 8,678,430

Source of data on production levels from:

“Statistical Information on Mendocino County Agriculture 1899-1936.” J.M. Thompson, Extension Specialist in Agricultural Economics. University of California College of Agriculture and United States Department of Agriculture. January, 1938. (Made available via County of Mendocino Department of Agriculture, 2005).

This is the second blogcast from Brookside Energy Farm, located in Willits, CA. In this blog Jason Bradford and Chris Hansen discuss the ongoing dryland demonstration of overwinter compost crops and spring grains on the farm. A recent USDA report on global grain supply is mentioned in our discussion and is well worth the read. Hard hitting points in the article include:

Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its first projections of world grain supply and demand for the coming crop year: 2007/08. USDA predicts supplies will plunge to a 53-day equivalent-their lowest level in the 47-year period for which data exists.

(and)

"Every six years, we're adding to the world the equivalent of a North American population. We're trying to feed those extra people, feed a growing livestock herd, and now, feed our cars, all from a static farmland base. No one should be surprised that food production can't keep up,"

(and)

If we try to do more of the same, if we try to produce, consume, and export more food while using more fertilizer, water, and chemicals, we will only intensify our problems. Instead, we need to rethink our relation to food, farmers, production, processing, and distribution. We need to create a system focused on feeding people and creating health. We need to strengthen the food production systems around the world. Diversity, resilience, and sustainability are key."

Click here to view the May 31, 2007 Blogcast

Click here to view the USDA report summary

The main farm job of this week (4/23-4/27) at the Willits Energy Farm was planting potatoes. Five beds were filled with 11 different varieties. Each bed was broken into three rows at about 18 inch spacing between rows and potatoes were planted within the rows at 9 inch spacing. This will be a good test to see how many potatoes can be expected at this planting density, (hopefully 1500 pounds or more). As explained in a previous blog, potatoes are an important crop because they are area efficient high calorie food source. Taking this into consideration I think it is safe to say that they are an energy crop for human power.

Potatoes are planted in furrows (mini-trenches) which have a mound of soil bordering the furrow. As the leaves of the potato break the surface of the soil, the soil that was removed from the furrow is placed around the green shoot. This process, called “hilling”, helps to encourage the growth of more tubers.

In more industrialized contexts, a farmer will use a tractor with a long “ripping-tooth” to create a furrow and hill. The farmer simply sinks the ripper down to the desired level and pulls it through the soil to prepare a potato bed. We are looking at accomplishing this task without complicated, petrol powered machinery, and are therefore using our developing toolset to accomplish the job. Our methodology is as follows.

1. The Glaser wheel-hoe to remove the top layer of sod from the bed, raked up the loose sod and carted it to the compost area.
2. The broadfork to help create furrows of about 9 inches. One person would put weight on the broadfork, pry, and break-free a chunk of soil. The other person would help roll the chunk out of the way to form the furrow and create a mound that will be later used to “hill” the potatoes.
3. After the row was “broadforked” one of us would use a typical garden fork to press deeper into the new furrow and loosen the soil. This gave us the opportunity to bury the potato about 9 inches from the top of the furrow and have a bit of loosened soil below the “seed”.
4. Finally, a hand trowel was used to make a hole in the loosened soil and bury the potato in the furrow. We covered the potato with a couple inches of soil.

The varieties of potatoes that were planted include:

• Desiree
• Huckleberry
• All Blue
• Caribe
• Yellow Fin
• Canela
• Norkotah
• Sangre
• Kennebuk
• French Fingerling
• Purple Peruvian
  

Line of Bed Ready to be Broadforked

Forking the Bed After Using the Broadfork

Sprouted Seed Potato

Placing the Potatoes in Row at 9 inch Spacing (Before Covering with Soil)

Three of Five Completed Rows of Potatoes

In their last meeting, the Willits City council decided that the city enter Stage 1 Water Rationing. The Little Lake Valley is experiencing a drought and is about 20 inches below average for precipitation in 2007. Since the reservoirs are at alarmingly low levels a Stage 1 Water Ration has been initiated. Stage 1 rationing is more or less a voluntary curtailment of water usage. Stage 2 is much more severe and mandates all watering of landscaping and gardens be discontinued. The recent Stage 1 declaration (and potential Stage 2 mandate) may prove to be an obstacle for the evolving mini-farm at Brookside Elementary and is an added incentive for us to drill a well sooner than later.

This type of predicament is not new-since there has been the possibility for irrigation there has been the fight for water and the rationing of scarce supplies. In the future I can even imagine that the energy cost of powering an irrigation system might become prohibitive for some. In this case, farmers have (and may choose) to turn to a dry-land farming method which relies on the natural patterns of rain to provide moisture for germination and the hope that a couple of later storms arrive to secure early plant growth. In addition, proper selection of drought tolerant crops is a key consideration in this type of agricultural system.

At the Willits Energy Farm we are growing 2880 Sq Ft of legume and cereal crops. These crops are being grown dry-land and will eventually be used for compost and animal feed. I must admit that this is not a true dry-land crop because we watered the area after drill seeding it with the Earthway seeder. The water was minimal, as we simply added moisture to the soil to aid germination of the seeds-an impatient simulation of a moderate March rain two days after sowing. Who knows, if this wasn’t a “drought” year we might have actually received precipitation! After this initial watering we have not added any more water and are allowing nature to provide the rest. For the last couple of weeks the plants have been in a crucial stage of development where moisture helps establish them and provides the early growth that will be useful as the plant grows taller and produces seed heads.

On Wednesday and Friday we received some precipitation. Before the rain on Friday we replaced the 1204 Sq Ft area of Hard Red Spring Wheat (which failed to establish itself) with Crimson Clover. The clover is an example of sowing dry-land crops ahead of anticipated rain. We will see if the 0.4 inches of rain in the last two days is enough to get the clover germinating and the spring grains growing strong.

Dry-Land Legumes and Cereal Crops After the Rain

Cover Crop of AC Baton Oats

A "Before" Shot in November of Cover Crop in the Compacted Infield

An "After" Shot of Infield Cover Crop that Remained Over-winter

Jason and I picked up a 150 pound order of seed potatoes toward the end of last week. Willits local, Michael Stewart, bought these seeds for us because he has a particular interest in discovering the actual yields that can be expected in this area. Michael mentioned that he is willing to buy potatoes for other interested farm sites, and I think there will be at least two additional sites growing similar varieties of potatoes in the Little Lake Valley. For our part, we will plant 1800 Sq Ft with 5 different varieties of spuds. We feel comfortable planting potatoes after the last hard frost date which is typically April 15th.

There is a good deal of work to do as we prepare the beds for potatoes. The bed preparation techniques for this section will not be as rigorous as the methods employed for the other spring and summer annuals. Potatoes will be sown about 18 inches apart in three rows down the length of the 5Ft wide by 66Ft long beds. The process is as follows:

- Remove the top layer of sod with the Glaser Hoe.

- Rake loose sod away from the bed and transport it in a wheelbarrow to the compost area

- Broadfork the length of the bed to loosen the soil about 10 inches deep and form rows

- Use a spade to dig out the furrows and pile soil that will be used to cover the potatoes as they grow

Potatoes have been selected because they are a food crop that yields a large amount of calories in a relatively small area. High-calorie foods include potatoes, grains, Jerusalem artichokes, and parsnips, and corn. Potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and parsnips are considered high-calorie, area-efficient crops; while corn and grains are no doubt high calorie crops but take considerably more room to grow for the same caloric yield.

Vegetable crops are high in vitamins and diverse in flavor; however, they are low in energy (calories). When growing energy crops as a human food, potatoes and grains have more energy and can potentially be stored longer than fresh vegetables. Keeping this consideration in mind may influence the amount of area that one dedicates to the cultivation of vegetables vs. high-calorie foods.

Potato Section Ready to Be Prepared (1800 Sq Feet)

Six Beds For Potatoes (A bed is 5x66Ft)

The Potato Seeds in a Cellar

The Other Portion of the Seed Potatoes