Land Remediation With White Mustard And Winter Rye

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

How the struggle to harvest the second bread helped get the main bread

For many years now I have been spending the whole summer cottage in a village located in the Tikhvin District of the Leningrad Region. Over the years, I have learned to fully provide my family with all vegetables, including potatoes, cabbage, beets, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, peas, beans, beans, sorrel and even horseradish.

But then a disaster struck: a few years ago, the causative agent of potato necrosis was introduced into the potato field, which occupies two hundred square meters of mine, along with manure. Gradually, half of the harvest began to disappear, with losses growing in proportion to the storage time. At the same time, brown streaks and whole brown spots were formed in the tuber.

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I tried to find a way to cope with this dangerous disease of tubers. I found a clue in the gardening newspaper "Vashi 6 acres" in an article by A. Tumanov, in which he talked about growing potatoes, about his diseases. From the publication it turned out that the only way to get rid of this scourge is to rehabilitate the land. I will notice right away that the soil in this field is sandy loam, quite suitable for growing potatoes, which, however, I have done quite successfully for many years.

All experienced gardeners are well aware of the green manure plants, which help with the rehabilitation of the land. These include white mustard, winter rye, oats, and other plants. Having purchased white mustard seeds at the exhibition in "Eurasia", I sowed it on the "diseased" area and got a beautiful golden field of blossoming mustard. It grew above the knee and attracted insects with its scent. The mustard faded, gave seeds, and I collected these seeds to make a reserve for future crops. I pulled the mustard trunks out of the ground and put them in a compost heap.

To test the effectiveness of green manure, I planted potatoes in this area the next year. And what? Positive changes occurred, the number of infected tubers decreased from 50 to 10-15%. This meant that it was necessary to continue the rehabilitation of the soil.

I decided to change the siderat. This time I chose winter rye, especially since it also structures the soil with its powerful fibrous roots.

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potato field always pleased with the harvest until it got sick

I sowed the rye in the fall at the time of harvesting the potatoes. The grain was scattered without any system on the ridges with potatoes and in the aisles. In the process of digging up potato bushes, the grain found itself in the ground at a sufficient depth, which was required for rye. Then I slightly leveled the ground with a rake, and the field took on a clean and tidy look. The potato tops were collected from the field and taken out.

I dug potatoes in the first ten days of September, and by the end of the month this field was already green. The rye rose together and was very pleasing to the eye with its emerald greenery. I did not apply fertilizers here, because there was still nutrition in the ground after the potatoes, when planting which I used humus and ash.

And in the spring of next year, having arrived in the village in mid-May, I found not even seedlings on the rye field, but a wall of dense rye about 40 cm high. And I immediately realized that I could not plow this field, I would not raise my hand. I decided for myself: let the rye continue to grow, and for the potatoes I will find another plot - I still had two hundred square meters of land in another corner of the garden.

The rye field attracted my attention throughout the season, because the winter crop rose like a wall, the rye got ripped and began to pour. And finally, the rye field has ripened and turned golden.

Every time, coming to the river for water, I went up to the ears of rye to say hello and stroke the sprouted ears. And they grew large, full of grain, and when the ears began to bend over, ripening, I realized that I would soon be harvesting.

How to collect? Harvest rye and knit sheaves, then dry and thresh? But from the whole set of necessary devices there was only a sickle, and I decided to cut the ears with scissors right at the root and collect them in a bucket.

And the rye turned out to be high, with my height - 170 cm. I could hardly reach some ears with scissors on my outstretched hand. Well, my work turned out to be laborious, and yet it brought joy - I knew that I was collecting wonderfully ugly bread. The tallest plants, the ears of which I could hardly reach, I immediately decided to exhibit as an exhibit at our autumn exhibition of garden achievements.

For this, I left 10 giant plants in the form of a long sheaf to dry on the irgi bush. But when I came for them the next day, I found that all the ears had already been husked by the birds. The exhibit disappeared, it was necessary to come up with something else.

First, the siderat doctor was white mustard

Grain harvest, which began on August 9, I continued with interruptions for a whole week. In order to get grain from the ears, I had to first dry them, sprinkling them in the sun on a litter. Then I put them in a sugar bag and began to thresh with a stick, spreading the bag on a wide stump. The grain easily separated from the ears and fell to the bottom of the bag. Before leaving for the city, I was able to thresh only one of the six large sugar bags. They also had to wind the grain primitively, in the wind, which carried away the awn from the grain poured into the container.

Harvesting my own grain, I was happy not only for myself, for the neighbors whom I invited to my field, but also for the birds. And the birds were visible and invisible in this rye field. They ate there all day, flying in huge flocks. Birds of various sizes fluttered out of the rye when I approached the field, because together with my neighbors I could collect no more than 60% of the ears, the rest went to the birds and voles.

They had to hang their harvest of ears in bags in the attic of the house. I would like the grain not to be destroyed by the mice during the winter. I will see this in the spring.

And what about a hundred to do with threshed rye? There is a lot of it. I decided that part of the grain will go for a new sowing, you can also make sprouts that are useful to eat to improve health. And I also decided … to bake rye bread from my own grain!

No sooner said than done, especially since the exhibition of our club "Green Gift" - "Gifts of Autumn" was approaching in October. There, I decided, and I will act as a grain grower-baker.

According to the recipe, rye bread required rye, wheat, and corn flour. With rye flour it is clear, with corn flour, too, since I grow corn every year to a state of both milk and grain ripeness. But I haven't tried growing wheat yet. Therefore, I resinified the grain of my rye and corn and received their flour, I bought wheat flour at the store, and then baked rye bread in an electric one according to my recipe.

The loaf of bread turned out to be rosy, fluffy and very tasty and, of course, attracted the attention of the exhibition participants with its uniqueness. Later, at a common table, he enjoyed great success with guests and exhibitors.

There is still a grain of rye left. I tried to make rye sprouts. They turned out to be quite edible. Now, I think they will form part of my daily diet.

Perhaps someone, after reading my story, would like to repeat my experience as a grain grower. Well, good luck!

And I will check the quality of the soil after rye by planting potatoes in the field. Hope for success.