Radishes – Two Weeks Later

Phil pulled these radishes two weeks ago and I’m just getting around to showing you.

He loves seeing a green field when he is out doing chores.

The combine is running full-speed ahead as this week is a great week!  FIL is home so mostly is running the combine.  We have a retired friend here helping to haul loads.  Yesterday and today he has been running the shuttle from combine to highway at our farthest field.  Phil picks up the wagon there and brings it home to unload.

The field around the house is cleared and the neighbor has cleared across the highway.  An open view once again.

It is busy for all of us!  Eating is done in shifts or on the go.

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Radish Update

Yesterday Phil had more radishes planted… by airplane!

from the backyard looking west

His other fields of radishes were drilled in after his wheat was harvested. But he chose to put out radishes in his 2 corn county extension plots.  The corn is still there so the airplane flew on the seeds.  They still germinate even if they aren’t under soil.  And thankfully they make it through the corn, down to the ground to grow!

he made his loops right over my head!

The radishes need 30 days before a frost to get a good start at working.   Then they live until two 17’F nights.  So even at this “late” date of planting, they still have plenty of time to do their job.

The main reason the plane was out was to plant some radishes on the neighbor’s field.  We crop-share that field with him.  In the winter his horses grazed the field which makes it very rough & hard.  Hopefully the radishes will provide extra nutrients as well as break up the soil.   Then once that was agreed and scheduled, Phil added in our county plots for radishes as well.

Tonight after supper I walked out to the closer field of radishes that I showed you a month ago here.  Phil enjoys seeing a green field now in September as the other fields are turning yellow & brown for harvest.

There aren’t as many peas in this field’s mixture but I found a few.  The peas are about 10″ tall.

Here you can see the radish sticking out of the soil a bit.

Even tho I called and called and whistled while I walked… no 4-legged friend joined me for the trek.   Once I got back to the yard, she was playing in the garden but OH SO HAPPY then to see me!

Phil has worked a lot on his truck today and thankfully has it running again!   (It died in the lane yesterday.)   While he watched something, I started it.  With the door open, Nina jumped in.   So she & I drove to get the mail.

She loves to go for rides!!

Here the sun was starting to go down at the end of the lane…

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August Plantings

Phil had such great results with his fall radishes last year that he was anxious to get some in again this fall/after wheat harvest.

In the spring, the field that had radishes was very mellow to plant into, the corn germinated faster, more corn came up, and the soil tested well on the soil tests.

Here you can see the difference where the seeds were close to where manure had been knifed in, they have already grabbed onto that nitrogen and grown faster.

He did more research on cover crops and then drove to a supplier in Iowa about an hour away for seed this year.  Last year his radish seed was trucked in from Ohio.  He enjoyed talking with the farmer at the Iowa supply place and bought radish seed, peas, and oats.

The former wheat field to the south of the barn has a mix of radishes & peas that he planted August 5.  He finished it that Saturday.

The field behind his dad’s has a mix of all three and was drilled last week on Friday.  (All these pictures are from the field just south of the barn and show radishes & peas.)

The first field already has shoots a couple inches tall.  We continue with plenty of rain and heat so I’m sure the little seedlings are liking their conditions!

peas & radish close-up

Phil said the planting is to be 8# of seed per acre.   He thinks this is a bit thick.  The radishes get pretty big with a good amount of leaves.  He plants them with his drill and it is hard to get an accurate way to set it because planting radishes like this is so new.

None of this is for eating for us.  It is feeding the ground and holding onto the nitrogen for the crops to use next year.

Nina had been running hard, hence panting HARD, before we went to see the fields.  She refused to get in the back of the truck so ended up following us to the field. Here she laid down for oh… 30 seconds or so.   When we were ready to head back, Phil picked her up and put her in the back of the truck for the ride back to the house.  She loves running… just doesn’t know when to stop.

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Radishes Continue

Phil got an email from the Crop Systems Extension Educator (multi-county region) asking what he had growing!  (The field is along the highway.)  So Phil pulled 2 and brought them in for pictures.  Just what I have been waiting for!!

The bigger one was in the row where the manure was knifed in.    It is probably 2 1/2″ in diameter!

The bigger one appears to have been in the ground 8+”.   Even though the smaller one seems to not be doing as much good, it has put out a long taproot.   The taproot seems to be a good 8″ as well.

So both the smaller plants and the larger plants appear to be doing really well in their job!  We have had a very mild November (yeah!!) so they are still green and alive.  It is funny to see the bright green field.   (The radishes will die off with two 17′ days.)

Both the big tuber and the long taproot will aid in reducing soil compaction and the radish itself is storing up nitrogen to be released in the spring when the new crop needs it.   It is obvious the bigger radish soaked up lots of nutrients from the manure he applied prior to planting!

My other posts on radishes are:

1. Radishes! Aug 15
2. Raising Radishes Aug 25
3. Radish Update Sept 28

 

 

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Radish Update

We finally had some sunshine yesterday so Phil & I went to check his radishes.

Nina went with us – she loves rides!  First we stopped to feed the gilts at his dad’s barn and Nina was tired of waiting for Phil to get back in the truck.

Phil drilled these into a (previous) wheat field in August.  He had hauled manure on this field and the radishes are great at finding that nitrogen and holding it for next season’s crop.  (So we’ve been told.)

After only going 8 days w/o rain once all year, soon after he planted these radishes, we entered a 3 week stretch without rain.  Personally, most of us were thrilled!  Maybe the radishes weren’t so thrilled and were thirsty.

Not sure if just missing rain but they are VERY green and bushy in the rows where the manure is incorporated.

See how tall the radishes are against Phil’s boot?

He tried to dig one up but couldn’t w/o a shovel or fork.  Next time!

Wishing the radishes had grown well everywhere and snuffed out some horse tail weed.  

When he ran out of radish seed, he finished up the area with clover.  At this point he is pleased with its growth.

Coming to see us is a good ride for JP.  😉  (He isn’t legal for the real roads yet.)

These are some early soybeans that Phil thinks would need a bit more time but will be ready the soonest.

And so the fall farmer ritual…. of trying the beans…. a bite tells you if they are still too chewy or ready to combine.

This answer…. they need a LOT more time!  

He also put radishes along the corn plot where he had wheat.  A few of the companies have put up their signs for each variety.

The farmer’s almanac forecasts 2 light snows in October and a harvest-ending snow by Thanksgiving.   Praying for some more good drying days!  We have a long way to go and haven’t started yet!  (Last year they finished within hours of the big snow.)

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Raising Radishes (not really but sort of…)

So I mentioned one day last week that Phil was drilling (planting) radishes.  Now I can tell you about it and this time I have pictures! 😀

Background info:

Phil raises wheat so he has a place to haul manure earlier in the year instead of having to wait until the corn is harvested.

By mid – end July (or August in this late crop year), he has open fields.

But that good nitrogen can dissipate before next year’s crop is there to use it.

So… enter cover crops.

This year radishes are a totally new idea!

These radishes are not for eating but are super as a cover crop.  They will grab all the nitrogen already incorporated with the manure (knifed in) and hold it for new year’s crop.  This variety of radish makes huge roots which help aeriate the soil.  (loosen the soil, allow air, better drainage, break up compaction)

Phil got most of his radishes drilled on Saturday, August 15.  Before moving day and before rain was due.

We checked the fields on Sunday, August 23.

He was thrilled to be able to “row” the radishes.  (See them the whole length and across the field in their rows.)  Its a farmer thing… we delight in this every spring with the corn coming up.  🙂

He finished up the radishes, ran out of seed, and finished with clover on Wednesday, August 19.   They are just popping.

The change in planting dates

The radishes will die off once we have 2 days of 17′ temperatures at night.   The stems & leaves as well as the roots will all decompose over the winter.  But the roots still have all the nitrogen they stored up.

The new planting just coming.

The other green you see in the pictures is either volunteer wheat or a weed that is impossible to kill off.  Phil is also hoping the radishes smother out some of that.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress.   He has never grown radishes so all this info is just what he’s learned from others.  Time will tell!

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Radishes!

Phil is out planting (direct seeding) radishes for a fall cover crop. Imagine that! I hope I get pictures later. Can’t wait to see this!

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