Disc the Buckwheat at the Valley

Buckwheat is grown as a cover crop for a month, having been planted Jul24, and now being turned into the soil on Aug29. This is a field in the Valley Farm area of Jones Family Farms, in Shelton, CT.

[@anthonygasbarro3586]

What a great video. Our family loves seeing the different posts and updates that you post. It helps us feel part of the farm. And what a great farm to be a part of! Keep up the great work.

[@vakimsong9291]

How can I buy buckwheat crop?

[@groundcontrol6876]

Wow, this is amazing! What a great, extremely useful tool! Imagine having to do all that by hand (like I'd have to lol). Would take forever.

[@krisoluich9119]

Nice Carbon content and tilth to that soil. Follow that with tillage radish and you can farm until Kingdom come. That's what I do after planting and harvesting oats. As the video shows, the buckwheat's ready in about 30 days. Plenty of time to get the radishes in. Keep up the good work. Nice to see father and son together too.

[@djlondon7956]

Buckwheat is absolutely delicious to eat, you cook it like a rice... With stock and veggies and meat if you want to... I've only just started to use it myself and I wish I had known about it earlier on in life it's so convenient and delicious

[@manuelcobosescobedo5241]

Muy buen trabajo, con 2 pasadas quedará lista la tierra para la siembra

[@bretthovey5634]

It would help if you had scolloped discs on the front gang it would crop the plant much better :) Have proven this by experience.

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Craig Cramer , the cover crop was planted Jul24, following the spring crop via a broadcast spreader. It was a good growing year in 2013.

[@13Dare13]

So I understand your planting strawberries after the buckwheat. Did this field have strawberries before the buckwheat as well or wouldn’t that be considered enough rotation? Strawberries~buckwheat~strawberries. Appreciate your videos.

[@GD15555]

Sadly most people in the USA don’t even know what it is.

[@sandroshanidze6060]

Just Beautiful! How long and what preparations before the next crop after buckwheat? Do you make make any other changes, say rotary till, or is do you sow the next crop in this residue?

[@jamisgood21]

Awesome! I may try buckwheat at some time for cover. Did a peas and oats mix this year. So now what's the plan here after disking this in? Winter wheat drilled?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Well, keep in mind this video was from 2013. It was planted with strawberries in 2014, with their first harvest in 2015 June. We have harvested the strawberries their in June of 2016, 2017 and 2018 (we don't tear up strawberries after a single season). Depending upon the yield next summer, evaluation will determine our plans for rotating to the next crop, which may be pumpkins, or sorghum grass, or buckwheat again. The key is rotating crop, and following our farm credo that has served us since the mid 1800s on this farm: "Be Good To The Land, And The Land Will Be Good To You". Still amazed at how this video still resonates with people 5yrs later. Good luck with your future buckwheat plantings Ben.

[@jamisgood21]

I agree fully with your farming motto. Thanks! Best to you all.

[@TrollMediaGroup]

all that good honey being tilled into the ground

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

+Jen And ED (TheBeeKeeper) We do have beehives on the farm, and the subsequent crop in this field was strawberries planted in 2014, with their first harvest in 2015 June. The strawberry plants will produce for several seasons before the next rotation of crops occurs. Be it the cover crop of buckwheat, strawberries or pumpkins - there is plenty to keep our bees busy!

[@sandroshanidze6060]

@@JonesFamilyFarms I've read you can terminate the buckwheat cover when its in the milk-wax ripening stage, have you done this? To first benefit from nectar for the bees and then the biomass for the soil? :)

[@nolebloodedfarmer7445]

I get why you would turn it but why not harvest and then turn it?

[@chariddawn6663]

I have 3 acres of pasture that I want to plant buckwheat in for the honey bees. It has never been plowed or planted in. I also do not have a tractor but was going to pay someone. He has a disc and plow but doesn't use them or know how to plant buckwheat and I do not know what to tell him because I do not know either. Do I need to clear the pasture first? Disc it first or will plowing alone work? I honestly do not know the difference and Google uses words I don't understand, drilling, broadcasting. No clue. I just need buckwheat soon. Can you advise me?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

We are not beginning with pasture, as we are rotating crops. Since we are dealing with typically a harvested pumpkin crop, we disc the organic matter into the soil. We broadcast buckwheat seed and disc that in. If starting with a pasture that has a grass with a mass of roots - plowing might be an initial course of action? We also do our disc work in the late afternoon or early evening when the bees are typically not pollinating.

[@cdcramer42]

When, how was this cover crop established? Following spring crops? Broadcast? Drilled?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Yes after a crop was harvested. Seed was drilled.

[@Dougarrowhead]

@@JonesFamilyFarms you told another commenter it was broadcast.

[@srinivasanpadmanabhan1811]

how long do you need to grow them if you want to harvest the buck wheat grains? Thanks

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Our interest is not as a harvest crop, but rather an intermediate cover crop that returns nutrients into the soil, prior to planting the next crop. Crop rotation is important to us. This field was planted with strawberries during the following summer.

[@emmaziegler6647]

Amazing crop if i heard right when he. Said it was only planted 4 weeks ago

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Correct. About 4 weeks prior. It is apx 30 days from planting to harvest. (note the video is from some time ago)

[@sbdododo12]

how many days need to harvest seeds after planting ?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

We do not harvest the buckwheat in this video from years ago, rather we use it as a cover crop to bring nutrients back into the soils. - Farmer Tom.

[@pmessinger]

Too bad it's not being harvested for food. Great substitute for rice that's actually more healthy. No gluten and lots of ways to prepare it. I understand turning it into the soil, but you'd think occasional harvesting would be possible too.

[@craigsmith441]

How do you stop erosion if you disc it under/

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Another cover crop is planted almost immediately after the disc activity. All field work is done with an eye toward the weather.

[@nirmantapaswee6853]

what ie he doing?

[@savyoyster2829]

Didnt realize how close you guys are to me

[@vakimsong9291]

How can I find buckwheat crop?

[@jasonmcmillan6598]

do you guys put bees out while the BW is growing?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

We have a diverse mix of pollinator crops, and we rotate such activities among our fields. Yes we do have a bee keeper who tends to hives on the farm. We sell the honey in our Winery's Tasting Room.

[@codydog1700]

Where is this at? What rate was this planted at?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

This is at our Valley Farm location in Shelton, CT. USA. The video is from many years ago, so I do not know at what rate the seed was planted.

[@ArthurHau]

I suppose cutting them down without tilling them into the soil is better cause they will serve as a good ground cover to avoid the soil getting too dry. Plus, there have been research studies suggesting that tilling will disrupt the soil ecology by killing worms and lots of micro-organisms that are beneficial to the soil. Plus plus, leaving the plants on the ground without tilling will avoid the compacting of the soil. In the long run, a no till piece of land is gonna be more productive than a piece of land that is tilled over and over every year. My 2 cents.

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

As an update: the disc activity was done in 2013. Strawberries were planted in the field in 2014. Strawberries had their first harvest in 2015, and second harvest in 2016. Soil compaction is a very large consideration on our farm where "Be Good To The Land And The Land Will Be Good To You" has been our motto since the mid 1800s

[@dexter1155]

r steevens so herbicides are better?

[@dexter1155]

Cover crop notill guys may use less than conventional till, around here, fall spray 2 4 d, with residuals , maybe a pre pass in spring , usually 1 to 2 post passes . Neighbor has sprayed notill soys 3 times with glyphosate, (resistant marestail) not much covers planted around here.

[@Yotaciv]

Tilling distrust fungal colonies(long strands) in the soil but helps reinvigorate bacteria colonies(individual cells). Bacterial can handle soft green material, but tougher stalk material or wood can only be handled by fungus.

[@Dollapfin]

Brentelec what are you kidding yourself? The damn soil never dries out in spring in the northeast. Farmers HAVE to go no till because the soil is IMPOSSIBLE to do any work on in the muddy conditions. The soil surface can warm up under cover it just doesn’t get dry which stops it from getting too hot because of waters thermal mass. It’s easy to get the surface of no tilled soil up to 60 degrees, but hard to get it above 75.

[@rk7567]

you mind if i come stick some bees on that next year?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

We have a local beekeeper. Watch our website for upcoming info on that!

[@phishlipsable]

WOW i aspire to farm @ a scale like this. i learned once how setting the gangs accomplished different jobs, and i hope to experiment with an implement like this. also all these haters not lovin the cover crop- what are you hoping to try and experiment with this year?

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Sorry for tardy reply - it's outdoor farming season! One cover crop that works well for us is sorghum sudangrass. Of course, there is ALWAYS the practice of rotating the crop.

[@Dougarrowhead]

Why do you disk so slow?

[@danvanhoose6783]

at least they didn't use roundup toburn it down

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

Gosh no! The purpose of this buckwheat was to provide a cover crop, and then turn it back into amend the soil. Our family's credo since the mid 1800's has been "Be Good To The Land, And The Land Will Be Good To You".

[@franc362]

Dan Van Hoose. Noooo

[@robertlong7033]

Might as well turn it under before the deer get it.

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

We tend to the deer in other ways. #Grilling #Venison

[@phil70660]

You kill a huge amount of bees and pollinators when you work in full bloom

[@JonesFamilyFarms]

It depends upon the time of day that the work is done. We love pollinators. We love bees. We work to avoid harming either.

[@phil70660]

OK !!

[@phil70660]

I am a beekeeper and producer of buckwheat honey (8/10 tons / year). The bees visit the buckwheat depending on the temperature and the nectarifere secretion, which means that if the conditions are met, they can go all day And so, to repeat your point, I believe for my part that there are many farmers that money worries more than bees, competent or not!

[@matthewnason6850]

If it’s a hot day the buckwheat won’t produce nectar for very long in the morning and then it stops. If you’re a beekeeper you’ll find they are delightful to work with in the early morning and on a hot day in the afternoon calm hives are quite annoyed when buckwheat is in bloom. Especially mid summer when there’s not much else.

[@philmattison1089]

Wanted to watch the disks mor than the 4 ft flowers 😒

[@philmattison1089]

Good job son 👍