Rains came with the New Year and they were severely needed! Now is the time to plant two of the Paraguayan cash crops, Corn and Beans. I baught the seeds from my host dad, straight out of the field and his current crops.
The corn I planted in a less traditional manner, almost as one would plant lettuce. My thinking behind this was that with the given problems of chickens eating seeds and the lack of soil nutrients it would be easier to thin out rather than re plant. After the planting I applied thick layers of mulch to either side of the rows but ran out and have to wait for my next batch of mulch to mature.
I also planted three rows of Macuna, an AV with my current two lines of Mandioca left over from the previous Volunteer. Hopefully this will give the lines an added boost in the end of there lifetime as they will be ready to harvest in three months.
More to come!
'Tis the season!
Seen in the other pictures, cut down the canavalia patch and hoed rows to plant directly into it.
Demo Plot
This is a corner veiw of my demo plot. You can see in the center the patch of Cannavalia that has since been cut down to decompose. On the left hand side is the area where I cleared the plan matter and am using it to prepare mulch that I will lay down when I plant.
Root Examination
This is the root of the Cannavalia plant. There are no nitrogen nodules on this plant meaning that there was no nitrogen in that area of the soil.
Root Examination 2
This plant has nitrogen nodules, notive the balls attached to the roots. These are the parts or the plant that fix nitrogen.
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