We’ve been having quite a bit of moisture lately, and we’re not
complaining after last year’s drought, in fact – we’re still in
a mild drought. However, it’s May now, and we didn’t start
working ground until the week before last. Last year, we started
working ground in March, and we were planting in April. We feel
like we’re pretty far behind, even though last year felt
early…go figure. What does working ground mean? Working ground
is a generalized term farmers use to describe the many processes
that break apart and/or turn over the soil. We typically use two
pieces of equipment to do this – a disc and a cultivator. The
disc has sharp blades that penetrate the soil about 6” or so and
turn the soil over, breaking up stubble from last year’s crop
and any weeds or grass that have started growing (the weeds have
a big head-start on the crops this year). The cultivator doesn’t
go quite as deep or disturb the soil as much and leaves a much
more even surface when it’s finished, but it can’t be used in
very hard grou