Black dirt farms

I've recently gotten an opportunity to buy a nine acre black dirt farm and would be interested in growing organic anything and everything. Does anyone know much about what plants do best in this environment? Links would be helpful also. Thank you much.


Sal

hiya roose,

Read everything you can by Elliot Coleman. He's up in Maine and grows a ton of regional as well as specialty crops. He's not so far north of you that it's totally different, yet you probably have more flexibility being a little further south. And it's also good to remember that the Rodales are close by over in PA.

hope this helps,
Don

Hey roose.
I worked on a organic farm, in NY. They grew almost every vegetable and berries. The plants were always huge, and beautiful. The squash and beets were bigger then you would ever think possible, but tastier then any small one I've ever tasted, and the salad greens were great. The raspberries and currents were sweeter then store bought ones. You can grow all popular vegetables (and in NY, salad greens are easy because of the cool climate) and berries, and I can't see why you could not grow anything else. Like Don said, buy Elliot Coleman books. He is a wonderful writer.
Hope this helps
Zelda

Don and Zelda,
Thank you very much for that info.Will definitely look Elliott Coleman up.

Sal

Hi Sal,

What a great opportunity and an exciting venture. Have you been in Orange County long? The black dirt farms have been here "forever" and they are extremely fertile -- we aren't called "The Onion Capital of the World" for nothin'! There is a vast range of things that will do well for you in such a site. Our local extension agency http://www.cce.cornell.edu/orange/cornel_ce/agriculture.htm may be able to provide you with some assistance. There is a very nice organic farm on Route 208 in Blooming Grove. In the winter, they would have a chef come in once a month and cook organicvegetarian and host learning dinners in a greenhouse. Best of luck to you.

Colleen

Colleen,
Thanks so much for the link and the encouragement. We've actually been up here for about 30 years and love it. My Daughter is the inspiration in this venture, and she and her DH will probably be the ones who'll run it. I'm sort of the silent (or not) financial partner in this. They seem very excited about the idea however and the enthusiasm is somewhat contagious.
The land is in Florida, N.Y. so it's not that far.No house though, and they may want to build on it evetually.
Thanks again Sal

roose, did you see the post I made about NY cancelling the ban on currants? That used to be a BIG cash crop in NY, and an organic currant crop would be worth a lot of money. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/521527/

darius,
Thanks for the heads-up.Wow! is all I can say. This is really sounding better and better all the time.
Sal

I had a small organic market garden in Orange County about 20 years agao. (Upland , not black dirt.) I didn't know any organic farmers on black dirt then. I do remember the soil of the onion fields getting drenched regularly with fungicides. And I also remember fields burning underground for weeks one summer when a farmer burning stumps & brush built a fire so hot that the soil caught fire. It spread to adjacent fields by burning under water-filled drainage ditches. So, careful with the matches and good luck.

Wayne