Another season on the horizon

Few things spur the onset of a new season on a golf course like re-pressurizing your irrigation system. We experience cold enough weather in the winter that it's a must to drain your irrigation lines and winterize your pumps. It's an arduous task and a Superintendent always keeps his fingers crossed that there aren't any major issues with cracked heads, broken lines, and massive leaks. So far, so good. We've been lucky 2 years in a row now...knock on wood.

I guess there aren't any more excuses for not getting the ball rolling ASAP. We'll start our spring fertility tomorrow morning.

I'm more excited about picking out what crops we're going to plant for the upcoming farming season. My crew and I "farm" between 2 and 3 acres each year which is a very nice perk on otherwise forgotten acreage adjacent to the golf course. Sweet corn, squash, zuccini, snow peas (if the deer, rabbits, and groundhogs don't get'em first), canteloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, green beans, and maybe a lima bean type plant will go in our lower field. I keep the succulents, various tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, and jalapeno peppers planted adjacent to our parking within shooting range from my office window. I'm very protective of our tomatoes as is obvious by the loaded .22 caliber propped up next to the aforementioned window. Nothing beats fresh grilled rabbit accompanied by squash, zuccini, and tomato casserole on your lunch break.

It's all a completely organic process. We take pride in our no input (aside from manual weeding and harvesting) approach of our crops. No irrigation, no fertility, certainly no pesticides. I buy the seeds, a few cases of beer for planting day, and me and my guys spend a nice afternoon off the clock tilling and sowing our seeds. This year we're going to try a little mulch on the corn rows. Last year's crop was pathetic. No rain in the spring left a stand of Johnson Grass that would make a mid-western farmer instantly vomit. Harvesting was a huge pain and we all lost interest rather quickly. Current soil temps are still in the mid 40s so we've got some time to get ready and decide on our cultivars. I'm eagerly awaiting the full forsythia bloom (a farmer's indication of 45+ degree soil temperature) and the celebratory redbud bloom (planting time!).

I'll try to remember to post some pictures of our crops as we go through the season. 2007 was a banner year and we were harvesting no less than 250 ears of corn a week from early August through September. Divide that by my 9 staff members and you can imagine just how much we're taking home. I replace the soup loop with the produce loop, but that requires a little input on the consumer end. You have to be able to overlook a few earworms on the tips of the corn and add whatever culinary touch you prefer, but fresh, organic, and free is tough to beat.

Obviously, I get a little excited this time of year...