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As fire season is upon us, I can't help but look out at this beautiful view at the ranch and be thankful for the role cattle play in preventing wildfires and caring for these rangelands!
The summer sweets you’ve all been waiting for!
Cucumbers!
Learning where food comes from.
There is an ongoing joke in the Arizona ranching community that we are actually grass farmers. Our days at the ranch consist of working with Mother Nature to promote the growth of native grasses. We don’t add water to the native grasslands; we rely on rainfall. We don’t replant; we rely on cattle spreading grass seed through their manure. We don’t fertilize with farm equipment; we rely on cattle to fertilize as they roam the land. We employ sustainable ranching practices, and the result is native grasses that prevent soil erosion and create cattle feed that, in turn, is grazed and prevents wildfires. See, we are grass farmers at the ranch.
Being caretakers of this land and growing food is what we do.
There are a few strawberry plants each year that don’t make it through the winter. Each spring, we replace those plants. We have been planting these strawberries between other farm duties.
Strawberry plants are a perennial crop, meaning they go dormant each winter and come back each spring. These plants last 5 years; at that time, they stop producing. We remove them, plant something else in their place, and replant the strawberries in a new location.
We plated 20,000 baby plants (transplants). Late winter, we plant the seeds in greenhouses, nurture them, and let them grow until it is warm enough to plant them outside in the fields. Planting transplants gives us a head start.
Beds - the final step before we plant. During this process, we are installing irrigation, mounding our nutrient-rich topsoil, securing the mounds, and installing mulching film. The mulch film serves as a weed barrier, blocking out the sun while absorbing heat to keep the roots of the plants warm. This helps to smother weeds, protect garden soil in the winter, and provide ground cover for mulch and it's biodegradable. The next step is planting!
Farming is a family affair!
Guys! The strawberry plants are so healthy! And blooming! And are producing green fruit and ripe red fruit!
A beyond perfect day! Thank you for choosing Mortimer Farms to be a part of your story, Mr & Mrs Kreyling! We are honored! Congratulations!!
Miss B and Grandpa are preparing the fields to plant. Today, we celebrate a love, dedication, and passion that is interwoven in our every move and our every decision. Every day is Earth Day on farms and ranches!
I looked up today and the trees are green! I am so excited for spring and the perfect weather we have had the last few days! We rotated the sheep to a different field. We are very intentional with where they graze, what they are grazing and how their presence will positively impact the field and the soil.
***** To enter the June 23rd Farm to Table Dinner drawing please share one of our most recent Facebook posts to your Facebook page.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring about the story of your food. Thank you for supporting our family, our team, our farm, and Arizona agriculture!
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