Site Blog #2

Corn Garden

There is a lot of gardens on the farm but I keep mine limited to two since there is a total of 400 acres on the farm that includes owned and leased land. The first garden is where some of the corn is grown. This was harvested a few weeks ago and they had a very good crop yield from what they told me. They grew sweet corn and sold it to people in our community. They also grew squash and beans in the garden which would be a mutualistic biological interaction because they are spaced out far enough to not compete with each other. I was not around much when they had the corn so I am not sure about pests or if other crops are grown in the garden with them.

The smaller corn garden

Some of the harvested corn. 

Sorghum Cane Field

The second garden is where I am mainly spending my time, this is the sorghum cane field. They grow a kind called "KN Morris", it takes around 140 days to harvest and grows to around 11' tall. Currently, the sugar content of the juice is 18-19%. The sorghum field did endure a parasitic biological interaction. About 2 weeks ago they found sugar cane aphids and they sprayed the field with Sivanto and they are gone now.  

My uncle, Doug, checking the cane. 

Sugar cane aphids

Animals on the farm

There is a lot of animals on the farm since it is also a beef farm. The species of cattle they raise is called Limousin cattle which is a French breed. It produces beef that has a low proportion of bone and fat.

Ferdinand-calf recently born

A package of the ground beef that is sold.

One of the mature Limousin cows

There is also a lot of dogs on the farm. There are 3 Brittany Spaniels that are used for bird hunting. And there is also a blue heeler that is used for herding the cattle. They actually had a few litters of the Brittany Spaniels that they sold and I had one of the puppies for about a year until it passed away, sadly...

Blue heeler with the puppies

When I got my puppy, her name was Skye Opal

The Brittany Spaniel puppies

Hay

Since there is so many pastures for the cattle, they have plenty of room to grow hay for the cows to have during the colder seasons. This is great because it allows the farm to save money on feed needed for the cattle, and trust me they eat A LOT. Johnson grass and milkweed grow in the hayfield and is a competitive biological interaction.

One of the sheds containing the hay

Other species on the farm

Paulownia trees were planted about 100 years ago from propagation. Multiflora rose is also an abundant species found on the farm

Paulownia tree

Multiflora Rose

**All detailed information about the farm was from interviews with Doug and Larry Harrell, the farmers/owners at Harrell Hill Farms.**