As Mother Nature’s New Year, spring is the season to make a fresh start on your small- to mid-size farm. Now’s the time to sweep out all of the old and prep for the growing season!
To get your farm in ship-shape, make sure these tasks are on your spring cleaning checklist:
- Tend your gardens: Pull out old plants and amend the soil.
- De-clutter your barn and outbuildings: Give them a solid sweeping to clear out last year’s dirt accumulations. While you’re at it, give the windows a good scrub to really let the sunshine come through! Also, organize shelves, cupboards, and storage areas. Take inventory. Anything you are low on, add to your farm store shopping list. Anything you no longer have a use for, toss out to make space for the new.
- Eliminate weeds: Grab your propane torch (being mindful of how much you burn at a time and local regulations) to burn off weeds along ditches and fence lines. Finish off tall, dead grasses to create space and opportunity for new growth.
- Trim back shrubs and fruits: Prune shrubs to their optimal shape and size before the springtime leaves really begin to bloom. Take off dead canes on blackberry and raspberry bushes and cut them back before they grow out of control.
- Flip your compost: Disperse it in perennial beds, the vegetable garden, and incorporate the organic matter into the top inch of the soil. When you’re tending the gardens, cut up non-diseased plant debris and toss it in the compost to keep up with your recycling progress.
- Wash plant containers: To ward off disease in your seedlings, give the containers you’ll use for plants in the summer a thorough cleanse.
Let the spring cleaning begin!
This column is sponsored by Bankers South Lending & Finance.
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column by LEIGH ANN WYNN
BIO: Leigh Ann Wynn is the Sr. VP of business development for Bankers South. Adding mortgage loan originator to her title, Leigh Ann is actively working with the AgAmerica Lending Program by Bankers South, offering low interest ag loans. As an active member of the ag community and a seventh generation Floridian, Leigh Ann understands your ag needs and is here to answer your questions. She can be reached at leighann@bankerssouth.com or (863) 607-9500.
