The birds and the bees and the buds on the trees… Gazing around the grey outdoors on this drizzly day. I know little about the ways of trees, so I’m not sure whether the buds are early, or late, or just when they’re supposed to be. What I do know is…there they are!
Month: April 2024
Orange-breasted, worm-eating buddy
One of my annual garden companions. First met the American robin when I started veggie farming. I thought it was a sign. The bird was quite near me, darting a ways, then stopping, seeming to follow me, not looking worried when I turned towards it. Other than urban pigeons and scavenging seagulls, I wasn’t used to birds being so on grounded. It soon seemed clear that it was following me, probably resonating with my kindred earthy spirit, recognizing a fellow field worker, accepting me into the tribe. Turns out that spending a lot of time on the ground, running around looking for bugs and earthworms, especially in open, freshly tilled fields, is just what the American robin does. I was only a part of its landscape. Oh well.
These guys are here every year, keeping company in the field. Later in the season, I sometimes see the chicks zooming around, cuter than kittens. I read that American robins are known to gorge on berries that have fermented, get drunk, and topple over as they dart around. Hope they don’t drink and fly (but they apparently do)!
Bare root lettuce transplant
Bare-root transplanting lettuce—separating seedlings and replanting them with more space to spread their roots—isn’t something you’d do on a large scale. At Tiny Farm scale, it’s manageable and fun in a simple, relaxed way, like making flatbread, or prepping veggies for cooking. Very up close and personal with the plants. My usual approach is to seed them where they’ll stay until transplanting in the field, which saves time. With this round of lettuce, I was starting five varieties and wanted to see how they all germinated, so I seeded a bunch of each in a single plug sheet, and today I divided them as needed. Some are still two or three together, so as not to tear apart the roots too much, to be thinned later on. It all works out!
Garlic spreads its wings
Considering there was nothing to see six weeks ago, the garlic is healthy, spiky and coming along nicely!
The future of weeding!
This 40-second LaserWeeder video I think speaks for itself. What more could I say? Wow, technology! The madness continues? Imagine the efficiency! What are we thinking? AI, of course. Hendrix (for some generations, shades of a jungle war on weeds)!
Here’s what’s under the hood: “AI-powered precision weed control. Featuring high-resolution cameras and cutting-edge computing, LaserWeeder can instantly differentiate between weeds and crops, targeting and eliminating weeds with precision lasers. This chemical-free solution operates 24/7, boosting crop yields, lowering farming expenses, and supporting sustainable agriculture.”
It can identify 4.7 million images an hour—sounds…frantic, processing all those images, ID-ing the weeds, passing coordinates on to the lasers, or whatever exactly the AI has it doing. LED lighting four times brighter than the sun. Sub-millimeter laser accuracy. Targets 5,000 weeds a minute.
Smart miniature laser cannons, deployed to the farming field. What will they think of next?!
No doubt the LaserWeeder will come to mind now and then when I’m crawling around hand-pulling weeds. Either that or the song.… Read the rest