This is why I use trellis netting in my organic farm
I have been farming since 1983 and I love it, I love making sure my customers eat healthy organic vegetables as I have been growing organically since the late 90s, and trellis netting has been the trick up my sleeve for the past ten years.
Anna and I decided to move away from the big city into a rural suburb close enough to our old friends and relatives, but far enough where our two girls could breathe fresh air and run barefoot all the way to the pond for a swim after school.
Our farm grows vegetables and of course we have to rotate crops and support them, let them rest a few cycles, then allow our farm animals (much in the vision of Joel Salatin integration of animals and crops for soil restoration) in to clean up and fertilize (sheep and cows are our wageless workers here), remove any nematodes and bugs (our ducks, turkeys and chicken love this job), till the soil (pigs are naturals at it) and then plant again with so much care that we almost know each tomato plant or bean stalk by name. Being so deeply in vibration with nature and the organic does not mean we do not use modern technology, and this is where we met hortomallas trellis netting and became a big fan of its agronomic properties, not only as a crop support but also as a way to increase crop yields as this plant training or trellis net allows increased aeration in between the leaves of the plants and furrows, and this in turn reduces humidity levels and stagnation in general, improving plant health and dependence of fumigating harmful chemicals against fungal attacks.
Using the trellis netting or cucumber net also allowed me to increase flowering and fruits as the pollinators are better able to reach each flower; also pruning becomes easier when the plant is supported by the netting and the cost of labor I save during the installation as compared to the raffia twine I used to use for tutoring (we now spend one third of that we used to in installation and save a bundle on posts) I can divert to other more productive activities that will raise the quality of the organic produce we then sell at the farmer´s market).
Growing vegetables is not an easy task nor as poetic as we initially thought of, but we try to live our Walden ideal in contact with nature, so recycling and getting as much juice from my industrial goods is very important: hortomallas netting lasts many crop cycles before we have to send it to our plastic recycler! So not only do we increase crop yields immediately by using this method of plant support, but we are able to spread the its cost over a longer time span, and my accountant loves it!
I hope my personal experience helps anybody interested in organic farming, one last word of advise given to us by Bacon : Nature to be commanded must be obeyed … so let nature works its tendrils and attach to your trellis netting, you´ll save money, not stress your plants and finally make money as well! You may want to give a look at the video and see for yourself how HORTOMALLAS changed my harvesting!
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also you may want to see more pictures here
