Getting ready to plant maize at Sol Feliz

Finally we are getting the milpa going at Sol Feliz!  The first part of the process is to clear the field.  I use a brush-cutter or “weed eater” type of machine to do this quickly.  It can also be done with a ‘cutter bar’ attachment on my tiller.  Raking up the cut weeds is next.  Since they are green, they can be composted right away.

After clearing the weeds it was time to move compost!  Much of the compost had to be sifted through a 1 inch screen to remove the large chunks of materials, mostly tree bark and sticks, from the finer compost.  In all, I sifted and moved 18 wheelbarrows full of compost to this patch of land.  As the wind picks up mid-morning, this work was completed by 10 AM and will have to be continued tomorrow…