In the months of November and December, agricultural work is focused on sowing. Firstly, we start with cereals and then with pulse vegetables. In cereals, we initially sowed triticale (Orval variety), then we continued with wheat (this year we sowed the Albufera variety, which is a short-cycle wheat) and finally we finished with barley (this year we sowed Rubiana and Medinaceli)... along the months of November and early December. In November we had serious doubts about when to start sowing as it did not rain until mid-month, the soil was very dry and also the rain forecasts were not at all positive. In the end it rained and we had a very good sowing season.
Now, during these Christmas days we are sowing pulse vegetables: lentils (Eston and Pardina varieties) and bitter vetch. With the new CAP, many farmers have started sowing pulse vegetables. In our case, we have not noticed any difference because we have been rotating with pulse vegetables instead of sunflower for several years (which is the most common in our area, for example). Very dry summers and high temperatures make sunflower no longer attractive in terms of yields.
During the first days of November (with very dry soil) we did a small nascence test as you can see in the pictures. We sowed a few grains at different depths to see how they are born and how they evolve in the first weeks of growth. Days after sowing, we could see a lot of rainfall, so the soil conditions changed dramatically. The grains that we sowed around 2 cm deep clearly emerged very quickly, but those that we sowed at 6 cm and 9 cm have come out quite well and I would even say that today the plant looks even better than those sown at 2 cm... we will keep an eye on developments.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2023 full of health, good harvests and fair prices.
