Preparing for the Growing Season on Rented Land – Spanish Field Day
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It was a gloomy and brisk Saturday morning for the first Spanish field day for 2025, but that didn’t stop beginning farmers from gathering at the Cultivation Classroom at Johnson County’s Historic Farm.
Participants arrive at the Johnson County Historic Farm.
Carly McAndrews (she/her) is a vegetable farmer in Iowa City, Iowa. She was inspired to start working on vegetable farms in 2011 after attending a panel of women farmers while in school at the University of Vermont.
In 2019, she and Bryant Mann started Trowel & Error Farm on two acres of rented land at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm. Now the sole operator, Carly is focused on building a sustainable farm business on rented land with no plans for land ownership. Carly grows 50-plus different crops for a CSA, wholesale markets, farmers markets and some restaurants.
From the Classroom
In her presentation, she discussed the importance of crop planning and rotation and went into some basics of using cover crops in a horticultural operation.
| Oats | Seed as soon as the soil can be worked for spring cover or for fall winterkill; seed by Aug. 15 |
| Rye or vetch | Seed by Sept. 15 to overwinter or seed just rye at any point before winter |
| Buckwheat | Seed at any point in the season |
| Sorghum | Seed during the summer; great for breaking up compacted soils |
Carly shares her presentation during the field day.
The field day continued with Carly discussing planning for multiple harvests, understanding single planted crops and succession planted crops, and establishing a seeding plan for direct seeding and transplanting. Carly also shared the record-keeping system she uses to manage the information needed for farming small plots.
To Practice
After the presentation, which can be viewed in this PowerPoint, Carly led the group through a tour of her unheated greenhouse and walked through what she had grown already.
Carly leading the group through a tour of her unheated greenhouse.
The field day concluded with attendees setting up their own growing season binders and enjoying pupusas from a Global Food Project farmer.
Participants enjoy a meal at the end of the field day.