🌏Syosei Farming #9 | I Tried Sowing Sesbania and Sorgo Seeds | First Spring

In the previous article, I talked about checking the cross-section of the rice field.

If drainage does not improve with green manure (crops for converting rice fields) alone, I will have to consider other methods, such as physically breaking up the soil with a backhoe to create underdrains.

If I sow seeds in the "autumn" and find out the following spring that "it didn't work after all," I will have wasted a year while still dealing with the same problem I have now.

In that case, there is only one answer.

"Let's sow the seeds now as a test. If this improves drainage, it's a huge success. I can sow green manure plants again in the autumn to finish preparing the soil. If it doesn't work, I can prepare a different approach sooner!"

Early May, right at this time, is the best sowing season for two representative green manures that grow vigorously in the summer: Sesbania and Sorgo.
(I explained the reasons for choosing these two types of green manure in a previous post.)

If I sow them now, by the time August comes around—when it's time to trample them down or cut them and return them to the soil—their roots should have grown powerfully deep into the ground, penetrating the hardpan layer as a natural bio-subsoiler. ...They should!

Once that was decided, I took immediate action!

I arranged for the seeds right away.

And then, I sowed them.

How will the drainage of the former rice field change over the approximately three months from now until August?

I'm half worried and half excited.

I would be happy if you could kindly watch over how this former rice field transforms into a rich, fertile field!

If you like this, please follow me; it encourages me in my land reclamation efforts! m(_ _)m