We use the same basic vegetable production system as most growers in south Florida. However, we do make some modifications, since we grow such a variety of crops and harvest them to be eaten immediately. We are NOT an organic grower, and do not plan to become organic.  However, we are constantly working towards developing sustainable production systems. This includes using many methods and materials that are recommended for organic production, as well as others that are safe for the our workers, our customers, and the environment.

Pre-plant operations  
Summer is the time for improving our soil and servicing equipment. While our summer cover crop grows, we usually try to take some days off to rest and catch up with family and friends.    
Since the organic matter in our  soils has reached 2-4% (very high for south Florida sandy soils), we do not grow cover crops on all our land. We do continue to add compost each season.     
When we do a  summer CSA program, less than half our land is used for growing while the rest is fallow. We will put the fall crops into that fallow land beginning in late July. Then the land we used in the summer will be cleaned up so that it can be used later in the season.
By mid-July it is time to disc up the cover crop, where it has been planted. We disc 2-3 times, waiting 3-7 days between those runs. It doesn’t take long, because organic matter breaks down very quickly in our hot wet summers.
Usually after the cover crop is tilled in, we hire a backhoe to clean out the ditches. Although we use drip irrigation rather than using the ditches to raise the water table, these  ditches are critical to rapidly get the water out of the fields when it rains a lot. After that, the blocks (ours are 65' by 1000' ) are graded, to spread out the soil that is brought out of the ditches. It is best to use a laser leveler, but, we don’t always do that because it costs a lot.

Compost - Then it’s time for our secret weapon: compost is spread on our fields  as heavily as we can spread it-usually at least 20 tons per acre. Time is usually the limiting factor for how much we use.
Our compost is made on our farm from local horse manures, produced by the many horses which over-winter in our area. It’s lucky for us that there are so many horse farms and training facilities in the area, because horse manure with wood chip or pelletized straw bedding makes a great compost. It’s brought to the farm by dump trucks, usually from Dec.-May.  Miguel uses the front end loader to put it into windrows (long narrow piles) that are about 12' high by 15' wide. As time allows, they will use the loader to turn it. Ideally, that would be every 1-2 weeks for the first 2 months, and then every 3-4 weeks for 2-3 months. 

Solarization -
  If time allows,  we like to “solarize” the block where our salads and greens  are grown. This  means that, instead of covering those beds with an opaque  plastic mulch, we’ll  use a clear mulch. If the weather is mostly sunny for 4-6  weeks, temperatures  under that mulch can reach over 120°. This is an effective  way of killing most  of the plant pathogens, weed seeds, and nematodes in the top  4" of the bed  without sterilizing the soil or adding soil fumigants. After  this process,  we’ll cover the beds with the regular mulch plastic or uncover  them as needed  for open-bed planting.    
Since  the bedding operation requires a lot of  time and specialized equipment, it is  easiest to get it done before we get busy  with a lot of planting and growing.  Although they may not be planted for  months, most of the beds are put up from  mid July to mid-Sept. Isn’t that what  you would like to be doing in the heat  and humidity of a Florida summer?

Making beds
Although our small crew is appropriate for most things we do, the bedding operation is a little tricky with so few people. First we spread over the fields about 1/3 of the fertilizer we need for our first crop. Then  the “bedder” is used to form the beds by pulling up the soil into beds that are about 8" tall and 30" across at the top. The “ditcher” makes the first cuts to create our cross ditches for drainage out of the field. These are  called “shovel ditches”, because they were originally made by hand with shovels. 

Next comes the plastic and drip tape. On beds where we plan to plant tomatoes or squash, we use a plastic with a reflective silver finish. The bright reflection confuses flying insects, especially whiteflies, so they aren’t as likely to land on our crops. On other beds, we use a degradable plastic mulch that saves us picking it up. The best biodegradable mulch, of course, is compost. We do use it as a mulch, especially on solid-seeded crops where we can’t use plastic. We’d  prefer to use only compost as a mulch but it doesn’t do as good a job on weed control as the plastic mulches do.

Drip irrigation - The plastic machine is fitted with a spool so that it can be used to lay the drip tape at the same time as the plastic. At Green Cay we use two lines of drip tape because the soil is so porous that water tends to go straight down. We’ve found we can keep these beds more moist by using the two lines. At the farm in Loxahatchee, though, the soils is “heavier” (has a little more clay), so one line works well. The plastic machine unrolls the mulch plastic and pulls soil up to cover the edges. But, the ends and the shovel ditches must be cut by hand, folded back and mounded with soil to keep it down. Only irrigation tape (no plastic mulch) is used in the beds where solid rows are to be seeded.