Drew Lawson wrote:
songbird writes:

mulch makes a lot of things easier.

I read "Ruth Stout's No-Till Gardening" when I was about 13, and I
haven't been the same since.

i've read so many different books on gardening...


The county yard waste place takes in brush/branches and grinds it
for free mulch. The only down side is that I have to load it myself.
Well, that and the fact that the garden is uphill from the driveway.

well of course! they didn't plan any of this
here and certainly would have been much better had
they brought in fill for where the gardens are at
now... too late now though.


i
like how when the wood chips we use finally
break down they turn into the dark humus that
goes well in the veggie gardens.

My garden has been going for about 12 years. When I was tilling
last year, I was pleasantly surprised at how dark and fluffy the
soil was. It started out as yellow clay, which is still what is
down under the reach of the tiller.

I really should get it tested this year. I have no idea what the
N/P/K condition is, just the texture.

i've never formally tested any of the gardens
here. how things grow can tell you a lot about
what you're lacking. when i first started out i
couldn't grow beets well at all and onions never
got very large. once i started adding the worm
compost the differences were pretty easy to see.
beets grew well, onions got bigger.

i'm now able to add some of the worm compost
to some of the poorest soil gardens i have and
i can see how that is helping the beans i normally
plant in there. the rows where i can get some
down the beans are darker and bigger and produce
more pods/beans.

if i were a little more dilligent about
chopping and using the green manure patch higher
nitrogen greens (alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil)
i could make a lot more progress in that regards
too as those being chopped and left on the
green manure patch has really improved the soil
back there. it's sweet.


songbird