On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 12:51:03 -0400, Chris Owens
wrote:

wrote:

Last year was my first year for my current garden. It was previously mostly
lawn grass. I dug up the grass and buried most of it. In the fall I got a
pick-up truck of mushroom soil and tilled it in real good...as deep as my
tiller would go. I didn't add any ammendments after last growing season or
at the beginning of this one. I did use some Miracle Grow directly around
the plants a couple times last year but none this year. I did use some
"slow release" Miracle Grow around some plants this year but only once at
the beginning. In the fall last year I dug trenches and put all the
collected leaves, almost exclusively Norway Maple, Lilac, and Burning Bush
then coverd them with soil. I also threw all the kitchen scraps (just the
plant based), coffee grounds, and egg shells, as well as the fall gord
decorations, onto the soil. They were tilled in this spring. The leaves
were burried sufficiently deep, or decomposed over winter, such that when I
tilled this spring I didn't see much evidence of them.

Now my questions:

1. Is mushroom soil a good soil ammendment?

2. If it is how often and when would be the best time to add it, fall or
spring?

3. If there are better ammendments what are they and when should I add
them, fall or spring?

4. Based on what I have described, what am I doing right or wrong?

You're doing great. Mushroom soil is a fine amendment; you can
apply it at any time. In-place composting is also wonderful for
improving the soil; as you found, it's also a great way to get
rid of all of your biodegradable yard trash in the fall. You can
also do this with shredded paper as long as it doesn't have
plasticizers or metal-based inks. All of our newspaper goes into
the garden instead of a landfill somewhere . . . my family has
beaucoup jokes about 'eating the news'. We use it as mulch
during the growing season, then till it under each fall.

The only thing I would suggest, if you have the room, is starting
a compost pile. There's a few ways to do this; the trade-off is
space vs. effort. Because I have a LOT of space, I do what is
called cold composting. All the biodegradeable debris generated
during the growing season is piled up in an huge heap. Big
pieces of tree get run through a chipper shredder; but, most
everything else is just flung on there as it comes. Back when we
had horses, we also added all the muck-out from the stables.
Then, we ignore it for a couple of years whilst the bacteria and
earthworms and insects and other critters treat it as
home-sweet-home. Come spring of the second year, we rake off
about the top six inches of undegraded matter -- it is the first
thing in the NEW pile, and use the compost in the gardens for
that year -- tilling some in in the spring, and using the rest as
top-dressing as needed -- flinging any really big chunks [usually
pieces of wood] back into the new pile. Absolutely minimal
effort; but, it means that I have four 6' x 6' piles of compost
-- two processing, one being built, and one being used -- out in
the way-back at all times.

When I had less free space, I did a modified form of this: Set
up three 3' x 3' bins in a row. Finished compost is always in
the center bin. In spring, remove the finished compost, and till
it into the beds or apply as top dressing. Take the top part of
last fall's pile, and flip it over into the empty bin to form the
base of the new pile. Then, turn the remainder of the fall pile
into the center bin, removing any really large pieces of debris
as you go. Leave it to finish composting until fall. Meanwhile,
as the growing season progresses, put any compostable material
into the spring bin. Use a chipper / shredder to turn large
plants, sticks, etc. into smaller pieces. Come August, stop
building in the spring bin, and start a pile in the fall bin.
Come fall cleanup time, put the finished compost on the beds,
remove the top layer from the spring bin to the fall bin, turn
the spring compost into the finish bin, and continue building the
fall bin. Each pile gets turned once -- a great aerobic workout
-- and you get two loads of compost a year.

If space is at a premium, get two of the rotating compost
barrels. Fill one with compostable material until it is as full
as you can get it, remembering to add a shovelful of soil. Then,
start turning it every day. Meanwhile, you can be filling the
second barrel with your next load of compostable stuff. In about
two weeks, the first barrel will be ready to use; remove the
compost, start a new load in it, and start turning the other.
You'll have a continuous stream of compost to use every two to
three weeks. This is hot composting, and it's pretty important
that you pay attention to the various amounts of material that
you are putting into the barrel. Too much green, and you'll get
an anaerobic mess. Too much brown, and the bacterial action
won't be able to take off. Too damp, and it'll just sit there
and sulk. Too dry, and the bacteria, again, won't be active
enough. So, try to put in about equal amounts of green and
brown, and make sure that it's damp but not soggy. You'll know
if the process goes off; it'll smell to high heaven . . . which
is a good reason for not having the bins right by the house, BTW.

Chris Owens


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Thanks Chris and others for your views. I stopped by the mushroom soil guy
and I can get a full pick-up truck load for around $10. That's pretty cheap
compared to fertilizer which may leach out of the soil with too much rain.
I believe it is used. The mushroom plant up the road delivers it.

I have this burning bush, actually it's more like a tree, next to my wood
pile which is next to my garden. I'm thinking to remove the bush which will
give me room to expand the garden *grin* and room for composting
activities. Can I take a cutting from the bush and start a new one? How
would I best do this? I would of course keep the little guy under control
in a nother area of the yard.

happy gardening,
sparkie
Zone 6