In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

Timmy T wrote:
Hi,

I'm just starting a veg patch which is about 5m square in the corner of
the garden, but I'm not sure what to do with the turf I've cut.

Shall I skip it or rotavate it into the area I've taken it from along
with well rotted manure from the dung heap?

Many thanks,

TT



Can you just turn it upside-down and plant over it? (I assume you
don't have bermudagrass over there)

If I ever start a new garden plot from turf again, I plant to spray it
one time with glyphosate (Roundup or equivalent), mow it short when
the grass starts to die, and then disturb the soil as little as
possible when I plant. Mulch heavily at least the first year to keep
the weeds from taking over, and let the earthworms do all the hard
work turning the soil. That first year I probably won't be able to
direct sow anything; just use transplants.

Tilling new ground among other things wakes up dormant weed seeds in
the soil.

-Bob

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/glyphosatePoisonsCrops.php

ISIS Report 19/05/10

Scientists Reveal Glyphosate Poisons Crops and Soil
Don Huber, recently retired from Purdue University, and co-author G.S.
Johal, at Purdue¹s Dept of Botany and Plant Pathology, stated in a paper
published in the October 2009 issue of European Journal of Agronomy that
the widespread **use of glyphosate** in the US can ³significantly
increase the severity of various plants diseases, impair plant defense
to pathogens and diseases, and immobilize soil and plant nutrients
rendering them unavailable for plant use.²

Further, **glyphosate** stimulates the growth of fungi and enhances the
virulence of pathogens such as Fusarium, and ³can have serious
consequences for sustainable production of a wide range of susceptible
crops.² They warn that ³Ignoring potential non-target detrimental side
effects of any chemical, especially used as heavily as glyphosate, may
have dire consequences for agriculture such as rendering soils
infertile, crops non-productive, and plants less nutritious.²
----

Round Up is toxic to humans and the environment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_(herbicide)

Other than that, zxcvbob was spot on.
--
- Billy

Mad dog Republicans to the right. Democratic spider webs to the left. True conservatives, and liberals not to be found anywhere in the phantasmagoria
of the American political landscape.

America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/.../michael-moore
/michael-moore-says-400-americans-have-more-wealth-/