Can you get a mushroom colony to grow in the wood chips.?
The right kind of mushrooms will break down wood quicker than anything.

The other option is to add your choice of nitrogen.

Worth

jojomojo, I found this site this morning that might help [URL]http://www.pawneebuttesseed.com/seed-list/salt-tolerant-pasture-and-reclamation-grasses/[/URL]

[QUOTE=Worth1;465060]Can you get a mushroom colony to grow in the wood chips.?
The right kind of mushrooms will break down wood quicker than anything.

The other option is to add your choice of nitrogen.

Worth[/QUOTE]

Maybe. My manure/wood chip compost pile was growing some monster sized fungus "roots" (like a carrot) and there were mushrooms growing up out of the chips spread on the ground around the pile, but last summer was unusually wet (as in, it actually rained). In this climate, its going to take a lot of water to keep a wood pile moist. It'll be some work, but I can manage it (we have an irrigation ditch, but we're not set up to pull from it yet).

Is there an inoculant that I can add? Is there a way to use the fungus in my compost pile (if I see it again this summer) to make a "tea" to spray on the wood chip pile? I imagine just keeping it wet would work too. I'm sure the fungal spores in the compost came from the wood chips in the first place.

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;465061]jojomojo, I found this site this morning that might help [URL]http://www.pawneebuttesseed.com/seed-list/salt-tolerant-pasture-and-reclamation-grasses/[/URL][/QUOTE]

Thank you for that!

jojomojo, I would dig several holes at different depths and fill them with water and see if the water percolates down and out to see if there's any way to flush the salts out. If going down a foot or so helps the water percolate I would see if any farmers in your area have a tractor and ripper that can scarify the soil to that depth then flood the area like the recommendation says. Short of flushing the salts out as high as they are I don't think your going to have very good results with anything you plant even salt tolerant grasses. Salt destroys soil structure so the ripping won't hurt and can explain the compaction. If you can flood and flush the soil then add copious amounts of organic matter and look into adding a humic acid product, they actually mine a lot of the stuff in NE New Mexico and there are many articles that show the benefits of humic acid for reclaiming saline and sodic soils.

Good luck
Marcus

We did a perc test last summer, 2 ft deep and hit water. I filled the hole anyway and I just stopped checking after a few days to see if it drained ;) I imagine I have a nice piece of land to create a pond!

We have a 9N and I think a middle buster (would that work?). The area slopes from N to S. So the south edge of the field is lower and at the corner there's an open irrigation ditch (that nobody uses), so it might work to flush water into that.

The TerraPro I just ordered is a humic acid product. I'm hoping it will at least lock up enough of the sodium to get a clay busting crop growing. If I can improve drainage, I'm hoping maybe some of the salts will flush deeper down. Keeping a cover on the soil at all times should help with evaporation/capillary action so the salt doesn't just creep back to the surface too.

lol, it made me think Salt Water Pond. You could raise your own shrimp and crabs in New Mexico. :yes::lol:

[QUOTE=jojomojo;465057]Alfalfa - yes! I thought I listed that. I love using that to prep my raised beds with and watering with alfalfa tea in the summer.

Any suggestions on composting wood chips without manure? I usually use alfalfa to heat up a compost pile, but I'm not sure if its enough for a pile of wood chips.[/QUOTE]Green manure works, so does coffee grounds, but you need a lot.

You are looking a 3-5 year process, and even then you will not make a permanent change in the pH. Until that time, just go with mounded/raised beds with good stuff on top of the existing.

You said it was 3 acres and compacted. You might look into someone coming onsite with a big tractor and a sub-soil breaker. But that is also and expensive and semi-long term proposition.

I've read that turnips and radishes overwinter and help break up clay soils. They also add nutrients, but radishes start to smell bad as the plants age. You don't want either to go to seed because they tend to turn into weeds.

[QUOTE=Keiththibodeaux;465135]You are looking a 3-5 year process, and even then you will not make a permanent change in the pH. Until that time, just go with mounded/raised beds with good stuff on top of the existing.

You said it was 3 acres and compacted. You might look into someone coming onsite with a big tractor and a sub-soil breaker. But that is also and expensive and semi-long term proposition.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I expect this to be a long process. I have no idea if the rest of the property is compacted, just this quarter acre (the rest is planned for pasture rather than garden, seems to have more sand, but its all alkaline/saline). I will say I am tempted to work on turning it all into decent pasture and selling the house. And when I buy another property, consider the soil report just as important as a home inspection ;)

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;465218]I've read that turnips and radishes overwinter and help break up clay soils. They also add nutrients, but radishes start to smell bad as the plants age. You don't want either to go to seed because they tend to turn into weeds.[/QUOTE]

Turnips would be great, but they are salt sensitive. I'm really not worried about anything becoming weedy though (or stinky lol). All I have are weeds, at least turnips would be a beneficial weed.

[QUOTE=jojomojo;465277]Yep, I expect this to be a long process. I have no idea if the rest of the property is compacted, just this quarter acre (the rest is planned for pasture rather than garden, seems to have more sand, but its all alkaline/saline). I will say I am tempted to work on turning it all into decent pasture and selling the house. And when I buy another property, consider the soil report just as important as a home inspection ;)



Turnips would be great, but they are salt sensitive. I'm really not worried about anything becoming weedy though (or stinky lol). All I have are weeds, at least turnips would be a beneficial weed.[/QUOTE]


I have known people to buy houses with big back yards thinking they were going to put a garden in.
Just under about 2 inches of soil was nothing but busted up concrete and construction garbage.:(
They used the back yards for a land fill.

Then there was the subdivision that was abandoned in the Houston area because they found out the yards were contaminated with chemicals.
They had used the area to dump toxic waste.
Remember Love Canal?


Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;465292]I have known people to buy houses with big back yards thinking they were going to put a garden in.
Just under about 2 inches of soil was nothing but busted up concrete and construction garbage.:(
They used the back yards for a land fill.

Then there was the subdivision that was abandoned in the Houston area because they found out the yards were contaminated with chemicals.
They had used the area to dump toxic waste.
Remember Love Canal?


Worth[/QUOTE]

Bricklayers have been known to bury thousands of brick in backyards of new houses. I've seen more than once. One of the costs on a bricklayer's total bill is how many brick were laid...used.

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;465294]Bricklayers have been known to bury thousands of brick in backyards of new houses. I've seen more than once. One of the costs on a bricklayer's total bill is how many brick were laid...used.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't pay a brick layer for anything other than what was on the house.
I have noticed it is hard to find good brick layers anymore.
Most of the mortar they mix just crumbles in your fingers like sand.
They dont use enough Portland cement to cut back on costs.
That and they dont soak the bricks and the things suck all of the water out of the mortar before it has a chance to set.

This isn't something I just read on line I was taught to lay brick and stone by a stone mason when I was in High School.
I helped him on weekends.:)


Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;465292]
Remember Love Canal?
[/QUOTE]

I'm afraid that was before my time. My good friend Google helped me out though. What a mess.

[QUOTE=jojomojo;465313]I'm afraid that was before my time. My good friend Google helped me out though. What a mess.[/QUOTE]

Same thing happened in Houston, kids were getting sores from playing in the yard if I recall.
A friend of mine from Buffalo New York used to ride with his dad to dump hazardous waste.

The place they dumped it at was Love Canal.

Here is a link to one in Houston.
[URL="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBrio_Superfund_site&ei=B0kxVbeXNcGLsAXV1YHwCg&usg=AFQjCNGnpBme4cXWMZjNaE0ZQs-Le5O8kQ&sig2=fxwahSnvQFedvqEge43GYQ&bvm=bv.91071109,d.b2w&cad=rja"]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBrio_Superfund_site&ei=B0kxVbeXNcGLsAXV1YHwCg&usg=AFQjCNGnpBme4cXWMZjNaE0ZQs-Le5O8kQ&sig2=fxwahSnvQFedvqEge43GYQ&bvm=bv.91071109,d.b2w&cad=rja[/URL]

Not to get off subject of your land but the statement of a soil test made me think of it.

Just a warning to people thinking about moving and buying property.
They can pretty up a hell hole and you would never know it.

Worth