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#46 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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I will starting a fruit garden, too. Unfortunately, I'm putting the strawberries and blueberries on top of my new, huge septic field. The soil was turned over for excavating and looks like pure sand. I'm sure this will take awhile to turn around but its one of my only places with sun. Planting blueberries and strawberries there. I threw some buckwheat seed down there to try to get some organic matter until its cool enough to plant. Little germination so far since we've only had a trace of rain. I may do some grass mix until I obtain my berry plants. The vegetable garden area is not as sunny as I would like. It has nicer soil as it's been grassy for awhile. We have centipede grass, which more behaved than the Bermuda I'm used to. I'll put fruit trees on the edge of this area. I may hugelkultur some or all of the berries with all the felled trees in that spot. |
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#47 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#48 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Anmore, BC, Canada
Posts: 3,970
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Tracy,
If I had rotten leaves, I would put it on top of the beds, sprinkling lime first, then covered by leaves. Worms will take care of them quickly. Another option is to sprinkle lime, then put the leaves, and then cover by a thin layer of compost, if you have a compost pile. This is slightly offtopic, but I read in quite a few places that changing pH is not so easy, as soil rich in organic matter will 'resist' it. I do not bother with soil pH, as long as I see the veggies thriving in the garden. I also believe that by adding lots of organics into the soil will make it a good pH for growing vegetable crops. Our native soils are quite acidic here - lots of blueberry farms around! I think I limed only a couple of times over the last 10 years, only because everybody talks about it. Not sure if it had any effect on our soil pH. I believe if the soil is rich in humus, plants will thrive in our garden, regardless of pH. They thrive even more when the soil is covered by ramial wood chips. How acidic is your soil Tracy? Tatiana
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#49 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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Should get my soil test results this week. Lots of blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons grown here. I have azaleas and rhododendrons all over the property. |
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#50 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NJ, zone 7
Posts: 3,162
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Ella God comes along and says, "I think I'm going to create THE tomato!” ![]() |
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#51 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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#52 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 252
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Scott,
I like the concept very much. Ruth Stout loved to mulch with hay. How much does the hay break down in one year? Glenn |
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#53 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#54 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Anmore, BC, Canada
Posts: 3,970
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a very interesting quote from the article Regenerating Soils with Ramial Chipped Wood (LAVAL UNIVERSITY)
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#55 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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This paper here overturns many previously thought ideas. That particular one being just a small part. Cenozoic Expansion of Grasslands and Climatic Cooling
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#56 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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#57 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Anmore, BC, Canada
Posts: 3,970
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Wow, Tracy, this is so beautiful! How big is your land?
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#58 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#59 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Anmore, BC, Canada
Posts: 3,970
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Scott, very interesting! Thank you for the link!
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#60 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NJ, zone 7
Posts: 3,162
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Tracy, are you into fishing? Fish is a great compost too.
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Ella God comes along and says, "I think I'm going to create THE tomato!” ![]() |
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