Back to Eden Gardening and Hugelkulture and other non-conventional garden methods

I am currently trying to propagate jewel weed from seed. Have not been successful yet. Most recent attempt was refrigerated, with intermittent periods of freezing. They got buried in the freezer, and I just found them a couple days ago. They are currently sitting in a wet paper towel on my counter. If they sprout, I intend to sow them in the ditch in front of my house. There are some growing down the road, but I want to have them on my property so I can harvest when it's convenient without bothering the neighbors. Supposedly, they are difficult to start from seed, but once you have them, they propagate in the wild without any intervention.

HoopyFrood said:

Is chopping it up and tossing it back in the woods an option? It'll break down eventually

If you pile it without burning it'll last a good long while and provide nice rodent habitat; something to keep in mind. The fungal breakdown of the wood takes a LOT of moisture. So piles don't readily break down.

If you can chip it, innoculating the pile with soil from the forest floor will get the process started better than your average household garden compost. But without enough moisture even chip piles will last a long time.

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You have listed all my concerns. Increasing the rodent population is definitely a no-no. And you are right piling it will take years to decompose. In the past we have dragged the brush to the perimieter to make a deer barrier and that is pretty successful. It eventually becomes lower and lower.

Perhaps break up and layer with compost is the best.

Arielle2 said:

Planted out a large raised bed---and stuffed old dried wood along the inside edges. FIgure they will eventually absorb water and start to rot. Had an old pine come down, guess it was done providing perches and bugs to the wildlife, crashed down over a coop and into the garden space. Just moving bits and peices to a new job!!!

Hating that I dont have a chipper. Figure to make piles of chopped brush and add compost and such to get it brewing. Then spread it out for planting. Thinking it might be a good idea to make pile near the fruit trees and let the material feed the fruit trees......

any one see a problem with that?????

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If you cover tree roots too much it can cause issues for the tree.

CapricornFarm said:

If you cover tree roots too much it can cause issues for the tree.

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Yes, that makes sense. Would put the pile half way between the trees, ten feet from trunk, but maybe that is not enough.......

LG, sure hope you get those jewel weeds growing. Years ago my son brought home a couple plants roots and all. TO encourage his gardening interest, we planted them. Now they are like an invasive weed. So I hope your seeds take root!!! They are a pretty woodland plant with a cheery little orange flower. Unfortunately they are too fragile to send thru the mail.

I know they can be invasive once introduced. That is why I think putting them in the ditch is the perfect place for them. They grow naturally in that environment, and will not spread across my property. However, when working in the HK today, I found what looks very much like a clump of JW seedlings growing on the side of the bed! Will wait till they grow more to decide if they are JW or some other weed.

As for mulch and trees, common teaching says it should not be up against the tree trunks. However, if we are to take our instruction from the Creator, mulch in the forest does go right up against the trunks and those trees seem to benefit from it. In my BTE orchard, I have a ring of garlic and daffodils around the trees, and the mulch is just outside that ring. Typically, the ring is about 12 - 18" diameter.

lazy gardener said:

I know they can be invasive once introduced. That is why I think putting them in the ditch is the perfect place for them. They grow naturally in that environment, and will not spread across my property. However, when working in the HK today, I found what looks very much like a clump of JW seedlings growing on the side of the bed! Will wait till they grow more to decide if they are JW or some other weed.

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That is exciting!!

When I say invasive, in the right area they reseed and thrive and dont need care. My kind of plant. lol I find them in a far larger area as the years have passed. Maybe hardy is a better term.

goodnight one and all

Pulling weeds, like the jewel weed that is choking out other plants, and giving to the potatoes.

Light rain just started, hasnt rained in a while.

Need to put out waterers for the birds, the wild birds, as they are biting at the peaches.