BYC gardening thread!!

[Arielle]

Quote: Im in love with the idea of the no till methods,and plan to give this a try starting this year. How do you make leave mold?? I have lots of leaves still in the woods that blow into the drive that I can rake up and use. I want to foster the micro________. Have only heard the word,but not seen it written to know spelling. My goal is to improve the microbiome of the garden.

 

[lazy gardener]

Arielle, if I had those leaves in my driveway, I'd just toss them right into the garden. IMO, the best way to make leaf mold is to stick the leaves where you want the leaf mold when it's finished. It will make it'self! I start with a layer of cardboard or newspaper (totally un-necessary, but helpful if you don't have tons of material to work with, then toss in everything I can get my hands on. Leaves in combination with grass clippings are wonderful. Old hay, any yard debris, chicken bedding (best to add that in the fall, so it can age) (my chicken bedding goes into the run first to compost there) Have you looked at the Back to Eden films? Any of the writings by Ruth Stout are excellent. If you have a large yard, that is accessible by a boom truck, you may be able to get a huge load of wood chips dumped for free. I got 3 loads last summer, and they are slowly being moved (by hand... by my hands...) into the garden, mini orchard, flower beds, and HK mound. I've spread about 7 yards, and have about 30 yards left to go.

 

[RustedOak]

Leaf mold is basically composted leaves. I just shred then and add them directly to the garden and allow them to break down in place. You don't necessarily have to shred them but I have mostly oak which takes longer to decompose and the extra surface area helps it. I believe the word you're looking for is mycorrhizae which is a fungus that interacts beneficially with the roots of your plants.

 

[dan26552]

Arielle, if I had those leaves in my driveway, I'd just toss them right into the garden. IMO, the best way to make leaf mold is to stick the leaves where you want the leaf mold when it's finished. It will make it'self! I start with a layer of cardboard or newspaper (totally un-necessary, but helpful if you don't have tons of material to work with, then toss in everything I can get my hands on. Leaves in combination with grass clippings are wonderful. Old hay, any yard debris, chicken bedding (best to add that in the fall, so it can age) (my chicken bedding goes into the run first to compost there) Have you looked at the Back to Eden films? Any of the writings by Ruth Stout are excellent. If you have a large yard, that is accessible by a boom truck, you may be able to get a huge load of wood chips dumped for free. I got 3 loads last summer, and they are slowly being moved (by hand... by my hands...) into the garden, mini orchard, flower beds, and HK mound. I've spread about 7 yards, and have about 30 yards left to go.

Leaf mold is basically composted leaves. I just shred then and add them directly to the garden and allow them to break down in place. You don't necessarily have to shred them but I have mostly oak which takes longer to decompose and the extra surface area helps it. I believe the word you're looking for is mycorrhizae which is a fungus that interacts beneficially with the roots of your plants.

 

[chickadoodles]

What do you all feed your tomato's and how often do you feed them?
I bought Eco Scraps organic fertilizer that is 5-4-6 to use on my vegetables. I have never used this before and I am hoping it will work great.

 

[MeepBeep]

What do you all feed your tomato's and how often do you feed them? 
I bought Eco Scraps organic fertilizer that is 5-4-6 to use on my vegetables. I have never used this before and I am hoping it will work great.

Llama and goat beans mixed into the top 3" of the soil at planting time, last all season...

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: I have rabbits, chickens and cows. Now llama's or goats. Thanks

 

[chickadoodles]

I saw this on Face Book and thought I would share:
http://www.selfsufficiencymagazine.com/sustainable-living/


They are growing 6000 lbs of food a year on 1/10th of an acre! WOW!!!

 

[CherMoz]

Nice!!

 

[dan26552]

Quote: