What did you do in the garden today?

[Bugseye]

It is the little thumbs up button at the bottom of each post.

Oh, got it. Thanks.

 

[Bugseye]

The gardeners in this region have been discussing last year's crop failures for several vendors up here. They've narrowed it down to hay grown with the aminopyrolid pesticides (Chaparral and others), fed to the livestock and deposited in the manure they used in their gardens. They discussed whether rain would leach out the pesticides, but it seems they have a very long half-life. More on this at http://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/g...xg_source=activity&groupId=2723460:Group:5850
I'm still following the discussion even though I don't use livestock manure in the garden, only our own chickens'. Does this concern need its own thread? If so, let me know. Otherwise, just sharing in case someone is looking for answers.

 

[AlHawk]

Bugseye,

I have been concerned with pesticides, fertilizers and genetic modification for the past 3 years. (a little late to jump on that wagon). I started some raised gardens with the bagged cow manure that I got from Home Depot. I found that even though it was cow manure and supposedly "pure", my garden has been doing better since I've started using the chicken bedding/manure. I can't completely disconnect from the grocery but the farmers market is much better than the store so we use that alot more now. Every time I use something out of my back yard or locally produced, things seem to get better. (even local horse manure)

IMO, we have to get away from all this mass-produced and chemically enhanced stuff for better health. I live in a area with huge water recreation and fisheries. Just recently there's been a large fish kill due to excess Nitrogen (they say). Our water glows at night with the phosphorous coming from fertilizers. All of us need to help stop this killing of our ecosystems.

http://www.wptv.com/news/region-mar...erienced-in-brevard-county-could-spread-south

You can read this and cry seeing what we've done to our environment here.

 

[Beekissed]

I've probably mentioned this before, but I am enjoying Teaming With Microbes; DH gave it to me at Christmas. It keeps reminding me that everything in the universe is connected: God's plan. Walking downtown this morning, I saw a lovely 4-6 inch earthworm crossing a gravel path. Wish I could have brought her home to join the rest. Not sure if BTE goes into as much depth on the mycorrhizae and their connections as does TWM, but the creation is pretty amazing!

In follow up interviews with Paul G. on YT he discusses the importance of the fungal growth in the chips and in the soil. I posted a vid here a little time back wherein the fella is experimenting with leaves vs. wood chips and he does a wonderful little talk and demonstration on why they are important to the soil food web. He's got little vids in parts describing what happens to the soil when you add these organic materials/mulches on top of the soil.

This is his Part 2 in the series and it has the info on the fungi...

 

[chickadoodles]

Bugseye,

I have been concerned with pesticides, fertilizers and genetic modification for the past 3 years. (a little late to jump on that wagon). I started some raised gardens with the bagged cow manure that I got from Home Depot. I found that even though it was cow manure and supposedly "pure", my garden has been doing better since I've started using the chicken bedding/manure. I can't completely disconnect from the grocery but the farmers market is much better than the store so we use that alot more now. Every time I use something out of my back yard or locally produced, things seem to get better. (even local horse manure)

IMO, we have to get away from all this mass-produced and chemically enhanced stuff for better health. I live in a area with huge water recreation and fisheries. Just recently there's been a large fish kill due to excess Nitrogen (they say). Our water glows at night with the phosphorous coming from fertilizers. All of us need to help stop this killing of our ecosystems.

http://www.wptv.com/news/region-mar...erienced-in-brevard-county-could-spread-south

You can read this and cry seeing what we've done to our environment here.

That is horrible and yes it did make me cry!

I am trying to use our rabbit poo as fertilizer as it is a cool fertilizer. We also have cows and chickens. But I am trying the rabbit in hopes it will work better with out burning my plants.
I also used rotting staw and wood shavings in the beds mixed with rabbit fertilizer. I am not going to use pesticides. I will cover the raised beds with netting if I have to. I also do not use pesticides on my fruit trees.

 

[chickadoodles]

Beekissed thank you for sharing that video. I have had a compost pile out in the pasture that I put all my old chick pine shavings in along with old leaves out of the chicken coop when we clean it out. And now we also have rabbit bedding and manure to add to it. I mix some of this in my potting soil I used in my raised beds.

 

[GardenNut]

Turned over my 4 new raised beds and transplanted some viburnums I had to move to make room for the coop/run. I saw so many worms and wished my 4-day-old chicks could have them! Just waiting for topsoil now.

 

[AlHawk]

Planted some sunflowers last week. Some I put in the ground; some I put in seedling containers. After 10 days, I checked the seedling containers and all the seeds were mush. I was trying to use some old seed that was given to me so this wasn't a huge shock. So, Wed I planted Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (PEREDOVIK Sunflower Seeds). This is my first excursion into sunflowers so not sure what to expect other than what I've read. Let's see what happens.

 

[chickadoodles]

Sounds like your getting ready for spring Gardennut.

AlHawk I bought a new bag of sunflower seeds and thee seeds don't seem to want to grow. The last ones I had the rabbits spilled them and they are growing under their pens.

 

[gjensen]

In follow up interviews with Paul G. on YT he discusses the importance of the fungal growth in the chips and in the soil. I posted a vid here a little time back wherein the fella is experimenting with leaves vs. wood chips and he does a wonderful little talk and demonstration on why they are important to the soil food web. He's got little vids in parts describing what happens to the soil when you add these organic materials/mulches on top of the soil.

This is his Part 2 in the series and it has the info on the fungi...

I am convinced that the ideal is variety. There are a variety of fungi, molds, bacteria etc. that prefer a variety of items. I mulch my blueberries with a variety of items intentionally, and it works better than a single product. For example, the beds will get a layer of oak leaves, after pecan leaves, then misc. limbs and branches. Finally followed by some pine chips and then topped off with pine straw. This helps to prevent matting and allows for better ventilation and the water penetrates better. Some of the items decompose faster than others. Pecan leaves decompose very fast where the pine straw and oak leaves persist into the second year. My blueberry beds that are mulched like this out perform any of the beds I have done with wood chips or pine straw alone.

In the beds with vegetables, variety is the norm again, but different materials. Mixed leaves, grass clippings, and wheat or oat straw dominate. Annually (or some interval or another), they will get poultry bedding. I try to emphasize what decomposes faster, but still a mixture of material types. All like materials mat easily, and do not allow for sufficient ventilation or water penetration. I do not use limbs and branches here, because these beds are worked in more frequently. I save them for the shrubs etc. or especially where the birds have access. A layer of branches help to protect the roots of these plants.