SheriM - Too Stubborn to Stop Dreamin' - SURPRISE!!!

[punkin]

We're all thinking about you.

 

[keljonma]

I saw Nicole Johnson perform this; all her stuff is inspirational and thought provoking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_yivlcCpB4&feature=related

 

[SheriM]

We have satellite internet service so it's not the swiftest thing on the block and tonight it was even slower than usual, so the video didn't want to load, but I'll check it out in the morning. The connection is usually faster then. Thanks for posting the link. I can't wait to see it.

 

[SheriM]

Since our garden plot hadn't been touched in 4 years, we hired a guy with a big tow-behind tiller to prepare the ground. It took him less than an hour to do what would have taken days with our little walk-behind model.

So, now that the ground is ready, I'm giving some thought to making the garden as easy as possible to manage, especially when it comes to weeds. I know mulching between the rows will keep the weeds down but what about using straw? I have several round bales of straw laying around and only need one or two for bedding the goats. Would a good deep layer of straw between the rows do any good or would the weeds just grow up through the straw?

 

[Tallman]

Since our garden plot hadn't been touched in 4 years, we hired a guy with a big tow-behind tiller to prepare the ground. It took him less than an hour to do what would have taken days with our little walk-behind model.

So, now that the ground is ready, I'm giving some thought to making the garden as easy as possible to manage, especially when it comes to weeds. I know mulching between the rows will keep the weeds down but what about using straw? I have several round bales of straw laying around and only need one or two for bedding the goats. Would a good deep layer of straw between the rows do any good or would the weeds just grow up through the straw?

Straw will work; however, you might get a crop from some leftover seeds still in the head of whatever crop the straw supported. An example would be wheat. If the combine did not thrash all of the wheat berries out of the heads, the berries become seeds, and they will sprout and grow wheat. Oat straw is really bad about this. The other consideration about straw is the possibility of bringing in some weed or grass seeds that you don't want in your garden. An example here in Kansas would be bindweed or Johnson grass. These could be hauled in with straw. Will straw work. Yes, it will work, but you might get these side effects. As far as your own weeds coming through the straw, it will not happen if you put it on thick enough. Six to eight inches should do it. Just go by the rule that if a little bit is good - more is better.

 

[SheriM]

Hmmmm. Probably not a good idea, then. This is barley straw and some of it is actually still green inside, so it's likely to have lots of barley left in it. Guess I'll start working on plan B.

 

[freemotion]

Well, you could always cut down the barley that grows while it is green, and feed it to the goats. It could be another crop, sort of. I'd do it, but I won't be going through chemo..... :/

 

[SheriM]

Free, that was my first thought too but yeah, it might be a bit too much on top of the garden itself. I don't want to put a huge amount of money into it, but depending on the size of the garden, I might be able to just lay down landscape cloth and some mulch. I'm not planning a big garden this first year, just enough to have a few fresh veggies and experiment with the whole concept of gardening.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, I've got a big load of well rotted rabbit manure, which I've heard is good for gardens, but I'm not sure if I should add it now, before the plants go in or what. The land hasn't been touched for 4 years and I don't know if that means it will be good (due to the rest) or not so good. Guess I'll find out.

And it looks like as of later this week, one of the biggest worries on my mind will be taken care of. I found a guy with a skid steer and a manure spreader who is going to come and clean all the pens and the barn for me. This will be the first time in 4 years that the pens have been properly cleaned right down to dirt. As an added benefit, we'll be spreading the waste on the hay field, so that should help with the yield off that field this year.

Now all I have to do is get my dog run built before the girls come into heat again (probably next month some time) and get my chicken yard fenced, the nest boxes and roosts done...oh, and a separate run/coop for the meat birds I want to get next month.

It's been really exciting to see everything that's getting done around here this year, but it's also frustrating in a way because I'm still laid up from the surgery. I guess I sort of overdid it a bit and the surgery site keeps filling up with fluid. At first it was just the clear serous fluid that often accumulates after any operation, but the last couple of times the doctors drained it, it has been more blood than anything. I've been warned again to take it easy, but darn it, around here, "take it easy" equates to "it don't get done"!

 

[freemotion]

Hmmm....what about the method where you put down newspaper or cardboard, then mulch....or is it compost....to smother weeds, then plant through that.....I have no clue what I am talking about, it is after midnight, but I thought it might get someone who knows what I am talking about to reply with the accurate method!

G'night!!

 

[Tallman]

I was thinking about the possibility of putting down cardboard or newspaper first just as free suggested. The barley might sprout and grow a little, but I would not think that it could take root.

You mentioned that you use some of this straw as goat bedding. Are the goats eating some of the barley it contains? If not, then there must not be much there, and with that being the case I would mulch with it. If the goats are eating the grain out of the barley, maybe you could give them extra bedding and let them clean the grain out of it then use what is left over for your garden.

If your bales are outside in the sunshine and rain, any seeds will sprout right in the bale thus showing you what will happen in the garden. If nothing sprouts in the bales then I would think you would be good to go.

Was your straw put into bales after the combine had been through the field or were the bales rolled up while the grain was in the milk stage? If it was put up during the milk stage, I don't think that anything would sprout.

From what you have mentioned, I would give it a try. We plant garden, till between the rows for weeds a couple of times, and then put down the mulch. Without the mulch, the ground will warm up a little faster so we don't mulch until June or so. We have used wheat straw and blue stem grass. We usually use the blue stem because that's what we have plenty of. If we used wheat straw, and some wheat sprouted it would not matter where we live because it will not really grow during the hot summer months. Barley and Oats would have the same problem.

BTW, you can mulch right over small growing weeds and grass and kill them. Hope something here helps.