What did you do in the garden today?

[CrealCritter]

Maybe this is not the right thread but I need advise. This burn pile of trees was left by the previous owner. This little acre and 1/2 was in horrible shape. It was so thick with weeds I had to bush hog it high and wait for that to dry and then bush hog it low. My wife put it in mow along with the rest of what she mows. I have her mow it as high as the zero turn goes as I'm hoping the grasses will continue to grow and spread. It seems to be working well.

I watched the burn pile this evening after my wife mowed it. 100's of birds landed and we're eating bugs before my wife even put the mower up. Then the chickens a ducks joined in. I also counted 6 rabbits and a mating pair of quail come out the burn pile. As you can see white willow has also started to take root in the pile also.

Our plans are to turn this acre and 1/2 into a fruit tree orchard over the years. I planned on waiting for a good snow fall, then lighting the pile on fire to get rid of it. I also know the wood ash it would generate would be a good natural soil admendment. BUT... just maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. If rabbits and quail have found it suitable for a home. Maybe I should just let it be. It's not like we don't have room for fruit trees with it there and need it gone to.make room. I'm kind of at a loss as to what I should do with it.

What's your thoughts/advise? Thanks

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Mini Horses]

I see a nice group of trees to the right. The animals would just move there. If an orchard going in, not having that clump would make it cleaner to tend in the ultimate goal. Burn it this fall.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

If you don't mind "orcharding" around it, you could leave it. I'm hard pressed for space, so that would not be an option for me. An other consideration: If you are going to be mechanically tending that orchard, it will be a total pain to work around that pile. So, you could burn it off, and give them an other similar habitat in a place that won't be in your way. I'd go with that option. Will rabbits girdle your trees???????????????????

Given your gardening style, you would absolutely love this book: Garden Way's Joy of Gardening by Dick Raymond. This guy has been inspirational to me in some ways. He's a "keep it tilled, fluffy soft" kind of guy. That is totally contrary to my gardening style. BUT... His wide bed management, intercropping, succession cropping, edible green manure crops, and other details are winners. He also has good details re: a natural ventilation root cellar. He was also big on chemical use. I've gleaned a lot of good stuff from him, while leaving the "not for me" stuff behind.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I garden weird/strange/different than most people do. I rarely mulch, if at all. No I haven't put any mulch in this garden or any soil admendments yet. I don't even know what my garden method is called honestly, it's more mini farm crop rows, than anything else. I start by plowing (turning the soil over) them disc or till until smooth. Then I plant my rows, hoe the weeds in the rows and cultivate in-between the rows. Besides for t-post and baling twine mainly for tomatoes, that's pretty much it. I may lay down landscape fabric for melons and squash because they run all over the place but that's about a I do.

With all that mulch and wood chips what do you do next year when you want to plant rows? It seems to me that with all that mulch and wood chips would be a great place for bugs to over winter, but I don't know it's just a guess.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

Like many things, there are plusses and minuses.

Permanent mulch Positives : Keeps a steady moisture content in the soil. When there is a lot of rain, the mulch holds the excess moisture like a sponge. Then, it releases it during dry times. Keeps the frost from penetrating as deep. (I can plant my garden 2 months before those with bare soil can!) Feeds the soil, thus: Improves the microbe life. Fungi thrive at the interface between mulch and soil. These fungi greatly enhance nutrient uptake in the plants. Provides a haven for beneficial insects. Haven for insect eaters.

Soil that is never tilled will never develop hard pan. There will never be an issue with erosion. When I am out driving, I often see gardens sitting in the middle of a lawn. These gardens are often sunk into the surrounding lawn. This is b/c the gardener practices "naked soil" gardening, and never replaces anything.

Negatives: Can be a haven for pest insects and slugs. Can provide shelter for rodents. These problems can be fixed with chickens, ducks, traps, and cats.

I find that the benefits of permanent mulch far outweigh the negatives.

Creal: with your gardening style, your powder dry soil on top acts as a mulch. Just for grins and giggles: Perhaps, next year, you might try a single bed of mulched veggies along side of an identical bed of veggies using your standard practice.

 

[Rammy]

Canned 36 pints of green beans yesterday. Mostly from the Contender beans row. Not getting hardly anything from the Blue Lake row. Canned 15 pints last week. This week was over double what we got the week before.
Should be harvesting potatoes this week. Waiting for the tomatoes to start ripening for canning.
Picked 5 nice size peppers yesterday also and a few more yellow squash. One measley cucumber.
Banana peppers starting to get bigger. Onions doing well. Might try planting peas this fall since we got the garden in late due to rains and weather. Carrots doing ok, too.

 

[CrealCritter]

Canned 36 pints of green beans yesterday. Mostly from the Contender beans row. Not getting hardly anything from the Blue Lake row. Canned 15 pints last week. This week was over double what we got the week before.
Should be harvesting potatoes this week. Waiting for the tomatoes to start ripening for canning.
Picked 5 nice size peppers yesterday also and a few more yellow squash. One measley cucumber.
Banana peppers starting to get bigger. Onions doing well. Might try planting peas this fall since we got the garden in late due to rains and weather. Carrots doing ok, too.

Beside for the unknown variety I've been growing for decades. Contender is my favorite variety to grow. Of course rabbits also love them. No fence around our garden yet, so I didn't plant anything that rabbits love.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

Like many things, there are plusses and minuses.

Permanent mulch Positives : Keeps a steady moisture content in the soil. When there is a lot of rain, the mulch holds the excess moisture like a sponge. Then, it releases it during dry times. Keeps the frost from penetrating as deep. (I can plant my garden 2 months before those with bare soil can!) Feeds the soil, thus: Improves the microbe life. Fungi thrive at the interface between mulch and soil. These fungi greatly enhance nutrient uptake in the plants. Provides a haven for beneficial insects. Haven for insect eaters.

Soil that is never tilled will never develop hard pan. There will never be an issue with erosion. When I am out driving, I often see gardens sitting in the middle of a lawn. These gardens are often sunk into the surrounding lawn. This is b/c the gardener practices "naked soil" gardening, and never replaces anything.

Negatives: Can be a haven for pest insects and slugs. Can provide shelter for rodents. These problems can be fixed with chickens, ducks, traps, and cats.

I find that the benefits of permanent mulch far outweigh the negatives.

Creal: with your gardening style, your powder dry soil on top acts as a mulch. Just for grins and giggles: Perhaps, next year, you might try a single bed of mulched veggies along side of an identical bed of veggies using your standard practice.

So with a overwintered mulched garden, how do you plant rows the next year? Do you drag or rake the mulch out of the way, then till, plant and rack the mulch back?

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Lazy Gardener]

So with a overwintered mulched garden, how do you plant rows the next year? Do you drag or rake the mulch out of the way, then till, plant and rack the mulch back?

Jesus is Lord and Christ

No tilling. I have a beautiful little TroyBilt Pony tiller, that does a great job, is just the right size for me. The only time I use it is if I'm breaking up new ground. Our native soil is rock hard, heavy clay with LOTS of huge rocks interspersed with smaller rocks. So, I'll use it if I'm installing a new walkway, planting a tree (just to break up the soil in the planting hole, etc. But, to be honest, in almost all situations, I can work faster and better in my small areas with hand tools. My absolute favorite is a broad fork that was hand made for me.

In the areas that have not been converted to raised beds (the reason for the raised beds is a story for an other day!) It's a simple matter to just pull the mulch back from the intended row or bed, and sow the seed. Just as soon as the seed sprouts, I snug the mulch back up around the seedlings. Planting in a BACK TO EDEN garden is very similar to planting in a RUTH STOUT garden. Same concept: keep the soil covered year round, pull the mulch back to plant, then snug the mulch back up around the seedlings/plants as soon as practical. In Back to Eden, Paul uses wood chips, because he had a ready supply of them. Over time, they break down into the sweetest, black, high fertility and high humus soil that you could ever hope to run through your fingers. Soil builds upward from the interface between native soil and the covering mulch.

If I'm planting carrots, or other plants that benefit from having the soil loosened more than a couple of inches, I will use my broad fork in a large bed or row, or a garden fork in a much smaller area. I can prep a row for planting with the broad fork in 1/4 of the time it would take me to prep with a tiller. And, the broad fork leaves the layers and crumble of the soil intact, doing minimal disruption to the soil life. I also absolutely LOVE the way the broad fork gives me a gentle total body work out.

Paul Gautsche (? spelling) of Back to Eden fame draws a lot of spiritual analogies from his experience, being taught by Holy Spirit as he learned how to work the land in cooperation with God's natural methods. The man is a delight to listen to.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

@CrealCritter I have a tiny little Contender peach tree. It is finally putting on some growth. I'll be shocked if it EVER becomes a productive member of my yard!

 

[CrealCritter]

No tilling. I have a beautiful little TroyBilt Pony tiller, that does a great job, is just the right size for me. The only time I use it is if I'm breaking up new ground. Our native soil is rock hard, heavy clay with LOTS of huge rocks interspersed with smaller rocks. So, I'll use it if I'm installing a new walkway, planting a tree (just to break up the soil in the planting hole, etc. But, to be honest, in almost all situations, I can work faster and better in my small areas with hand tools. My absolute favorite is a broad fork that was hand made for me.

In the areas that have not been converted to raised beds (the reason for the raised beds is a story for an other day!) It's a simple matter to just pull the mulch back from the intended row or bed, and sow the seed. Just as soon as the seed sprouts, I snug the mulch back up around the seedlings. Planting in a BACK TO EDEN garden is very similar to planting in a RUTH STOUT garden. Same concept: keep the soil covered year round, pull the mulch back to plant, then snug the mulch back up around the seedlings/plants as soon as practical. In Back to Eden, Paul uses wood chips, because he had a ready supply of them. Over time, they break down into the sweetest, black, high fertility and high humus soil that you could ever hope to run through your fingers. Soil builds upward from the interface between native soil and the covering mulch.

If I'm planting carrots, or other plants that benefit from having the soil loosened more than a couple of inches, I will use my broad fork in a large bed or row, or a garden fork in a much smaller area. I can prep a row for planting with the broad fork in 1/4 of the time it would take me to prep with a tiller. And, the broad fork leaves the layers and crumble of the soil intact, doing minimal disruption to the soil life. I also absolutely LOVE the way the broad fork gives me a gentle total body work out.

Paul Gautsche (? spelling) of Back to Eden fame draws a lot of spiritual analogies from his experience, being taught by Holy Spirit as he learned how to work the land in cooperation with God's natural methods. The man is a delight to listen to.

No tilling? Now I'm all confused

Jesus is Lord and Christ