Guest guest Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Butch wrote: <Commercial Composted Manure is not always what its made out to be ..> I am using commercial " Mushroom Manure " on the flowerbeds right now, but the veggie garden has never received anything but good home-grown chickenstuff, or true aged poop from other critters raised by folks in the neighborhood. Things grow wonderfully for 2 years or so after receiving a dose, but you have to keep it coming, it kind of sinks through the porous soil after a few years. I would gladly trade my sand for fertile clay, it probably stays improved better. As for your thoughtful comments on organic matter having to come from somewhere, I need to experiment more with self-fertilizing beds. Covercrops, rotations etc. Actually, legumes get rotated religiously anyway. As for the coyote spirit of herbs, you almost made it unnecessary to write it, . But I'll do it anyway, my blog needs feeding too, have too be busy outside to do any writing since May... Carry On Canning! Ien in the Kootenays http://freegreenliving.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Howdy Ien, Butch wrote: >> Commercial Composted Manure is not always what its made out to be. > I am using commercial " Mushroom Manure " on the flowerbeds > right now, but the veggie garden has never received anything > but good home-grown chickenstuff, or true aged poop from > other critters raised by folks in the neighborhood. Good it is long as its composted first .. if not, you risk getting a lotta bad bacteria critters in your soil. > Things grow wonderfully for 2 years or so after receiving > a dose, but you have to keep it coming, it kind of sinks through > the porous soil after a few years. I would gladly trade my > sand for fertile clay, it probably stays improved better. True for sure .. but if you research farming techniques in Israel you will see that they made Gardens of Eden from sandy desert soil. Its easy when you condition the soil. They do it on a large scale basis but for you and me its a lot easier. > As for your thoughtful comments on organic matter having > to come from somewhere, I need to experiment more with > self-fertilizing beds. Covercrops, rotations etc. Actually, > legumes get rotated religiously anyway. Cover Crops are necessary. Except for the Fall veggies and turnips I'll plant this year, the rest of the garden will be sown with Red Clover. There are better cover crops but I don't need to use them in my garden. Crop Rotation .. commercial farmers often follow wheat with soybeans and ALWAYS follow corn with soybeans. Even in our gardens we gotta avoid planting cole crops (Family Brassicaceae) in the same place two years in a row .. and for some we need to wait 3 years. These veggies are Cabbages, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Mustard, Spinach, Cauliflower, Broccoli and some others. This is not due to causing lack of rich soil but rather avoiding the build up of certain harmful bacteria. Gardening of any kind requires some planning and lack of planning is what convinces some folks that they don't have a Green Thumb. Its not a difficult hobby to learn. > As for the coyote spirit of herbs, you almost made it > unnecessary to write it, . But I'll do it anyway, my > blog needs feeding too, have too be busy outside to > do any writing since May... Go for it .. looking forward to reading it. :-) > Carry On Canning! Thankee ma'am .. we are doing that .. and dehydrating. First time I have ever used a machine for this and I see that it can also be used to make great jerky. :-) > Ien in the Kootenays > http://freegreenliving.com Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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