Day 8 – Lasagna’s Assembled!

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Lasagna Bed, Wicking Bed
Lasagna bed - a garden bed made up of layers of compost and compostable materials

All covered but the end!

That was easy! Well, actually a lot of it was done last year. Since it has had about six months to cook, it’s actually ready to go, so it’s really “maintenance layers” from this point forward.
A lasagna garden is also known as “sheet composting”, where you are planting right into the sheet compost bed. Patricia Lanza wrote an excellent book by this name. Her recipe includes using peat moss, though she states that the laters depend on what you have readily available.
My layers are (bottom to top) Compost, grass clippings, soil, leaves, manure, grass clippings [this year] manure, grass clippings, garden soil, grass clippings.
The next bed that we’re going to be clearing and checking is my “wicking bed” – this is an idea from Australia that I’d run across and tried the year before, with some success.

Day 6 & 7… The Lasagna Bed

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Lasagna Bed

I was driving back from the transfer station with empty garbage cans and recycling bins, I passed by our favorite horse farm. It’s not our favorite because of the people (who are friendly), or the type of horses, (which are rare and very friendly): it’s because they have a free pile of aged manure easily accessible. Horse manure vs cow manure has been a debate that continues to rage on. What ever you use be sure it’s aged well, or you’ll be bringing in a lot of weed seeds with it. Put it under a black tarp, layer it with as much carbon (brown) as you can and let it cook for awhile. Fortunately, this stuff has been cooking most of the winter, along with the bedding (sawdust), so it’s close to being a complete compost.

So, with containers full of manure and the windows open (it barely smells, and there are no bugs at this time of year), it’s off to the lasagna bed. This bed was set up last year with a layer of manure, a layer of cardboard (killing mulch) and a layer of grass clippings. 1/2″ of aged manure added, one layer of grass clippings on top, followed by a final layer (1/2″) of compost and yet another layer of grass clippings will finish it off and it will be ready to plant, but I’ve already spent my 30 minutes for today and tomorrow (no, that’s not cheating – it’s bending the rules in accordance with the weather and other environmental concerns (such as not smelling like manure on Mother’s Day). A quick movie if I can get it sandwiched in between my other duties will soon follow.

Day 5 – The Day of Rest?

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Hugelkultur

Okay, so my calendar was off.  It was a beautiful day, and tomorrow may rain, but I did get many other things accomplished, including getting some seeds locally.  As a final post for now regarding preparing a hugelkultur bed, I have found a few variations in the recipe:

  • 3 to 6 inches of soil, compared to 1 ft
  • adding a layer of manure on the logs, then adding the soil
  • logs, leaf mulch, soil vs logs soil, leaf mulch
  • Don’t bother watering vs water for the first three weeks

Definitely keep the wood completely covered, as it will act as a wick and instead of keeping the water it will wick it away.  Below is a video of another gentleman in Tennessee who is testing many different techniques:

 

 
or click: Hugelkultur in Tennessee

30 Minutes – Day 4 Progress

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Hugelkultur
Hugelkultur bed half completed, more soil needed.

Only 17 more wheelbarrows of soil to go!

Overcast, and when I went out it rained, but not enough to soak.  Backed off on trying to cover the logs completely with the rotting stump-peat (?), and focusing on moving dirt.  Four more wheel-barrows of dirt (only 17 to go!), the rest of the logs filled in, and my neck is not hurting from the gardening, but from a marathon session at the computer (job search, Comp/TIA studies and mapping out other blogs).  Hoping for another good day tomorrow and a backloader (okay wishing for a backloader, but that’s not going to happen).One potential problem with this initially, may be a lack of nitrogen, since wood rotting down tends to “steal” the nitrogen to break it down.  If it’s too close to the root system (not enough soil), it could potentially stunt the growth of the plants this year.  Since it’s not fresh wood (2+ to 10 years  of rotting), I am hoping that the initial nitrogen stealing properties of the wood in the soil will be minimal.  We will find out over the course of this season.  As for now, I’m happily getting off the computer and walking the dogs, making dinner, cleaning the kitchen and other such non – “sitting on my kiester” endeavors.

30 Minutes – Day 3 – RAIN

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Soil

RAIN.  “You can’t solve rain.” – So says Merlin Mann in his latest “Back to Work” segment.  Incredible to listen to him resolve issues – he’s able to verbalize thought processes like nobody I know.  But enough about that – onto the next 30 minutes of gardening.

You do NOT want to prepare beds in the rain.  The dirt is heavy, you compact any soil you step on, and if you’re using a tiller, you’ll create “hard pan”: a compacted area under your bed that behaves like cement, not allowing water to flow or roots to penetrate.   It is good to be inside, sorting and gathering seeds, filling pots with potting soil and starting seeds.

30 minutes spent gathering the potting soil, finding the seeds, the pots and the other necessities.

Potting soil is basically soil, perlite or vermiculite and peat moss.  You can substitute “coir” for the peat moss, or use leaf mould (well rotted leaves that have been ground up and left to rot for a season or two).  Optionally you can add slow release fertilizer or bone meal, but many people leave this out so the plant doesn’t get either too “rooty” or too “leafy”.   Many people also like a sterile soil to start the plants with for the best propagation:  no bacteria or viruses = more starts, while others like a “living soil” – some of their garden soil mixed in with the perlite/vermiculite (which makes it easier for the roots to penetrate the soil, as well as retaining moisture).  After our misery a few years ago with blight (thanks to wet season and a couple of starter plants from a big box store), I tend to go with sterile soil, and a light amendment of bone meal or ground eggshells, especially for the tomatoes.

You can make specific potting soils for specific needs, too – at http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/potting-soil-recipes.html, there are several variations for your cacti, bulbs, acid loving plants and more.

30 Minutes, Day 2

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Hugelkultur, Lasagna Bed, Raised Bed, Wicking Bed

Okay – I may have to bend the rules this weekend, weather permitting.  The second day has brought industriousness and insight:  1/4 done, this bed is going to take approximately 21 more wheelbarrow loads of soil, 12 wheelbarrows full of “stump dirt” and/or a lot more rotting logs, and then a killing mulch to (hopefully) rid the soil of any remnants of “creeping charlie” – an invasive mint.  On the bright side,  the creeping charlie  kept the rodents out of the fallow garden, so maybe it’s not such a bad thing…

Another bright side, the “wicking bed” will only need a layer of soil due to settling from last year and some manure.  The lasagna bed already has three layers (one manure, one soil, one grass clippings) from last year, so it will only need a couple of additional layers: I’m planning on manure/spent hay/killing mulch (newspaper as it’s planting time, otherwise I’d use cardboard), and then a light layer (1/2″) of soil to hold the newspaper down.  It’s high time (past, actually) to plant the peas, so hopefully I’ll fill one of the other beds and start them tomorrow…

HugelKultur Bed, day 2: Rotting wood covered partially by fresh soil.

Rotting wood covered by garden soil from the beds that need moving. Bottom left & center: thornless raspberry plants to be moved.

30 minutes on the bed…

Posted on by APerkins Posted in 30 Min., Hugelkultur

Hugelkultur row, 4 ft by 18 ft, with only the first sixth covered with semi-rotted logs

…the garden bed. Started the “Hugelkultur” bed, where you bury logs, brush

and other woody debris with one foot of soil. The wood acts like a sponge and regulates the moisture, as well as providing nutrients from both the wood itself and the micro-organisms that are helping to break it down. Found a reference to “stump dirt” at “waldeneffect.org“, and realized I have a similar material on our property.  The logs that were sitting along the perimeter of our property have rotted down over the last ten years to the consistency of peat moss, with a lot of white fungal veins and roots of nearby trees threaded throughtout.  Using this  as the primary filler after I lay down the birch that has been rotting nearby for over one year and is almost stump dirt itself.  Filled about 1/6 of the area with the first layer.  You can see another time-saving “hack” as well: the “killing mulch” – a layer of corrugated cardboard layed down the year before that smothered all of the weeds this spring.  Under the soil, it will eventually rot just like the logs.

Closeup of birch logs with "stump soil" in the background, on corrugated cardboard "killing mulch" from last fall.

Closeup of birch logs with "stump dirt" in the background, on corrugated cardboard "killing mulch" from last fall.

Back after a long winter…

Posted on by APerkins Posted in Tangents

Ahh, back – on a new server, and ready to dig!  Have several plans, and there’s new construction starting on the house, so I actually have to move my established asparagus and grapes, which should at least set back the grapes one year.  More soon!  Photo credit on the banner goes to http://www.flickr.com/photos/itzafineday/

Harvest Produce at the Grocery Store : Discovery News

Posted on by APerkins Posted in Tangents

concept of a Hydroponic grocery store.Imagine going to a garden and picking your fresh veggies, only you don’t have to brave the heat/ cold/ sun/ rain/ bugs/ etc.  Instead, you go into your friendly neighborhood freshproducehydromart and pick your fresh produce.  Locally grown, and harvested 500 feet or less from the shelf, much of it grown on the shelf.

Harvest Produce at the Grocery Store : Discovery News.

All About Strawberries

Posted on by APerkins Posted in disease, Soil, Watering

Photo Credit: sigusr0 on Flickr.com

“…There are three major types of strawberries, though if you counted, youd find over six hundred varieties! Different shapes, sizes, colors and growing habits differentiate these wonderful treats. The major types of strawberries are:

  • June Bearing either early, mid or late
  • Day Neutral bearing throughout the season
  • Alpine small, but packed with flavor! …”

via All About Strawberries.

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