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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Mulch
  • Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:44:55 -0700

EarthNSky wrote:

I like JJ. I don't think of him as the master of double digging, and I never took to that method, except for my asparagus bed when I first set it up. It is only a 4x10 foot bed, but that was enough double digging for me. I think of JJ as the master of intensively planted crops. I use the tables in his book all the time. I should, probably, have it memorized by now. I can never seem to grow enough of certain things to last a year, and I like that he basically gives yields for stuff, so I can plan accordingly. I may not get his yield, but it gives me an idea anyway.

I've had just as much luck without the double digging, but I've had to add an inch onto the spacing, at least. I've succeeded in getting 2 pounds of potatoes to the square foot for Shepody.

I've never wanted to test the soil every time, so I just assume that the quantity of alfalfa to be added is the somewhere in the middle between the recommendation for high and low. That comes out to about a pound to every 10 sq. ft. I don't buy expensive alfalfa meal labelled for gardeners, rather I just soak alfalfa pellets until they fall apart. My compost is good enough to provide lots of potatassium, if not nitrogen, and since alfalfa is loaded with it anyway, I omit the recommended additions for potassium and phosphorus, although I've been known to use some bone meal for phosphorus on crops that could benefit from it.

Bill
S. Oregon coast




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