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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops, roller crimpers, and straw mulch

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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops, roller crimpers, and straw mulch
  • Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 21:34:03 -0600


Good answer, the board and rope part. The straw is ideal because it doesn't
import more unwanted seeds.

For anyone not following closely, weed control in no-till is critical
because we need good alternatives to herbicide.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require government help.
-- me
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 8/16/2006 at 8:28 PM Steve Diver wrote:

>If you mow hairy vetch after it starts to flower, you can get
>an effective kill-down. A flail mower is preferred if you intend
>to come back with a no-till planting.
>
>But vetch is usually planted with winter rye to create a high
>biomass cover crop that leaves a weed suppressive mulch.
>
>The roller-crimper is replacing mow-kill because it leaves
>a thicker mulch for no-till plantings.
>
>The roller-crimper doesn't kill the cover crop immediately.
>It lays it over and "crimps" the stem, so the cover crop
>slowly turns brown and dies, leaving a weed suppressive
>mulch.
>
>You can do this on a small scale, using the same method
>that tricksters use to make crop circles in England.... a
>board and a piece of rope attached to each end.
>
>Push the stalks of rye over with the board, stepping on the
>board while holding the rope. Move forward through the
>field of rye, stepping and crimping as you go.
>
>One of the tricks is to wait until the cereal crop starts
>to flower, when the anthers are extended.
>
>Elbon rye is a tall-growing, high biomass producing
>cover crop. So variety selection for the cover crop
>can also be important. Short-stalked wheat varieties
>won't work as well.
>
>A market farmer in Oklahoma used a string trimmer
>to knock over cover crops growing on beds. Then he
>raked and concentrated the biomass onto the beds for
>no-till planting.
>
>But there is a complete alternative to the
>roller-crimper to establish no-till vegetable
>production, and that is good old fashioned
>straw mulch used in liberal amounts.
>
>The deep mulch and sheet mulch methods are
>still a good option for market gardens ranging
>in size from a quarter to half acre, on up to a
>few acres in size.
>
>You can purchase straw or you can grow and
>bale your own. Raise winter wheat or winter rye,
>but cut it before the seedhead matures.
>
>I'm using one square bale of straw mulch for
>every 100 square foot of raised bed, btw.
>
>But no-till ain't for every farm/garden situation,
>so there are complementary cover crop and
>mulching methods that can be used with proper
>tillage and humus management.
>
>Steve Diver
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Mark Nagel <activism98201@verizon.net>
>>Sent: Aug 16, 2006 11:58 AM
>>To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>>Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Sustainable Production of Fresh-Market
>Tomatoes and O
>>
>>Paul, I agree 100% with your assessment.
>>
>>What I was wanting bring up (and failed to do so in my initial response)
>was the question of how it is, exactly, that these crimpers/rollers can be
>said to "kill" vetch. It seems a lot like mowing to me, in which case why
>doesn't the mowing that people are doing "kill" the vetch for them? Are
>the crimpers/rollers doing something special that might be incorporated at
>a smaller scale (with or, hopefully, without mowing)?
>>
>>I'm interested in this for purposes of potentially reinvigorating land
>(perhaps to plant, but mostly to encourage more permanent vegatative
>growth [create a micro-climate]).
>>
>>
>>-Mark Nagel
>>Everett, WA
>
>
>
>
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>Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
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