Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Kris Holstrom" <kholstrom@gmail.com>]

I don't use a tiller any more on my small organic farm. I add manure and compost in a thick layer in the fall and mulch heavily for our long winters. In the spring I pull back the batts of straw used for mulch and the ground is fantastic, ready to plant as the worms have completely incorporated the compost and stuff.

Kris

 

On 9/2/06, livingontheland-request@lists.ibiblio.org < livingontheland-request@lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:

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Today's Topics:

  1. Re: what we're doing (elderberryjam)
  2. Re: snakes (elderberryjam)
  3. No-till manure application (Harvey Ussery)
  4. Re: Jerusalem Artichokes (Laura McKenzie)
  5. Re: Jerusalem Artichokes (Marty Kraft)
  6. Re: Jerusalem Artichokes (uriel@nasalam.org)
  7. Re: No-till manure application (TradingPostPaul)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 12:35:18 -0400
From: "elderberryjam" <elderberryjam@zippytech.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] what we're doing
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <002c01c6cde4$9d510cd0$cd0010ac@thewizkid>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
       reply-type=original

Claudia! Here I thought you were a peaceful solutions person. (I'm
chuckling). After reading a couple of Michener's books, I wondered then what
I'd do if someone showed up with a gun. The dilrmma brings to mind the
movie, "Witness." The violence in that movie didn't go over well with some
Mennonites I know. The best scenario would be to educate now to try and
divert as much violence as possible later. Like in "Friendly Persuasion,"
and perhaps a few untold stories of the Revolutionary and Civil wars, and
likely the more modern wars as well. If people know you are willing to share
knowledge and are rational enough to see sense in maintaing long-term food
supplies, I think most would do what they needed to rather than taking to
guns.

Gwen



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 12:42:10 -0400
From: "elderberryjam" < elderberryjam@zippytech.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] snakes
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org >
Message-ID: <003001c6cde5$92a96e20$cd0010ac@thewizkid>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
       reply-type=original

Blacksnakes are welcome here. I agree with Harvey about killing to a point.
The racoons eating our ducks and  chickens, and the oppossums getting into
our garbage are not welcome.

Gwen



------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:44:56 +0000
From: Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] No-till manure application
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <44F88DB8.8000403@earthlink.net">44F88DB8.8000403@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

I'm starting an article on soil building and care for Mother Earth News.
I plan to stress the minimizing of tillage, which is where my own
practice is going as well.

A question: How does the incorporation of manures work in completely
no-till systems? As manures dry out, their nitrogen content is converted
to ammonia, which is lost to the atmosphere as a gas. So is it possible
to prevent this nitrogen loss by mulching the manure heavily enough to
keep it moist? Presumably the nitrogen would then be washed down into
the soil with each rain, where it would be available for soil micros and
plant roots--and the organic matter would be incorporated over the
season by earthworms and micros.

One could ask the same question about compost.

How about it, you no-till specialists: How to apply manures and composts
in completely no-till systems?

Thanks.

~Harvey
--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us

"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is
used."  ~Wendell Berry


------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 10:16:49 -0500
From: "Laura McKenzie" <laurabrownmckenzie@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Jerusalem Artichokes
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing"
       <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <020901c6cdd9$a639a1f0$efa24a0c@yourpa86z1i3g7>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
       reply-type=original

We are. The kids love them.  I'm trying to select for larger chokes.  The
drought this year made growing them a bit more challenging as they are not
in a spot that is easily watered.

  Question, has anyone found a trick for overcoming their ...um...
digestive distress causing properties?


><>``    ><>``     ><>``     ><>``      ><>``    ><>``    ><>``
Laura's Homeschooling, Garden, and Genealogy Site
is found here: http://home.att.net/~ekyorigins
``<><    ``<><     ``<><     ``<><     ``<><     ``<><      ``<><




------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 09:40:11 -0500
From: Marty Kraft <martyk@allspecies.org>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Jerusalem Artichokes
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
       <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <C5D5B2B8-39C7-11DB-AF19-00050261FE61@allspecies.org"> C5D5B2B8-39C7-11DB-AF19-00050261FE61@allspecies.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

I've got a stand of them. I think I bought them from Johnny's or maybe
I got them from Wild Oats off the vegetable counter. I don't think mine
are red.

Marty
On Sep 1, 2006, at 9:13 AM, TradingPostPaul wrote:

>
> Question - is anyone growing and using Jerusalem Artichokes (also
> called
> sunchokes)?  We had the red variety all ready, but with our relocating
> this
> year we missed getting them planted.
> http://www.users.on.net/~arachne/jerusart.html
>
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Livingontheland mailing list
> Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
>



------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:18:06 -0700
From: uriel@nasalam.org
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Jerusalem Artichokes
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
       < livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <20060901091806.cvi8knbdvvc4cwwk@208.179.130.20>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=ISO-8859-1;     DelSp="Yes";
       format="flowed"

I planted both the yellow knobby variety and the less-knobby red ones.
Uriel / SW Missouri

TradingPostPaul wrote:
> Question - is anyone growing and using Jerusalem Artichokes (also called
> sunchokes)?  We had the red variety all ready, but with our relocating this
> year we missed getting them planted.
> http://www.users.on.net/~arachne/jerusart.html
>
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>




------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:30:47 -0600
From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] No-till manure application
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <200609012330470653.06011CDA@mail.lobo.net">200609012330470653.06011CDA@mail.lobo.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


As I understand it, finished compost makes excellent mulch, possibly the
best mulch.  If it were me I'd thoroughly compost any manure before
applying it as a soil cover. By that point the nitrogen should be bound up
in compounds by biological and chemical processes in composting, esp if
rock dusts or other minerals have been chelated with humic substances in
compost. Someone have more on that? (I'm not the expert on soil biology
here)


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 9/1/2006 at 7:44 PM Harvey Ussery wrote:

>I'm starting an article on soil building and care for Mother Earth News.
>I plan to stress the minimizing of tillage, which is where my own
>practice is going as well.
>
>A question: How does the incorporation of manures work in completely
>no-till systems? As manures dry out, their nitrogen content is converted
>to ammonia, which is lost to the atmosphere as a gas. So is it possible
>to prevent this nitrogen loss by mulching the manure heavily enough to
>keep it moist? Presumably the nitrogen would then be washed down into
>the soil with each rain, where it would be available for soil micros and
>plant roots--and the organic matter would be incorporated over the
>season by earthworms and micros.
>
>One could ask the same question about compost.
>
>How about it, you no-till specialists: How to apply manures and composts
>in completely no-till systems?
>
>Thanks.
>
>~Harvey
>--
>Harvey in northern Va
> www.themodernhomestead.us
>
>"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is
>used."  ~Wendell Berry
>_______________________________________________
>Livingontheland mailing list
>Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland






------------------------------

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End of Livingontheland Digest, Vol 56, Issue 6
**********************************************

-- 
Kris