Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Laura McKenzie" <laurabrownmckenzie@worldnet.att.net>]

Gloria, you mentioned needing to grow even more food this year.  What are 
you doing to increase yield?  Hearing from others would certainly help me.

  We set up 10 compost bins. 6 are along the fence that delineates our back 
yard from our forest.  The area is sunny but the ground is full of tree 
roots so I topped each bin with soil and am growing potatoes now in them and 
perhaps squash in them in June or July.  I ran out of compost bin structural 
materials so my 10th pile is made by putting 8 large branches into the 
ground in a circle and then around them weaving, braiding, whatever, 
muscadine vines from my pruning this year.  It isn't exactly pretty but it 
does the job.  In the bins that I'm not growing potatoes I plan to grow 
winter squash and train the vines into the root ridden areas.  I have mini 
compost piles formed in holes and then hilled up for the same purpose on the 
edges of some of my raised beds.

 Last year I tried making my own hanging pots to grow tomatoes in but my 
attempt was a failure. I'd like to try again once I find someone who has 
done it successfully who can guide me.

   I'm propagating elderberry bushes to plant along the edges of the 
forest.

   We're moving food growing to the front yard as well as the back yard.  I 
already had apple trees in the front yard. This year I'll have chile plants 
and winter squash and herbs as well.


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