Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

But Tom, I'm not putting chips in the soil, I'm using them for mulch. Also
I compost in the beds, not in the aisles where it'll have to be moved. Any
weeds will end up as mulch on the beds. The framing is cull lumber sold
cheap, untreated pine. We're a dry climate so it'll last a few years, maybe
longer than I will. BTW I thought about using soil cement for sides but
it's just too time consuming for this year since relocating and starting
over. Soil cement is one part Portland, ten parts dirt (no organic
detritus), and it sets white and feels hard like concrete.

By composting in place I depart from the standard Rodale formulas. Just to
start the soil first year (no-till after this), I dig one shovel deep and
then build it up higher with a mix of soil, aged manure, some bone meal,
and a bit of greensand and alfalfa meal. This is just my own way to jump
start soil building so I don't have to wait three years for highly
productive soil by lasagna methods. My belief is that the decomposing
organic matter needs to be in contact with the soil and minerals as it gets
acted on by the microbes and natural processes. It doesn't heat up like the
Indore Method or Rodale method, but then to my thinking it doesn't need to
because it doesn't in Nature. 

YMMV.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 3/11/2007 at 6:58 PM mtncats wrote:

>Paul, I was very pleasantly surprised at what a thick layer of wood chips
>under the dirt in my (new) raised beds accomplished.  No apparent
>difference the first year, but after that it was clear (in comparison to a
>bed that had no wood chips).  I got our Dept of Transportation to deliver
>a couple of dumptruck loads.  Worked so well I'd be willing to pay next
>time, if I couldn't get it free.  Large chips, not sawdust or planer
chips.
>
>I compost (low temp) in the aisles between the permanent beds.  Makes for
>minimal material moving.  Foot traffic is no problem.  Also a very
>convenient place to throw the few weeds that manage to sprout in the beds.
> Mine are close to where I can dump my imported manure.  Efficiency of
>motion.  I prefer to use most of mine harvesting.
>
>One place I'd differ is your suggestion of "salvage boards" for the form. 
>I've gotten 6 yrs from my red oak timbers, which I knew were the wrong
>species when I used them.  Won't do that again.
>
>Seems to me that much cheaper lifespan costs can be found with material
>that resists rot.  My next beds are tire boards
>http://www.noble.org/Ag/Horticulture/raisdbed/rb07.html.  Ferrocement is
>another good choice.  While making long-term soil plans, seems prudent to
>make long-term frames.  Very short beds of course need little or no frame.
> My back prefers tall.
>
>Tom (in central Virginia with early spring plantings)
>
>
>
>
> --- On Sun 03/11, TradingPostPaul < tradingpost@riseup.net > wrote:
>
>
>There was a book titled "The $64 Tomato". You can spend so much on a
>gardenthat the original idea of saving on food costs is down the
>proverbialtoilet. And you can make it too much work to be worth the
>trouble in thefirst place. Typical garden layout is the problem. Planting
>in rows leavestoo much empty space to grow weeds, and too much ground to
>water. Permanentbeds can grow twice as many plants as single rows; you
>walk on the aisles,not between plants, so they're all equidistant from
>each other. Do themath. Leaving it unmulched also means more weeds and
>more watering. Read:more expense, more work. Tilling in all sorts of
>expensive soilconditioners and fertilizers (organic or not) means
>machinery, fuel, fumes,and trips to garden stores for bags of this and
>that. And expense. A fewloads of aged manure from nearby farms or stables
>or chicken operationstakes some effort but it's cheap. Dig in decomposed
>organic matter frommost any source. It'll buffer pH swings and add 
>micronutrients as well asconditioning your soil structure for better
>drainage and moistureretention. The beauty of soil building is you get it
>done this year anddon't have to repeat the process next time or ever. You
>just add morecompost of some sort to the surface to start each season and
>keep itmulched. A lot of us have months without rain and water bills. The
>big keysto cutting costs are  bed layout, soil organic matter, and mulch.
>Except for the cost of rabbit fencing, we're setting up forty framed
>bedson a shoestring this year. We're getting pickup loads of aged manure
>fromnearby farms, and spoiled hay, and wood chips from the county for
>mulch.I'm digging in small amounts of greensand and alfalfa meal, but the
>cost isminimal since it's a one time thing in bulk. Cull and salvage
>boards framethe beds to hold the mulch in place in wind. All in all the
>cost is afraction of what a good tiller would cost, and next year the cost
>will bealmost zero and no-till will mean much 
>less work for next year. paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
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