Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

I hate it when that happens ;-)  Seriously, over by June 1? Mulch and 
irrigation setup sounds like the best bet; it's what I do. Here we've had 
about one inch of rain all year. Temps are in the 90s and it's so dry forest 
fires are popping up around NM. Shadecloth has its uses but it's limited to 
certain crops and impractical for vining or climbing things, and expensive  
for me.

Our framed or raised beds make mulching and amending easier and cheaper, but 
make irrigating more complicated and time consuming. Next season I must make 
a T-tape setup which I have no experience with, to save time. Keep saying 
that ... I'm using a few 25' soaker hoses on top of the mulch in 3'x8' squash 
and pepper beds, but they do cost. Makes watering far easier when they grow 
thick. On fence beds with pole beans, squash, and fingerling potatoes I'm 
using 50' soaker hoses, tho it's easy to overdo on the young beans - a 
mistake I've already made. Squash and potatoes don't seem to mind excess 
water, but the beans start putting out light green growth on top. At least 
we're on a well, no ridiculous water bill. Tomato beds in the greenhouse show 
no stress at all. The wind protection helps. The first stage transplant beds 
are over my head now, and they're mulched with soaker hoses for water every 
other day, can't be watered any other way. Gotta keep moisture even thru 
Sept. for best tomatoes. We should have a *lot* of tomatoes, carrots, red 
onions, fingerlings, plus some garlic and shallots in two-three weeks for 
markets. The only wild card at this point is possible hail.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 6/26/2008 at 6:37 PM E. E. Mitchamore Jr wrote:

>We have had  no rain and much hotter temperatures this Summer, and my
>garden didn't respond well.  Crops were "done" by June 1.  Clearly I need
>to raise my game.  More shade, mulch, organic matter, work on the water
>supply, more heat-tolerant crops.
>
>E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
>www.hillcountrynatives.biz
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Tradingpost
>  To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>  Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 11:10 AM
>  Subject: [Livingontheland] The Price Of Food: 2007 - 2008
>