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market-farming - Re: Help with irrigation and mulch

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  • From: Lucy Goodman-Owsley <goodows AT excite.com>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Help with irrigation and mulch
  • Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 06:05:19 -0800 (PST)





On Sat, 29 Jan 2000 08:52:19 -0500, market farming wrote:

> Rose, if I were you, I'd go with green manures. They mulch, fertilize &
> build humus in your soil. And you avoid the usual problems with other
> mulches such as weed seeds. Personally, I think green manures are easier
to
> plant, than mulch is to spread, though I do use a combination of both
> depending on the crop. Johnny's & Peaceful Valley Farm Supply sell many
> types (& possibly your local farm supply). I usually sow them 4-5 weeks
> after I've planted a crop of whatever. Clovers are great for those
growing
> veggies-they bring in pollinators.

There some crops that need a straw or plastic mulch. All of the nightshades
(except spuds) seem very sensitive to soil born diseases which green manures
cannot control because even though they cut down on erosion there is still
soil exposed and rain/watering will cause the soil to splash up on the
plants (not as much as bare soil but there will still be some splashing) and
the spread of soil born diseases can start happening.
> A heavy straw mulch will prevent this and also keep a lot of moisture in
the soil and also add lots of organic matter over the season . plastic
mulches will keep the diseases at bay and keep moisture in but they do
nothing to build the soil up and i am at a loss of how to dispose of all the
plastic. Some of ours goes to a charity Haunted forest we help out with
(black plastic hung from trees in a dark forest is amazingly scary, spent
row covers make excellent ghosts, but the waste problem is still there and
the owners of the forest I assume landfill the plastic we leave there).
2 other crops I grow that need straw are celery and leeks for the blanching
effect. I could pile up soil around the plants but straw leaves them so much
cleaner and is easier to use than digging dirt.

Lucy Goodman-Owsley
Boulder Belt CSA
New Paris, OH
Website: http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/boulderbeltcsa
Organic Farming and Gardening Forum:
http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb135705
Want Social Change? Join a CSA!





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