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  • From: "Roger Weeks" <rjw AT sonic.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale
  • Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 10:14:13 -0700

I have found that flaming is very effective on bermuda grass, as well as
other rhizome or stolon-based weeds. Himalayan Blackberry - which is not
native to the West Coast, although if you live here, you assume that it is -
can also be killed back by flaming.

The principle of flaming as I understand it is that you quickly raise the
temperature of the cell walls in the green part of the plant, causing them
to burst. Depriving the plant of the majority of its nutrient source
starves the root system, and eventually the roots die.

Obviously for established bermuda grass or blackberry, multiple flame
treatments are necessary.
For my small 1/2 acre, I just have a propane cylinder and a curved blowtorch
that I got from a garden supply catalog. I know that Eliot Coleman mentions
tractor-mounted flamers in his books, but I've never used one on that scale.

Roger Weeks
Weeks Gardens
Sebastopol, CA

-----Original Message-----
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 13:17:41 -0400
From: Nicole <nbrown AT bbtel.com>
Subject: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <3F708035.4060807 AT bbtel.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed

Willie McKemie wrote: >>Mulches are not very effective on many of our
problem weeds: bermuda grass, johnson grass, morning glory.<<

I have found that to be true here as well. Is there anything that IS
effective against those weeds? Thus far, I have only had a home garden
to contend with, and have hand-pulled when they got out of control - but
still they get out of control!

In one section of my garden (the one that keeps getting abandoned), I
laid carpet for a year, and the next year covered thickly with old hay -
I did notice a considerable reduction in weeds all the way through about
July of this year... that section is in tomatoes this year... and the
weeds have gotten out of control again.

I think I have figured out that leaving the paths in grass and trying to
keep them mowed is *not* working, especially for the bermuda grass which
creeps into the beds. Hopefully a program of never letting the weeds go
to seed will eventually afford me a reduction of the crabgrass and
morning glory.

I garden organically, BTW, and have a half-acre in the works for a
market garden in 2005.

Nicole in KY


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

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 12:28:50 -0500
From: "Wiediger, Alison" <awiediger AT HART.k12.ky.us>
Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale
To: 'Market Farming' <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <D0D2BF9CC5A6D411A26D0008C7B1695A05B90D@E245000N0>
Content-Type: text/plain

Nicole,
Don't feel alone - we have those too. Thank goodness, not the bermuda, but
Johnson grass makes up for it. We have decided, I think, to buy a plastic
mulch layer and lay plastic for all our long-term crops next year. The hope
is that it will reduce our workload trying to control weeds enough that we
will actually be able to control them where we don't have plastic. In this
very very wet year, even annual weeds got way out of hand. We have 2.5
acres in production, and figure the tool will pay for itself in less than a
season with increased production.

In the high tunnels, where we do a much better job controlling annual weeds,
you can tell how long tunnel has been in production by the lessening of
weed pressure - so keeping them from going to seed will help long-term on
the annuals. On Johnson grass, well, it makes great hay! (Just cut before
it goes to seed!)

Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm http://aunaturelfarm.homestead.com

> ----------
> From: Nicole[SMTP:nbrown AT bbtel.com]
> Reply To: Market Farming
> Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 12:17 PM
> To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale
>
> Willie McKemie wrote: >>Mulches are not very effective on many of our
> problem weeds: bermuda grass, johnson grass, morning glory.<<
>
> I have found that to be true here as well. Is there anything that IS
> effective against those weeds? Thus far, I have only had a home garden
> to contend with, and have hand-pulled when they got out of control - but
> still they get out of control!
>
>
> Nicole in KY
>
>

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

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 12:45:05 -0500
From: "Alan Whitaker" <awhitaker AT greenlynk.com>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <000901c381fa$6d2d5380$24d4fea9@oemcomputer>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

we are is south Alabama. We have a lot of trouble with tall crabgrass and
Bermuda grass. We were growing 18 acres of vegetables, but have given in to
the Bermuda on 9 acres. The other 9, I'm going to fight it till it or I
expire! I going to experiment with a heavy mulch (via Ruth Stout) on about
1/2 acre this winter and next spring. I'm using a new covington tool bar
two row planter and an old Planet Jr. planter. Both have the coulters to
open the rows. I hope it'll work. I ended up mowing down crops on 11 acres
do to the grass. After allmost 90 inches of rain so far this year, I
couldn't keep up. I'm organic, and won't use plasi-culture until there is
no other way. On some of the ground, I'm planting wheat and peas and will
roll them down next spring and try to plant in the stubble..............


----- Original Message -----
From: Wiediger, Alison <awiediger AT HART.k12.ky.us>
To: 'Market Farming' <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 12:28 PM
Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale


> Nicole,
> Don't feel alone - we have those too. Thank goodness, not the
> bermuda,
but
> Johnson grass makes up for it. We have decided, I think, to buy a
> plastic mulch layer and lay plastic for all our long-term crops next
> year. The
hope
> is that it will reduce our workload trying to control weeds enough
> that we will actually be able to control them where we don't have
> plastic. In
this
> very very wet year, even annual weeds got way out of hand. We have
> 2.5 acres in production, and figure the tool will pay for itself in
> less than
a
> season with increased production.
>
> In the high tunnels, where we do a much better job controlling annual
weeds,
> you can tell how long tunnel has been in production by the lessening
> of weed pressure - so keeping them from going to seed will help
> long-term on the annuals. On Johnson grass, well, it makes great hay!
> (Just cut before it goes to seed!)
>
> Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm http://aunaturelfarm.homestead.com
>
> > ----------
> > From: Nicole[SMTP:nbrown AT bbtel.com]
> > Reply To: Market Farming
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 12:17 PM
> > To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > Subject: [Market-farming] Re: Mulch on a big scale
> >
> > Willie McKemie wrote: >>Mulches are not very effective on many of
> > our problem weeds: bermuda grass, johnson grass, morning glory.<<
> >
> > I have found that to be true here as well. Is there anything that IS
> > effective against those weeds? Thus far, I have only had a home
> > garden to contend with, and have hand-pulled when they got out of
> > control - but still they get out of control!
> >
> >
> > Nicole in KY
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm


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

Message: 4
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 14:09:04 EDT
From: Dcimmarr AT aol.com
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Wild Italian Arugula
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <1d6.1121a235.2ca1e640 AT aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I have grown this variety for several years also. It self seeds freely and
develops a tremondous tap root. It is very tasty. I overwintered it in a
cool
greenhouse last year and it did remarkedly well. It also starts from seed
relatively easy.
Denise Cimmarrusti
Master Gardener
University of Illinios Extension
Kane County, Il.
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 11:39:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul Bucciaglia <pbucciaglia AT yahoo.com>
Subject: [Market-farming] Re: round bale mulching
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <20030923183942.61776.qmail AT web41610.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Re horsing round bales: I was amazed at how easily they unroll. Get a bale
spear and put them where you want them, and 2 people can easily unroll one,
maybe one very large person.

Re tomatoes: someone thought this was too short a season crop to mulch but
I strongly disagree. They are in the ground in New England from late May
until late September, which is a long time to keep cultivating the ground.
Once you stake them you can't cultivate with nearly all tractors. And
keeping the ground covered pays big rewards in terms of even moisture
(reduces fruit splitting), fruit cleanliness, disease reduction, weed
control, and reduced soil OM loss.

Re weeds in the mulch: this is where it pays to grow your own. I seeded
about 1.5 acres to rye and had it harvested at anthesis. No viable rye
seed, and it was very clean, almost no weeds. Hard part for me was asking
the neighbors to do the cutting and baling as they are busy at this time
with their own hay. So I paid them handsomely for each bale. The savings
in weed control alone more than payed for each bale. SOme day as the farm
business grows I may get my own baler, but thats a ways off. It took about
only an hour or so to unroll 3 round bales, which mulched 3 rows of tomaotes
and one eggplant (planted into plastic mulch in the rows). I haven't
tallied my tomato numbers yet but I was amazed at how much fruit we
harvested, most farmers here in Southern New England had a horrible year for
tomatoes so we sold just about everything.

I should note that I have sandy soil, your mileage may vary in clays which
dry out and warm up much more slowly.

Paul






Paul Bucciaglia
Fort Hill Farm
Organic Vegetables, Herbs, and Flowers
18 Fort Hill Rd.
New Milford CT 06776
(860) 350-3158

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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 14:40:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: sora AT coldreams.com
Subject: [Market-farming] Green manure as living mulch
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID:
<1272.216.229.174.59.1064353215.squirrel AT qmail.coldreams.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1

>> Andrea, there's lots of materials that can be considered mulch, and
>> each
> crop responds differently to the material used. Hay and wood mulch
> have already been mentioned and you can grow "green manure" crops that
> function in much the same way. There's also black plastic and the
> various colored plastics for use on specific crops.

>I used to swear by ruined alfalfa hay as mulch...I laid it on thick and
deep assured it would smother out weeds.....over the years I found that the
most obvious result was the introduction of an incredibly healthy stand of
Quack grass which is almost impossible to remove. For the last few years
I've been experimenting with a living mulch of Dutch White Clover. The
results have been fabulous. I plant it in between the rows where it comes
in thick enough to crowd out weeds. Mowing it adds tremendous amounts of
high fiber and nitrogen to the soils. Sora at Paradise Valley Organics...

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

Message: 7
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 16:52:02 -0500
From: "adriana" <gutierrez-lagatta AT charter.net>
Subject: [Market-farming] Wild arugula
To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <000201c3821f$f01f8360$dceda842 AT al.charter.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

It's also sometimes referred to as Sylvetta, correct? I can attest to the
fine quality of both Johnny's and Bill Mckay's seeds. You can't go wrong
with either of them. But Bill offers two different types of Sylvetta.
> The real name is rucola selvatica (in Italian at least). Translation
> is selvatica (wild) rucola (arugula).

Adriana


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

Message: 8
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 18:03:58 -0500
From: "Marie Kamphefner" <kampy AT grm.net>
Subject: [Market-farming] Overland Park, KS Market
To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <000d01c38227$0040d490$a5688bd8@your7x1ttcs5lk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Regards to the list:

Has anyone on this list ever sold at the Overland Park, Kansas, farmers
market? If so, I would like to hear about your experiences.

Marie in Missouri





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

Message: 9
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 18:06:09 -0500
From: "Marie Kamphefner" <kampy AT grm.net>
Subject: [Market-farming] organic onion plants
To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <000e01c38227$5bc3cd40$a5688bd8@your7x1ttcs5lk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Regards to the list:

I could have sworn that I got a catalog in the mail that had organic onion
plants for sale. Now I can't find it. Does anyone have information about
this?

Marie in Missouri





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

Message: 10
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 22:38:58 -0500
From: "Marie Kamphefner" <kampy AT grm.net>
Subject: RE: [Market-farming] organic onion plants
To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <000701c3824d$68ea3ce0$30678bd8@your7x1ttcs5lk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Never mind - I found it. Thanks anyway.

Marie in Missouri


I could have sworn that I got a catalog in the mail that had organic onion
plants for sale. Now I can't find it. Does anyone have information about
this?

Marie in Missouri




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

Message: 11
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 23:50:39 EDT
From: IdleThymeFarm AT aol.com
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] organic onion plants
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <1ad.19deb0af.2ca26e8f AT aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Marie,
Please share, thanks!

Shelly Elliott
Idle Thyme Farm
<A HREF="www.IdleThymeFarm.com">www.IdleThymeFarm.com</A>

If you would have a lovely garden, you should live a lovely life! ~ Shaker
saying
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End of Market-farming Digest, Vol 8, Issue 23
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