North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Title: Re: [NAFEX] 'non synthetic' herbicide

I'm not 100% sure if this is the same thing, but I know that if you cultivate lightly, then plant buckwheat thickly, it grows up very thick, blocking the ability of other weeds to germinate.  When it gets close to flowering, mow it off and plant through the debris and stubble without cultivating.  I have heard of growers who don't even mow - they use a roller to flatten the plants to make a sort of sheet mulch.  This adds organic matter which mulches the soil enough to block the germination of weed seed, while the decomposing roots leave channels in the soil to improve the structure.
-Lon Rombough
> From: "Helga and Bert Dunn" <helbert@idirect.com>
> Reply-To: Helga and Bert Dunn <helbert@idirect.com>, North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 18:51:44 -0500
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] 'non synthetic' herbicide

> Hello Gord
> Please explain "smother crops". I have , it seems, more than my fair share
> of weeds       Cheers       Bert
>
> Bert Dunn   RR4 Tottenham   Ont    zone 4b
> www.hardygrapes.tottenham.on.ca
> THINK BLENDING, NOT VARIETALS
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gord Hawkes" <mail@logcabinorchard.com>
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 5:33 PM
>
> I'd be interested in what you have to say about using smother
> > crops to suppress weeds.
> >
> > Gord Hawkes
> > Log Cabin Organic Orchard
> > Osgoode, ON