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  • From: kevin s <k.skvorak@verizon.net>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] sheet mulch beds for CSA production?
  • Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2006 21:35:30 -0400

so,

what is the largest area of sheet mulch beds that folks have going?

we are going to put in several thousand feet, and try to grow some vegetables for our new CSA in dutchess co NY.

i haven't heard of anyone else going that way, maybe there is? please feel free to advise if so...

to start we have:

an adequate supply of somewhat composted (fresh 'ish') horse manure that is pretty much equal parts manure and wood shavings. lot's of red worms in there. looks ok. i wish it was older

plenty of fresh bedding straw from another horse farm. (very little manure in it, they treat their horses well)

also quite a lot of fairly well rotted hay that laid out in a field all year

several thousand feet of brown paper in rolls from a wood fired matzo place in the city

and, not nearly enough finished compost

the beds are going in following contour on a 5 to 10 percent slope, on land that hasn't been farmed for 30 yrs or so. before that probably corn and hay. it is decent soil, but not great- clayey, and hard packed in areas. fairly shallow root depth, and limited organic material. it is well covered with weeds and grass that is laying down in a nice thick thatch in some areas. in other areas the ground is nearly bare because this soil was completely shaded by thick canopy from a variety of woody stuff- pasture roses, and something that someone told us is related to honeysuckle. anyway, we have been clearing brush...stuff that came in in the last 25 yrs. no trees tho


we are thinking first to rake the weeds where we have them into the bedrows, cover it with a good layer of manure, and add some lime cause i am worried about the PH of the wood chips. then maybe a handfull of greensand or local 'blue granite' dust, and cover with a generous layer of the rottted hay and fresh straw. we are thinking we may not use paper or cardboard in these areas at all as we will have a good mulch layer and i don't think anything can get up thru.

we have a rototiller, but i am only planning on tilling the paths, and then throwing some of that soil up on the beds and sowing clover in the lowered paths. they become the 'swales'

the limited compost we have we are going to have to use selectively mostly around the transplants themselves

(we are making compost as fast as we can and have four piles going, don't have any greens tho and it is slow cooking)

the areas that had the brush cover is basically the same story, except i will start with the paper because the mulch layer is not as deep

we are planning on cutting the 'stumps' off flush to the ground, and then covering them with cardboard and waste vegetable oil (i have a lot because i run a car on it) hoping! that nothing can get thru

the roots are too big to remove by hand, and we don't have a tractor or winch or anything.

anyway, that's the gist of it

looking fwd to some other opinions

regards,
kevin and sarah
rattlesnakemountainfarm@yahoo.com




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