permaculture

[lbsaltzman@aol.com]

I would tend to agree with your position on sand.? Even if it worked I would 
be reluctant to expend the fossil fuel to bring it to my property.? the 
solution lies with what can be done on site without the expenditure of large 
amounts of fossil fuel. Recycling wine barrels which are abundent where I 
live has worked.?The expenditure to bring a few wine barrels?back to the 
property is minimal compared to trucking sand and I am reusing something that 
has finished its' original function. By providing a local market for 
barrels?I contribute?to preventing wineries shipping them longer distances. 
Birms also work and can be built out of the waste organic matter that my 
property generates.


-----Original Message-----
From: Albert Lee <albertcclee@yahoo.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:24 am
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Looking for good examples of the use of berms and 
swales &...



Dear S&M and M. Elvin, 

Adding sand to clay will actually make the clay harder when it dries out. 
Plus 
the cost and labor of trucking in sand is very energy intensive. The best way 
to 
plant on clay soil is to keep the soil moist with a thick mulch. Good luck. 

Albert

----- Original Message ----
From: "Marimike6@cs.com" <Marimike6@cs.com>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 10:02:22 AM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Looking for good examples of the use of berms and 
swales &...

S&M, 
You complain that your veggies "sulk and fail" in your heavy clay soil. Do 
you have access to any free sand in the neighborhood? If you're talking about 
just putting in a small vegetable garden, I would consider trucking in a 
couple 
of loads of sand and tilling them in thoroughly. While you're doing that it 
will be easy to berm it into raised beds.

I suspect the problem is not with your dirt's organic content, but just the 
fact that the glue you're trying to grow stuff in is drowning the new 
rootlets, 
depriving them of air. Give it a try, and see what comes up.

M. Elvin   
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