permaculture

[Alan Post <alanpost@sunflowerriver.org>]

I'm in historical flood plain, so I mostly tried to mimic one of
the affects of that: floodwater would wash down branches and leaves
into piles, which would then decompose, create conditions for seral
habitat, at some later point wash away, possibly retaining that
now-formed seral community.

Our Bug Town, it is a pile of sticks in dappled shade, with material
moving down in the pile as it gets smaller, creating a layer on top
that is sun-exposed perches, falling to medium sized non-soil
region that sees occasional moisture, falling to a mulch pile that
retains moisture and creates habitat.

Past a certain size the piles don't seem to be as effective.  Having
some shade seems to help a lot too, but I'm still experimenting
there.  Our most successful pile is roughly 5x10', perhaps slightly
larger.

There are a wide variety of native mice species here, but I haven't
really managed to create habitat that I've observed yet.  If I did
this too close to my barn, I'd get house mice--some distance from
human structures is important.  The piles have been very successful
at attracting skinks.

I build much, much smaller structures of this sort (like 1x1') near
my main garden, to attract spiders.  That works extremely well, we
scaled that up this year, taking any available nook around the
garden and weaving in enough sticks to trap leaves.

My plan for the rest of this year is to increase the number of
smaller stick piles and try to combine them with our existing trap
gardens.  I grow fennel and dill for Monarch Butterflies (I'm in
a migration corridor) and want to increase the number and variety
of trap plants I'm growing.  I'm also still experimenting with more
quickly establishing seral natives (those first perenials to appear
on disturbed soil).

Scaling up from stick piles, I would/will focus on creating areas
with tall grasses for bird habitat.  I have a few of these, but the
size required becomes harder to manage--those areas begin to compete
for space with other things we'd like to do with the land.  I suspect
in that case I'd have more success with one large unbroken area
rather than smaller areas.  The place I have now with the most
established tall grasses doesn't see a lot of bird activity.  I
think it is too near structures and active areas.

-Alan

On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 10:18:35AM -0500, Bob Waldrop wrote: > This
is interesting, what does your Bug Town look like? (Plants, etc.)
> > Bob Waldrop > Oklahoma City > > > -----Original Message----- >
From: Alan Post > Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 9:28 AM > To:
permaculture > Subject: Re: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod
herbivore habitat > > > I live in the Rio Grande Bosque in New
Mexico, and use the same > strategy as Michael.  Mulch partway
through the first year after > seedlings are established, and
maintain a mulch layer after that.  > > I also haven't observed
sowbugs, pill bugs, or earwigs to be a > problem.  I actually
maintain separate habitat for them (we call it > "Bug Town", because
that habitat attracts skinks and mice, which > attracts road runners,
&c.  > > -Alan > > On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 11:14:03PM -0700, Michael
Pilarski wrote: > > Hello Neil, > > > > Here are a few observations
from someone who lives in a semi-arid climate > > a lot like Reno.
> > > > I have sowbugs and earwigs as part of my garden fauna but
they do me no > > harm that I can tell.  > > > > My practice with
new plantings (1st year) is to weed meticulously and do > > not
apply mulch.  Everything works fine.  > > > > After the first year,
I do mulch perennials, berries, trees, biennials and > > everything
works fine.  > > > > I think, in your case, it is a matter of timing
the mulch.  Just don't use > > it the first year when your new
plants are at the tender seedling stage..  > > Actually I think you
can mulch partway through the first year in most > > cases.  > > >
> Good luck, > > > > Michael Pilarski, 40 years of gardening > > >
> > > So perhaps your solution is to not mulch in year one > > > >
> > > > --- On Mon, 7/18/11, Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com>
wrote: > > > > From: Neil Bertrando <neilbertrando@gmail.com> > >
Subject: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod herbivore habitat > >
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org> > > Date: Monday,
July 18, 2011, 1:56 PM > > > > HI all, > > > > Have people dealt
with the situation where mulching areas in Zone I and II > > leads
to excessive pest problems which eat all seedling starts?  > > > >
We consistently have this problem here in Reno, NV in the high
desert, and > > have stopped mulching our gardens for the most part
for this reason.  > > Sometimes we do light straw mulches, but we
are straying away from deep > > mulch beds and no-till regimes.  >
> > > Here's my assessment of the problem, and perhaps other people
have dealt > > successfully with this issue.  > > > > pest populations
increased by deep mulching > > > >    - european earwigs > >
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/european_earwig.htm > >
- sowbugs/rollypolly isopods > >
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/flowers/note11/note11.html >
> > > > > most info I have read does not include these as major
crop pests however > > through direct observation we have seen them
here to be the culprits.  > > > > they prevent seedling establishment
eating them at the cotyledon stage, > > and > > even eat small trees
when planted in an area with dense populations.  > > > > Strategies
tried: > > > >    - traps:soap and sugar, soy sauce and oil, beer,
etc.  work for > >    established plants but don't drastically
diminish populations and are > > time > >    consuming > >    -
diatomaceous earth: also works for established plants when applied
at > >    night to feeding insects, time consuming, needs reapplication
> > consistently > >    - chicken food: grazing with chickens in
late fall and early spring.  > >     chickens eat them happily and
we tried to get them in when small > > veggies > >    are not growing
and at key stages in the insect life cycle to minimize > >
reproduction.  still not effective at diminishing populations to a
> > level > >    where we can get seedlings established.  > >    -
transplanting in established seedlings: still get heavily eaten >
>    - get plants established before the populations boom as weather
warms: > >    works fairly well, but not a strategy for warm season
crops and makes > > fall > >    cropping difficult.  > >    - raised
beds: works for a while until populations get established (1-2 > >
years) in the beds and structural material > > > > so now we've
stopped mulching heavily in Zone I and use mostly on-site > >
generated mulch in Zone II, using only a scattered straw mulch to
decrease > > wind and sun evaporation and a focus on row covers
instead of mulch to > > achieve this function.  any off-site woody
mulch needs to be composted > > through hot compost piles before
being applied to the Zone I and II > > gardens.  > >  and this seems
to work well since there is no habitat for them in the > > garden.
> > > > My conclusion is that sheet mulching (and deep mulching)
is not an > > effective > > strategy in our climate context for
Zones I and II.  Has anyone else found > > this to be the case?  or
are we just applying the technique incorrectly?  > > > > some
thoughts are > > > >    - that N is being tied up in the mulch, and
the insects are relying > > upon > >    seedlings to fulfill this
need, although this occurs in mulches with > >    relatively high
manure content as well.  > >    - natural foods and predators of
these organisms are not in balance and > >    take years to come
into balance (or are not present at all in our > > climate?) > >
- mulch increases the humidity in summer and decreases the cold in
> > winter > >    which allows populations to grow rapidly out of
balance with plants.  > >    - there is some other factor that is
causing plants to lack hardiness > > and > >    become attractive
to these organisms > > > > This situation has been very disheartening
to many beginning Permaculture > > gardeners who read about the
wonderful benefits of mulch and have their > > veggie gardens
decimated.  Any thought and suggestions would be very > > helpful
> > for gardeners in our region.  > > > > Thanks, > > Neil > >
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