permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

Fwd: [fukuoka_farming] Rice sowing in sun-hemp/grass
-------- Original Message --------
I am looking for some suggestions/insights on rice sowing in sun-hemp cover.

Sun-hemp has been growing in my rice field for close to 1.5 months
now.Some of the area has touch-me-not and other grasses as well. My plan
is to sow the rice seeds in sun-hemp cover/grass, cut and mulch
sun-hemp/grass. But since the mulch will be thick, I fear the seeds
won't be able to push through. Typically mulch size of 1 to 3" thick
will avoid the weeds and this will hold good for the rice sown in mulch
also.

Other option is to sow over the sun-hemp/grass initially and then water
it so that rice seeds will sprout, later cut and mulch the sun-hemp.
This will be identical to what Fukuoka san used to do, where he sows the
barley over standing rice with clover and later spread the straw from
barley..

I had seen some organic-no-till videos, where they usually plant over
the dried mulch by cutting and opening with a machine.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards,
Nandan
www.farming-experiment.blogspot.com