Murph said, "I roto-tilled the lawn without examining the soil first.
2 inches of bogus loam on top of SAND.
Now the top 6" are 80% sand 20% loam.
Fortunately, some weeds even live in this."
When I moved to my present location, most of what is now orchard had a
soil that would best be called Yellow Blow-Sand. Weeds just barely grew in
it. Being at the edge of town along side a busy road, I put up signs
reading, "Leaves and Pine Needles wanted." There is a moratorium on burning
in the Fall, which is the case most years. Since there is a yard-waste dump
near here that charges a fee to take leaves, and I take them for free, I got
LOTS of leaves (between 30 and 60 cubic yards) that I spread (atop the snow)
throughout the Winter. When I put my gardens to bed for the season, I
tilled adding extra nitrogen for the soil bacteria to break down the leaf
matter. Nowadays I accept fewer leaves and needles just using them for
mulch.
There isn't as much garden any more and I've got between 8" and 14" of
rich black dirt. I still have to grow tomatoes and peppers for salsa and
hot pepper jams. So far this year we produced in excess of 15,000 jars of
jelly, 3,000+ bottles of fruit syrups and an uncounted number of jars of
salsa and I grow all of that fruit.
Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
For Christmas gift baskets:
For jams, jellies & syrups:
www.bberryfarm.com
(877)265-6856 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My Cell]