Hi all, I am a newbie gardener and excited about my new No dig garden. My beds consist of the lasagna style which I used sugar cane mulch and chicken manure, layered and then some mushroom compost on top with more sugar can mulch around the plants. My question is now that my veggies have established themselves my soil has depleted and got quiet low, I just wasn't sure if i should add more chicken manure or mushroom compost to my garden beds as I didn't want to burn the plants but just felt that the garden needs to be topped up. Would any one please have some advice for me, I would be most grateful, many thanks and happy gardening. :-D
Keep layering what you have available. This is a cycle that will continue and you will need to do so yearly. The "system" is designed to repeat the "cycle". As the layers decompose and the plants grow the nutrients are used up need to be replenished.
......................... Shades of Ruth Stout!! Thank you for reminding me of her, I shall now head over to (e-bay/half.com) to see about acquiring copies of her gardening books.. I've read her books on gardening but don't own any copies, a situation which I will soon rectify.. Hank
Thank you Carolyn, so its ok to keep on layering once veggies are established, you don't need to wait till the plants finish their cycle?
You could add some of your own compost and perhaps some well-rotted cow manure and of course some of the other constituents that you have been using. I would be very careful with adding more chicken manure at this stage. I have never layered whilst I still had veggies growing, so i do not know how wise that would be or not. Having said that, I HAVE "side-dressed" some veggies, and I suppose that this could be an abstract form of what you are talking about doing. At any rate, let us know what you decide and how it goes. We can all learn from your successes, or even failures(should there be any). It is the beauty of experimenting with gardening practices and techniques.
I think it depends on what you are using...NO No No to any animal manure layer while there are fruits/veg. to harvest or within 90 days of ripening (but our guidelines here the USDA wants to change that to 9 months from application to harvest, for growers who sell anything). The others can be put on as you have them, but I would really stay away from anything that is "green" as it tends to get moldy if the layers are too thick (grass does this wonderfully...mold mold mold and them you are inhaling the spores if you disturb the layer in any way or you slip because it is slimy under the top layer.)But I would make a pile of compost off to the side, then put the layers on in the Fall after the plants are done in the area.
Thank you Sjored and Carolyn for your replies, I am most grateful. I think my problem was that I didn't put enough layers of manure and compost in the first place and now my soil has really depleted. Yes, thank you for recommending that I don't put any manure on my bed, I really wasn't sure about that as I thought i might burn my veggies whilst they are still growing, so I definitely will not be doing that. I don't have a compost going at the moment and I was willing to go and buy some more mushroom compost but now I am thinking that I should just leave my veggies and wait till I harvest them and start a new garden with the manure and compost layered to the top. Sjored and Carolyn would you personally wait till your veggies are ready for harvest or would you add some compost to it now. Many thanks for your help.
If you have finished compost you may add it now and as much as you have or want. As long as you have growing plants that have flowers and fruit on them they still need nutrients to keep producing nutritious fruit/vegetables, so add it if you have it. Mushroom compost is a fantastic compost, by the way. Last year I saw a mans garden that had mushroom compost added and his tomatoes were still looking top of the crop at the end of the season and it was a very hard year to grow that year, as we had a severe drought at the time. I actually tried growing the same tomatoes this year I couldn't see any difference between them and any others of mine for disease resistance and being absolutely beautiful produce (because his were absolutely gorgeous for tomatoes), so I am attributing how nice his garden was, and is, to the mushroom compost. The no dig garden takes years to establish a really nice thick abundance of soil. Keep at it and don't get discouraged if it seems like it isn't happening. It takes time. You may also want to use a bale of alfalfa hay as mulch to keep the soil from getting dried out. I would not recommend straw, but it will still work if that is what you can get. hay, generally, adds more nutrients and usually is cut and baled without the plants being mature and having weed seed in the mix. Around here you take your chances on adding Canada Thistles to your garden if you use straw. We have a few really nice and healthy patches of them :twisted:
Personally I would wait. It is my way of gardening to do any soil amending or replenishing at the end of the season when all seasonal growth has finished. I have a whole process that I do, and as Carolyn has said before, it is too work intensive for her sort of professional gardening, as she has quite a lot of acreage both in tunnels and out in the open to till. It is for this reason that we garden differently; when you have a big operation like hers, there isn't enough time to piddle around like I do...but her gardening expertise is renowned and her advice golden.
Thank you both for your replies, you both have been so helpful, and I am grateful, I will let you know how I go, thanks again and happy gardening!
