( photo / image / picture from fatbaldguy's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from fatbaldguy's Garden ) Above are two photo's of how I do the no-till thing. I cheated this time because I didn't have enough cardboard to cover that much area. It is 5x30 approximately. I shallow tilled to damage the grass, then covered that with 6 to 8 inches of organic matter. I'll add more as the summer progresses to kill weeds and keep it somewhat level. This fall, if I don't get enough leaves to cover the area, I'll plant some winter rye as a cover crop. ( photo / image / picture from fatbaldguy's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from fatbaldguy's Garden ) These two are photo's of a raised strawberry bed. The interior is 2x8 feet and 4 cinder block deep. No mortar used in the scavenged cinder block construction. I think I may need a yard of soil to supplement what I had saved from various digging projects around the house. I intend to fill the 'holes' in the block and plant there as well. The missus said she would repaint the block, I suggested a green that matches the lawn.
Great looking projects FBG. I especially like the no-till area. I salute you for being brave enough to undertake this. I am not being dramatic, it is just that so many folks have this thing with turning the soil every year, and they do not want to consider NOT turning it. I spoke to a big-time corn farmer from america last year and he told me that ~40% of the serious commercial farmers in the U.S. practice the no-till policy for their soil management. I was pretty surprised to hear that, but quite glad. I believe that the more folks read and learn about soil, the more will turn to this practice. It really makes sense once one learns a bit about how soil "works".
Sjoerd, (someday I would like to know how to pronounce that in English)I, personally, think that most farmers still till too much. Soil erosion and drainage are major issues to be dealt with. Commercial farming that is. The majority of their crops are GMO, and yet, those same farmers are using more herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer every year. New ones are developed every year, some hormone based. Monsanto, ADM, and the rest of the industrial food supply complex are great evil. We as a nation need to get back to real food. There is commercially farmed property withing a few hundred yards so I won't grow corn the same year it is planted nearby, for GMO reasons. I've gone and gotten political, I'll get off my soap-box now. Which way is the corner?
Chuckle...FBG. I enjoyed your soap-boxing. I find the topic a bit political, but it is for us regular folk a less abstract and more black and white situation because we are more small-scale. The small-scaleness makes it all more personal and noticeable. I agree 100% that we need to get back to "real food", as you all it. My country is an agricultural country and has many of the same environmental issues that you have just mentioned...so out hands are not entirely clean either, so to speak. Take the problem with bees of all sorts for instance. The use of certain pesticides are contributing to serious and downward-spiralling situation of populations. While it is recognized that bees have any number of setbacks with pesticides, non-optimal weather patterns and perhaps even poor beekeeping the fact remains that the use of some pesticides just add to and in some cases potentates other contributing factors. We are in the process of taking the pesticide bull by the horns here in Europe and hopefully it will lead to a more responsible solution for farmers, pollinators and citizens as well. There has been a two-year moratorium placed on selected pesticide types recently. We shall see how this plays out. At any rate the pronunciation of my name: Sjoerd---The transliteration is: shoe-erd (pronounced as one syllable)
FBG, looking forward to see how your no till project goes. One suggestion for your strawberries you might not have thought of is to put gaps between the blocks allowing you to plant in the walls as well. it will give you more plants and break up the cinder block wall a bit.
I agree with Dan. Do an online search for "cinder block planting wall". There's some pretty cool things you could do.
fbg, love your politics! We too are studying more about the soil here and working towards no tilling. Very slow going here. Will be anxious to follow your progress.
I typed out about a page worth, but deleted it ny accident. Dumbphone. By tilling, your breaking up frugal strands which help protect against the bad guys you can't see, and some you can. These fungi also help transport nutrients, minerals, and water over great distances. They can act as extra root hairs or roots, once they penetrate a root or hair. Ignore the last sentence. These textareas here aren't too mobile friendly. Ok, well, exnay on the links due to one day rule. Sorry for this post. phpBB coding needs some work, or updating. Wikipedia.org Hyphae fungi Mycelium (this is reference in the above article Wikipedia and Google are your best friend. Welcome to the WORLD WI
LOL. I was thinking this very same thing just yesterday as I was out in the garden. Thanks S, for the pronunciation! BTW, DO NOT paint that planter green to match the lawn . Do brown as a bottom layer and sponge another shade of brown over the first layer to help camouflage the cement block pattern or something, but do not match the grass. as soon as you have a change in the weather (such as a storm) it will not match any longer and you will have to send her back out there to paint it another shade of green. Then when it snows....... I am just sure you will be the envy of all your neighbors. People will be driving by and if you drape it with Christmas lights...whooo wheee! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Your garden is looking great, too. Have you planted winter rye before? did you like it? I think we used that a couple years ago ( we were late getting seed and that was all we could find) we had a hard time tilling it back in, but we also need new tines on the tiller and can't find replacement ones...obsolete, they say. bummer.
Ms. Carolyn, I've not planted winter rye before. I have tried vetch. Oi-vey, what work! I'm looking to try something that a 'mowing' will kill, will help keep the soil from compacting, will permit row planting without a lot of soil disturbance. Not asking for much am I? NO DECORATING IDEA'S FOR THE MISSUS!!! I'll pass along the painting idea though. Dan/Cheryl, I have already filled the planter 2/3's. I'm too lazy to empty it, re-dig for leveling and then re-lay the block. I do mean that, I'm really that lazy. I didn't get fat from overwork! Bunkie, I don't think you would like all of my politics. I'm very libertarian. Building good soil takes time, and lots of organic matter. Soil Food Web, fungi, all sorts of stuff to learn about, and how tilling (as in industrial farming) affects those things that keep soil healthy. Soil can recover fairly quickly from a shallow tilling. I admit to still doing that for weed control and seed bed preparation. I need to find a source for cheap straw to use as mulch. Amazing how much things have grown since last week. Anyone care to thin the beets for me? 8)
FBG, I think you are out of luck on the mow and kill idea. Sorry to burst your bubble. We had a hard time killing it when tilling it. Ask for Sjoerd's opinion on a winter cover.
It isn't political to eat clean food. No parent wants GMOs entering their child's body. A large part of our garden this year is no till. We had strewn Crimson Clover everywhere last fall and it really enriched the soil. Some of the clover, we weed whipped so it wouldn't seed. I dug deep holes for tomato, pepper, Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli, Cauliflower plants, and covered the surrounding area with straw. We had to dig the rows for onions, okra, potatoes, beets, kale, chard, beans, but the middles, we left straw covered. Time will tell if this is the best method. I'm curious about the difference between regular tomato leaves and the Potato leaf tomatoes. I think the Hillbilly tomato has the Potato leaf. any ideas?
......I'm curious about the difference between regular tomato leaves and the Potato leaf tomatoes..... I had a Amish Paste plant last year that went potato leaved on me. The fruit was smaller, but the flavor was more dense and intense, if that makes sense. Thought I'd saved seed from it, but see no evidence of it this year. Here's hoping.
The Soldaki tomato has the potato leaf, I just discovered. It's supposed to be a Polish Heirloom. We have one from which I hope to save seeds.
