| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Donna Mae |
Posted - Apr 04 2004 : 2:48:08 PM
I am new at growning my own garden. I 've had a few plants beside my house, but I now have a tilled garden area ready for planting. I've enlisted so much help in getting the space ready that I am afraid something will go wrong now. I planted a row of peas two weeks ago and only see one little guy peeping up. I want to put my potato seeds out next. Can I put them next to the peas. Also, I was just delivered a load of hay and cow manure mix. Approximately one month old that had been in the stalls of a barn. Is this too strong to put on parts of the garden now or should I just keep it to use for compost? Lastly, I read an article in Mother Earth News about a lady who only put hay or straw in between her rows and never had to weed? Sounds too good to be true. Please anyone who has any advice or answers. Donna
New Old Farmer in Jonesville, VA |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| HorseyNut |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 11:35:21 AM
I think it's great your going to start a garden. Here's my two cents, which is probably not actually worth that much but oh well
You can probably do fine tilling some of your straw/manure in, I put out quite a bit of less than composted horse manure and have always had good results. You can get your soil tested at your county extension office if you think it might be a concern. I always spread some well composted and "greener" straw/manure over the garden then have the hubbie till it all in together.
As for your idea of straw mulch it most definately does work, BUT you have to put a little something underneath the straw and use straw not hay, or all those seeds will give you the biggest pain in your back you ever had later! I use feed sacks sliced to lay flat and then cut them to the proper width to fit between my rows or plants. I then spray the paper to get it wet and also the ground and the two wet surfaces adhere nicely. Then you lay your straw on tom about 3 to 6 inches deep. You can buy huge staples to pin the outside edges down or you can use a brick or a rock you found in the garden to hold them down. If you don't you will have to periodicly fix it after a big wind.
This method works great here (Missouri) for a couple of reasons, it retains moisture in the paper and bottom layers of straw, which in turn keeps the soil moister around the roots. It also prevents most weeds, and it enriches the soil because every fall you till the whole shebang under and voila you have just mulched, enriched and if you add some of that fine horse mix and you really have something great. I have never had any problems doing this, it cuts down on fungus because the straw stays dry on top. Water doesn't erode the soil because the straw and paper protect it, cut worms are eliminated, and did I mention that there are not many weeds? There will be a few that sprout in the hay but they are few and easy to pull. Here in the midwest it is hot and this also keeps the ground and roots cool in the heat of July-August. You can lay the paper and straw before hand for transplants like tomatoes, all you need to do is dig down and slash an X stick your plant in and cover with dirt to the top limbs then arrange the straw. For row planting like lettuce you can leave a space of an inch and a half, but it's usually easier to wait till it's up then lay paper and straw. If you can't find cheap thick paper, you can use several layers of newspaper probably at least 3. Here the paper office sells the extra prints for $.49 a bundle, check the recycling center too for cheap paper. Paper grocery sacks will work too. I would avoid the black net stuff you can get unless it is made to rot in one year because it will be to big a pain to take up in fall. Happy farmin, hope it works for you too, but as a disclaimer, I'm just a dumb hick from Missouri
P.S. My mother SWEARS by cotton seed hulls instead of straw, but I never tried it as you don't till it under in fall you just leave it and add more next season, but she says it naturally fetilizes and things grow better. |
| treasa |
Posted - Apr 07 2004 : 10:41:00 AM
hi jamaal,
we're in nc, and did do peas next to potatoes last year with great results. both did fine. we do the potatoes in circular wire cages mounded with leaf mulch about twice throughout the season. the peas were planted in a circle around the outside of the cage, which acted as a climbing agent as well. we're in very sandy soil (think beach!), and have a real problem with colorado potato beetles, so the mulch does a great job of cooling the area around the plant. we only had to spray (botanical) twice last year.
as far as general advice on organic growing, you should check out the books by eliot coleman (if you haven't already). he is quite the guru, and covers a lot of detail on compost. you can find more info at www.fourseasonfarm.com.
we haven't been as careful between rows, but i've heard that both straw & newspaper (with mulch or something over it) both work to keep weeds at bay. that's definitely on my radar this year.
good luck! |
| HiDez Gal |
Posted - Apr 05 2004 : 08:42:10 AM
Hi Farmer,
I have been gardening for a long time, however, i garden in the Southwest and it is very different from gardening in Virginia...it is probably different from gardening in most other locales but i'll jump in here anyway since no one else has replied yet. My advice, since this is your first garden, is to not stress out about it. Try to relax and have fun. Feel free to experiment because even what an experienced gardener in your locale tells you about his growing conditions may not hold true for you. Each garden is individual and each may have its own microclimate. That is not to say there aren't similarities but because what works for someone else doesn't work for you won't mean you have a black thumb rather than a green thumb <g>.
I think i would consider composting the manure/hay mix before applying it to the garden. You possibly could have tilled it into your garden at the beginning had you started preparing your garden plot in the Fall which would have allowed it to mellow all winter. If you have baby plants coming up you could burn them by applying uncomposted manure. What amendments, if any have you added to your soil?
The heavy hay mulch system might work well for you and that also might be a good first experiment for you to see if it works in your garden. I got a load of moldy alfalfa hay from a hay farmer one year and my garden went absolutely crazy - i thought for sure i could hear the soil burp shortly after i applied it (just joking of course). I am now gardening intensively in wood framed beds and have scaled my garden down quite a bit making weed management easier for me. This year i am experimenting with the new silver plastic mulch because it is supposed to confuse the insects so that they don't invade the beds as much. White fly is a terrible problem here in our hot, dry climate so i am hoping this will help to keep it under control.
I don't know how potatoes and peas might do side by side since i no longer follow strict by the book companion planting and can barely remember which plant dislikes another. Potatoes and peas "sound" like they might be fine so i would probably give it a try if that is the next thing i wanted to plant. Since you wrote about tilling a plot i am assuming you are planting in rows rather than wide beds but even in a wide bed i think i might try it if that suited my planting schedule. I guess you can tell i am pretty relaxed about this whole thing - gardening where i live is difficult and i have had to learn to take it all in stride. I know each year there may be losses and failures so i usually have another plant that i started from seed indoors ready to pop in place of the one that failed or was eaten by a wild critter. Hope some of this info helps, have fun with your new garden! |
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