| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| HorseyNut |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 2:08:36 PM
I read a post earlier and replied before I noticed that it was over a year old. In my family we lay down paper and straw or cotton seed hulls between our rows and plants to prevent weeds. This really works great here for several reasons, and I thought being new it would be a good way to say hello to everyone.
The benefits are many and the process simple, I THINK it will work in most areas and have good results. First of all there are practically NO weeds. The ground stays cool and moist which is excellent here for July and August when it is 100 degrees w and humid. The straw also keeps the top layer around the plants dry and airy preventing fungus from taking hold. For me being 11 weeks pregnant I must do this this year because I will most definitely NOT be up to weeding in July and August with a belly the size of Shamu. It also has the benefit that you suffer no soil erosion because the paper keeps it all in place and disperses the water evenly. A slow watering is important, I usually have no problem using a sprinkler if I do it in the morn, very early. In Fall I have Hubbie till it all under with lots of horse manure and all that paper, straw and quality equine poop work magic on the soil. But wait that's not all, did I mention that there are no weeds to pull? My plants grow better, need less water, have less blight and are easier to harvest. My Mother uses cotton seed hulls instead of straw, and she swears it does a hundred times better, but they are expensive, and you don't till them in, you just pull the plants and leave the hulls. The following spring you move the hulls aside and plant your seedling or seed. Leave the hulls off until the seed gets tall then put them around it's base. Simple, yet highly effective. Apparently the nutrients in the hulls leach into the soil or something I've never tried it so I don't know anything except what she says.
So maybe some of you will want try this hillbilly technique? It is great for tomatoes and most everything else, I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't work else where but maybe not in the really rainy areas like the pacific northwest I really don't know. Summer here is hot, humid, and somewhat dry. So if your area is different maybe just try it on one plant or two...
OK here's how I do it. I have horses and they eat a lot so I have lots of feed sacks. These are great because if you slit the side and tops you get a HUGE piece of paper. Kids btw also will enjoy coloring on this paper before you put it down. If they complain about covering it up, The earth worms like beautiful art too!  If you call a farm or local feed store you can probably get some, big farms use LOTS of feed and wouldn't mind saving them a day or two. If you can't find any, newspapers work well and you can use grocery sacks. Any paper that is cheap and available is fine. The feed sacks are nice because they are big, thick and for me, free.
So you trim your sack, or (unfold your newspapers) slitting the side and removing the top and bottom stitching to make two big sheets. One layer is enough, but newspapers will need three or four layers. wet the ground lightly around your plants and wet the paper, then lay it down, the ground and paper will adhere nicely. Start at one corner and go one (or two if using newspapers) sheet's width down a row. If you use newspapers then be sure that the inner paper overlaps the outer paper.
Its important to start in the corner that is opposite from the normal wind direction for most of the growing season. Here I usually get a west and southerly wind so I will start in the North East corner and go up the east side then start again, back at the North corner. That way all of the upper edges are pointed away from the normal wind are unlikely to ever be dislodged. If it's windy you can use rocks to keep the papers in place, or put down the straw, but leave enough space for a 6 inch overlap on each edge of the paper (newspapers being smaller overlap about 4 inches). Keep the papers wet and even on a breezy day they should stay put until you can get two rows laid. Then I straw the first row ( about 3-4 inches thick) to keep it in place. Dunk the flakes of straw in water then spread it around or if it's not windy at all wait until your done and just spray it all at once. Continue going around plants until you get to the other side. If you have lots of wind put some bricks or rocks every two or three feet on the side your wind is coming from here the South and west sides. Even if you don't do this the whole thing won't blow away but some might become dislodged and need to be rearranged especially if it dries out. After a day or two of watering and walking on the straw it will compact and stay put, but the soil is cushioned so it stays looser. After harvest till it all under with any other additives you need and next year your garden will be even better. |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| HorseyNut |
Posted - Mar 23 2006 : 10:07:02 AM
Those would be perfect, I wish our paper sold them. Dogfood bags would work too. i wouldn't think you would have an issue with heavy metels, thats more in paints than ink and dyes, but then again, better safe then sorry.
Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do...but how much love we put in that action. - Mother Teresa |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Mar 22 2006 : 5:50:04 PM
Great post, Allena! I don't have horses, but was thinking maybe I could use the paper dog food bags - I would probably have to remove the outer colored paper, though, to keep the colored inks out of the garden (possible heavy metals)...
But then the comments about Newspapers made me think of the end of the rolls of newspaper that my father gets from our local newspaper office. They take them off the printing press before they run out and it isn't enough left on the roll for the next print run.
They charge 2 or 3 dollars depending on how much paper is still on the roll. But there are sometimes hundreds of feet of paper. Because it is one continuous piece, maybe it wouldn't blow around like the cut sheets of newspaper? And it doesn't have any ink on it because it hasn't been printed yet...
My father uses them to cover picnic tables in the shelter house for the family reunions, instead of buying rolls of plastic tablecloths or having everyone bring cloth tablecloths. But I don't see any reason you couldn't use them in the garden!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
| HorseyNut |
Posted - Mar 22 2006 : 07:26:29 AM
WOW! I feel so important now, grownups fine me interesting, (tear).
I never used just newspapers horseyrider (nice name btw). Here we have lots of wind too, so you have to have lots of nice wet straw on top. I am 11 weeks pregnant and sick with morning sickness, this site is wonderful, thanks for being so great, and making me feel good about my post |
| cajungal |
Posted - Mar 22 2006 : 05:07:54 AM
Allena....WELCOME, nice to meet ya'
Great information. That post is so good you ought to send it in as an article for your local newspaper or gardening journal!
We raise chickens and I use the feed bags as you do with your horse feed bags. I've got 20 4' x 4' raised beds and this method works great for the walkways between the beds. I also use the newspapers on top of the beds. You're right....hardly any weeds, moisture remains in the soil, and the garden always looks clean.
Okay, ready for our next class from you. You're a great teacher!
Blessings
Catherine
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Mar 22 2006 : 04:40:04 AM
We've always used a thick mat of grass clippings. That is, except for once when I tried newspaper. I got it all down and tucked, and then the prairie winds started up. It's not uncommon to have 40mph winds on a nice day. Suddenly my garden and my neighbor's bean field looked like a trashpile; newspapers were blowing everywhere! I tried watering them to mat them down the next time, but it didn't help; once they dried off, they took off again. The wind is really an issue here.
Once I set a bag of bags from bedding out for the trash guys. (We use pine shavings for the horses, and it's delivered packed tightly in plastic bags.) A big wind got them and sent them flying north. There was simply NO WAY I could pick them up; they'd gone flying! I could see some of them in the fence about a quarter mile north of me, but I don't know where the rest blew.
Sometimes city people wonder why we don't use umbrella tables. HA HA HA HA HA!!! *rolls eyes*
The newspaper worked when we lived in the hills of southern Indiana.
"What another would do as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself, and there, make yourself indispensable." ---Andre Gide |
| abbasgurl |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 8:35:34 PM
We've done this for years using newspaper and grass clippings (nothing that has gone to seed though!). You're right, it works great!
Rhonda
...and I will sing at the top of my lungs, and I will dance, even if I'm the only one! |
| HorseyNut |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 4:00:50 PM
I was afraid it was a bit lengthy, then I discovered that your supposed to do a search first to see if it's already been posted, oops! Let me know how it does. |
| Libbie |
Posted - Mar 21 2006 : 3:55:34 PM
I have heard a lot about the mulch way of gardening, and I think I'm going to try it on some areas of the garden this year. The feed sacks are a great idea! We go through a few of them - maybe just the right number...
Thanks for the instructions and information!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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