Deep mulch / Back to Eden Gardening

[fowledup]

Deep, I read your previous gardening threads awhile ago. Can't remember, did you try any of the Back to Eden or Deep Mulch gardening? Anybody else try it? I got away from large scale gardening about 10 years ago - around the time the last kiddo left the nest. Got to be too much of a chore and anchor, as well as not having the need for so much food. Lately I've been wanting to get back into it and start stroing more fresh vegetables, I've been reading up on this method. I really like the little to no watering aspect and the yields are incredible. Being in draught ridden Ca. I worry about my well going dry all summer. I plan on giving it a go this year, only gonna do long term storage veggies and basic staple stuff.

 

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[stefen]

Try raised gardens filled with excess 215 mulch that's a definite growing medium...

Might even find some left over drip irrigation, pumps and artificial lighting...veggies are long-day plants.

Advertised in Humboldt County year round...

215 is the largest agricultural cash crop in the NorCal counties. Veggies come in lower on the scale...

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I set-up 5 4'x4' raised beds last year, filled them with compost. The soil was too loose, the taters & radishes were pretty gnarly = fibrous. This year all 5 beds are filled with mole holes. Kinda takes the breath out of you - stuff like that.

My entire yard is filled with moles - years and years of unchecked continuous breeding. I put out a lot of pellets last year, but believe it was mislabeled spanish fly or something. I've more moles this year!

 

[fowledup]

We are having the worst mole year I've ever seen out here as well. So far garden doing well. I think the Jack Russell has the moles on edge and retreating- lol at the very least he seems to be entertained.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Those Jack Russell's are great dogs for that. Them dogs is hyper!!! I don't know that I could deal with that! But, the moles.....

 

[fowledup]

Yes they are he's about 10 and is just now bareable in the hyper department. He used to run circles around the labs, picked on them umercifully, now a days he just growls at them until they leave him alone, grumpy little sucker anyhow- lol.

Well we had our never fails, late May just when you thought winter was over storm that usually takes out about 50% of the garden. So far I think I lucked out, other than my wife gnawing on me about there being a reason why your not supposed to plant up here before June 1st. She has been telling me this for 20+ years now. She's an "ol'timer" up here on the hill who forgets her hubby (me) has been up here just as long as she has. Looks like we'll start getting some Zucchinni, kale, and Tomatoes in a couple of weeks.
Anybody have any tricks for getting ants of their cherry trees? Bad bad ant year, their so thick on the tree I can't pick the cherries.

 

[FreedomUIC]

I am just starting into hydroponics for my garden. The yield from one hydrophonically grown tomato plant is that of five to six plants
that are in soil. Using the Kratky method, there is no power involved unless you want to put in a bubbler.

Sweet bell peppers are next. Four plants per 10 inch net cup will yield as many peppers as a 10 foot row planted in dirt. Keep the
sun light out of the water, change water and nutrients every 3 - 4 weeks and watch the plants grow. Some plants grow six inches
or more overnight.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Well, I'll be the first to admit, I'm a failure as a farmer!
It's so hot and humid here everything just burns up and wilts, plus I only got about a foot of dirt, between me and solid coral rock.
I am always "attempting" extravagant efforts for meager results, it seems. When I reminded the Mr, I was ready to start gardening again, he just tells me, "Remember Cat, you'll starve to death before you can grow enough to survive on".
I keep trying......

I mentioned this in the "got the garden going" thread Digiron started in the General discussion session.....
Me and the neighbor are attempting the "grow food from grocery store food" method.
The stuff costs enough as it is, why not recycle/regrow it?

You can google or search for foods that will regrow from clippings, things you can take the seeds and germinate/grow. Chives/green onions, regular onions, radishes, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, cabbage, pineapple, taters, anything that'll put off a (root) shoot, you can regrow. Don't turn those kitchen scraps into compost, replant them and turn them in to food again.
Seeds from maters, peppers, squash, pumpkins (if you got the room).

I'm also searching the house for my dehydrator instruction book. That;s the other issue of, when you got 20 heads of cabbage, what to do..... saurkraut making time. I figure I can dehysrate my pepers, onions and such for soup/rice flavorings.
Spices can be dried and stored, Dog knows I got enough mason jars.

Cool about the cologne cloths for the deer repellent, I've heard "hair", as well. Put cut hair all around the perimeter, that will/might deter them. Know a barber/hairdresser? (My horsey tekker friend, once put cologne on one of her race horses for a race. She wanted the boy horses to chase her, and her run fast and win the race..... we laugh about that, to this day.)

Ants on cherry tree.... Only thing I can think is, will borax around the base of tree stop them? Is it boric acid(powder) or borax? I usually keep a box of Twnenty Mule Team borax detergent, but I can't say whether it's ever actually deterred ants, here.
Never tried the hydroponics, with my luck and location, I'd probably just grow mosquitoes.
Good luck everyone, stay healthy, and leave your input and ideas, and thanks for sharing.

 

[fowledup]

Hmmm, I need to pick up some diatomaceous earth, I think I'll get some boric acid at the same time. I was telling the boss we need to start picking cherries and told her about the ants. "Yeah, no problem you pick them into a bucket of water" Duh, I surrender.

For me the growing is the easier part, it's staying the coarse and sticking with the preserving. Cool idea on regrowing the tuber type veggies. Alot of that depends on what and where ya but your veggies now, many are modified not to grow, especiallly the ones from seeds like tomatoes. Funny I have a whole bed of potatoes going that I didn't plant purposely, they are all volunteers from the old compost pile. What dehydrator you have Pat? I can scan my instructions and send them to you, pretty sure I know where there at.

Compost pile- I went to vermicomposting this year and love it. The worms compost faster than anything I've ever tried, plus you have your own excellent bait source for fishing. My compost worm beds are poly drums split lengthwise with a frame built around them for support and a hinged lid. I have them raised enought for 5 gal buckets to go underneath to catch all the worm "juice" for compost tea. I started juicing a while ago to get this middle aged attachment off of my stomach and waist so I have lots of compost more than what my conventional compost bin could keep up with. But the worm bins never stop munching and the castings they leave beat any commercial fertilzer you can buy by far. I think the whole set up cost me about $45. $30 for 1000 Red Wiggler worms, and $15 for the drum, the rest I had laying around in the wood pile out back.

 

[bill from lachine]

fowledup,

You may want to look into square foot gardening....it maximizes production on small amount of land.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Thanks fowledup, the dehydrator is buried behind, 20 yrs of stuffs I'll hafta move first.....
The instruction book may be in it. I know I've already searched through all my other product books stacks, it's around here, somewhere. I'll keep you in mind if needed and thanks for that.

If you do any canning, Mom always said use distilled water (when boiling berries, adding to canning ingredients), said regular tap water got a lot of impurities in it, and you could stand a chance (of mold growing or) your food turning bad. She always said it was too much work, to have something turn or not take right, and have to throw it out, than just buy some distilled water.
She used it in her iron for steaming, too.

 

[releventchair]

Where the road ends I pile leaves each year. A good three feet deep each year.
I had one burdock mature there and now three or four are coming on well.
The pile gets turned/ pushed when winter plowing starts and some dirt gets mixed in.
It serves as a crash pad should some one not stop, but I'm tempted to use the lower layers....
Mostly oak leaves though ,acidic.

I hand broadcast about a half pound of stratified plantain seed from previous collecting under some maples and into some full sun disturbed areas.
It's coming on well too , despite poor soil.
That and four pepper plants in a flower bed is it ..so far.

 

[rockhound]

To get rid of moles, buy a pack of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, break each piece in half, Lay in or near the holes, they will smell it and get it. When they chew it it will lock their jaws together and they will starve. Good Luck. rockhound

 

[marion moore]

get some mole plant seeds, just a few, one or two plants will do the trick. they work great, the plants sure are ugly tho.

one summer with those plants, moles are gone for good. I have not seen any in years.

marion