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Post by billw on May 2, 2013 1:20:55 GMT -5
BillW - doesn't the grass grow through the bed to the top? How deep is the sod layer that you are removing? We'll see. This is the first time that I've tried this method, so I can't be sure. The fold-over is about 4 inches thick, so I think it will suppress most of the grass, but there is a seam down the middle that is just filled with loose dirt, so the grass may find its way through. Hopefully the potatoes will grow faster and shade out any grass that does poke through. If not, that's what geese are for. |
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 2, 2013 7:56:41 GMT -5
So how would this work for next year?
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Post by billw on May 2, 2013 12:25:16 GMT -5
Next year, the grass should be dead and the sod decomposed, so I can do just about anything with it. If you drive around Ireland, you can see lots of washboard farm fields where they apparently kept them going in that form. Since I try not to grow potatoes in the same place for multiple years, I will probably just pull apart the ridges at harvest and flatten the ground for the next planting. With the sod broken down, I'll be able to better amend the plot next year as well. I usually incorporate a lot of manure and then go to greens and brassicas following potatoes.
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Post by 12540dumont on May 2, 2013 16:38:07 GMT -5
Steev, I'm the official cup holder for Leo. Cup holders can be had, but they are not cheap. I want a new BCS to dig up the potatoes! Now that I have 10 50ft rows in, I'm thinking about not digging....it's 93 in the shade, which can only be had by hiding in the asparagus. No, I'm really not looking forward to any digging. Napping perhaps... Attachments:
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Post by raymondo on May 2, 2013 17:15:23 GMT -5
Is that the outfit you wear when harvesting spuds Holly?
Bill, I've used the turned sod method to clear ground for new beds but I need to turn the sods regularly, like compost, to ensure the grasses die. I have two spreading grasses and one in particular is hard to kill. Here it's called couch (pronounced cooch) grass but you would know it as Bermuda grass.
As far as homesteading activities go, I've recently put together two compost heaps. One is about two weeks old and is beginning to look like compost. The other is only a day old.
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Post by templeton on May 2, 2013 17:55:23 GMT -5
Since the olives are darkening up on the trees around town, my thoughts turned to last years harvest - 3 six litre buckets in the cellar.
I opened them, still a little fermenting going on, but nice and tasty, so i bottled some up and gave them away, and put the rest back in the cellar. I didn't bother sealing the surface with a layer of oil. Two weeks later, notice a lot of white scum on the surface, had a sample taste - blech! nail polish remover! Had to chuck out two of the buckets. Lucky the only cost was a bit of salt, and some time.
Anyone else have a foolproof olive pickling recipe?
T
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Post by steev on May 2, 2013 20:01:20 GMT -5
Ray: I'm sure that if Holly dresses like that, she has to beat the volunteer diggers off with a stick. Funny you should mention cooch in the same post; it has a rather different connotation in some parts of NorHem.
Holly: you can get shade in your asparagus?! Oh, my poor little "sparrowgrass"! Oh, well, next year I expect great, whomping "spargass"!
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Post by steev on May 2, 2013 20:51:22 GMT -5
I've been having personnel absenteeism issues, the past two months. Today, my main helper called at 6:30AM to say he can't show until 10AM; fine, so I came back to wait from 9:45 to 10:15, but he didn't show. So at the end of the day, I paid off my other helper for the week; adios until Monday; the other will probably show up tomorrow, to find me gone to the farm to plant corn and peppers; the growing season doesn't pause, regardless of whatever issues he has.
I think I may sound a tad harsh, but I'm invested in both my business and my farm; he has no investment in either. Is this related to homesteading? I think so, as it's my ass that is hanging out, sink or swim; I don't recall anyone ever stopping their lives in mid-stream because I couldn't keep my life together. I'm too damned old to tread water while somebody else paddles around in a backwater. I've got stuff to do while I yet can. Grump! Snort!
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 3, 2013 1:18:21 GMT -5
That sounds like a good way to "break" really super hard soil... though, I like our pig method better. For the moment at least. Regardless, it's a good thing to know.
Sounds like you need to change your main helper as well as your pants Steev. I don't think you are being harsh at all. Might be interesting to discover who gets upset if he shows up Friday with no money...
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Post by nathanp on May 3, 2013 5:42:59 GMT -5
Bill, I've used the turned sod method to clear ground for new beds but I need to turn the sods regularly, like compost, to ensure the grasses die. I have two spreading grasses and one in particular is hard to kill. Here it's called couch (pronounced cooch) grass but you would know it as Bermuda grass. That's why I was asking that question. I had tried something similar to this a few years ago with Zoysia grass. Fail. I strongly suspect the nasty, spreading grasses will grow right through to the top. |
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Post by davida on May 3, 2013 8:58:38 GMT -5
That sounds like a good way to "break" really super hard soil... though, I like our pig method better. For the moment at least. Regardless, it's a good thing to know. The "lazy bed" method should work good after hogs and I am planning to try it after chickens. I break new ground into production by having a movable chicken trailer and movable panels. The first couple of years, I would double dig to loosen the soil and let the chickens eat the worms and work the soil while mixing in organic matter. There seems to be less and less double digging taking place so the "lazy bed" should be the answer. All the grass is dead so I would plant potatoes, then plant a "chop and drop" cover crop and follow with beans. The bed should be established after that. |
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 3, 2013 12:51:58 GMT -5
hmmmmm.... That sounds good too David. We've been putting the pigs on already established beds at this point they are "tilling" the corn field. The chickens live on the other side of the house though and don't really venture to this side much. We are keeping the meat birds on that side as well but not for any reason other than that's where all the chickens are. Mobility is key with animals.
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 4, 2013 16:13:22 GMT -5
So today the piggies escaped and did some landscaping for the neighbors. I planted rosemary, thyme, lavender, thyme, and snapdragon cuttings as well as carrot and basil seeds in the latest, greatest raised bed planter. I picked parsley, cilantro, green onions, and spinach for cooking. I made bread and cream puffs and whipped cream and dirty rice. I've washed and dried all the laundry, last load is almost finished drying. I don't know about you but I think it's been a pretty busy day! I think I need a nap!?!?!
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Post by steev on May 7, 2013 21:41:24 GMT -5
After the work-day, I up-potted melon seedlings, turning one flat into five; couple more weeks, I'll plant them out. Yesterday, I seeded for transplants of more squashes and some watermelons; sorted out varieties of seeds to direct-seed on the farm, beans, mostly.
Sunday, I noted that the earliest peas are maturing, for seed increase. Sugar Magnolia is both tasty and pretty. Golden Sweet not so much of either. It's none too soon for the peas to start getting done, as I need the trellis space for pole beans ASAP.
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Post by 12540dumont on May 7, 2013 22:02:51 GMT -5
Where is that man who's supposed to be tilling? Yeah, the Asparagus has turned into an alternative spot for husbands to hide.... Attachments:
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