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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 25, 2013 8:35:24 GMT -5
It's early days in my experimentation but I'm trying to figure out a way to grow some mulch in situ. Tried winter wheat sown in the fall but I found even thickly sown that it didn't create sufficient biomass.
Magneta spreen (Chenopodium giganteum) however seems promising... not that I did that on purpose...
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Post by steev on Jun 25, 2013 11:27:15 GMT -5
Wild purslane.
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Post by mjc on Jun 25, 2013 20:23:24 GMT -5
Buckwheat...thickly sown. In most areas of North America, you can get 2, maybe 3 crops/year. For mulch/green manure you cut it right when it starts flowering.
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Post by MikeH on Jun 25, 2013 21:04:39 GMT -5
It's early days in my experimentation but I'm trying to figure out a way to grow some mulch in situ. Tried winter wheat sown in the fall but I found even thickly sown that it didn't create sufficient biomass. Magneta spreen (Chenopodium giganteum) however seems promising... not that I did that on purpose... What are you trying to do? Are you planning to chop and drop and then plant into it? Or are you just trying to produce large quantities of biomass for mulch that you'll use elsewhere? |
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Post by oxbowfarm on Jun 26, 2013 5:12:37 GMT -5
Triticale.
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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 27, 2013 8:42:14 GMT -5
Chop (or mow) and drop and plant into yup. P.S. MikeH: love the image.
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Post by ferdzy on Jun 27, 2013 11:17:26 GMT -5
Funny you should mention magenta spreen. We've concluded we leave our beds bare for too long, and need cover crops. I'm letting a certain amount of lamb's quarters to go to seed this summer, so I can strew it over some cleared beds in the fall. It's one of the easier things to weed out, produces a lot of leafage, stands crowding, and is good eats in its' own right. Sure it's a weed. I'm trying to get over that.
I think I should also be looking for some kind of annual clover or other legume, that has similar qualities, and I'm open to suggestions.
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Post by mjc on Jun 27, 2013 16:18:31 GMT -5
I think I should also be looking for some kind of annual clover or other legume, that has similar qualities, and I'm open to suggestions. Don't bother with annual clover..any clover will do. Just plant it in the late summer/fall, then mow/till/turn/what ever the next spring. Unless you are planting legumes in that bed, it isn't really a 'competitive' plant and planted thickly enough will crowd out other weeds. |
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Post by billw on Jun 27, 2013 16:34:40 GMT -5
We like to do a similar thing with miner's lettuce. We usually cover crop with broad beans and the miner's lettuce fills in the gaps nicely. It also makes a nice salad year round.
I have some magenta spreen around here somewhere. I'll have to give it another try. As I recall, we thought that it filled about the same niche as orach, but didn't taste as good.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Jun 28, 2013 5:39:17 GMT -5
Sorghum-sudan or Sudangrass might be another good option if you planted it in the summer, you can cut it several times and it will regrow, then when it frost kills you can lay it down and plant through it.
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Post by ferdzy on Jun 28, 2013 6:54:14 GMT -5
mjc, we don't mow or till - we have relatively small (5' x 25') beds, not raised but edged. So yanking by hand is how things come out of the beds with a few exceptions (potatoes) that are very carefully dug. Putting something perennial with potentially deep roots into that situation makes me a little nervous, rightly or not I don't know. Actually, I think what I would really like to do is clip the tops and leave the roots to die in place, which is why I am thinking annuals. Still not convinced one way or the other though.
Billw, we have grown Miner's Lettuce over the winter under hoop-houses for the last few years. I've thought about it as a cover crop, but it poops out by mid May, mid June if we are lucky, as it tends to get quite hot and dry here and our soil is sandy. On the other hand that would cover - so to speak - a lot of beds that I want to plant between mid May and mid June. Hmm.
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Post by MikeH on Jun 28, 2013 7:00:49 GMT -5
Chop (or mow) and drop and plant into yup. P.S. MikeH: love the image. The results have been encouraging. The rye didn't miss a beat although some of the plants were subdivided before transplanting. It tillered quickly and is now 4 feet tall with heads that have flowered. The other bed with the peas has worked well. The buckwheat is now 4" tall and starting to grow quickly and the unwanteds are minimal - a bit of lambsquarters, a bit more horsetail, no thistle, and no twitch grass although I think I can hear it growing. Since you also deal with soil fertility and composition problems, something like I'm trying might work well for you.
PS I like your picture. It's much more optimistic about the future than mine. |
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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 28, 2013 19:39:48 GMT -5
Sounds interesting. Looking forward to the picture. Perhaps I should be thinking in terms of multiple mulches before using. Currently, I was just trying to sow in veggie crops. I have an annual grass weed that drives me bonkers in the soil. Easy to take care of but if you let it get away...
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Post by MikeH on Jun 29, 2013 14:26:42 GMT -5
Sounds interesting. Looking forward to the picture. Perhaps I should be thinking in terms of multiple mulches before using. Currently, I was just trying to sow in veggie crops. I have an annual grass weed that drives me bonkers in the soil. Easy to take care of but if you let it get away...  June 3
June 17
June 26 - Buckwheat. |
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Post by littleminnie on Jun 30, 2013 12:46:38 GMT -5
I've tried non winter hardy alfalfa to make a nice mat mulch in spring, but much of the time what they say will die in winter survives and then it is a weed. Still promising though if the right cultivar is found.
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