Sheet Mulching – Day 1

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

We’ve begun sheet mulching Terrace #3. Here is a good article explaining the sheet mulching  


First, we put down one layer of manure (TGFH-Thank God for Horses).  Then, a layer of cardboard to keep weeds from reaching the surface.  Then we took some time to map out where we want walkways to access our vegetables, and covered these with dirt.  Next Tim watered down the cardboard so the dampness will help it break down with the manure.


Next, we put another layer of manure over the cardboard, on the parts that will be planted. This will aid with the compost process to give us nice, rich soil for planting.  After manure came some old hay that we’ve had which was too
rotten to feed the horses, but good to create compost.  The concept is “green” materials layered with “brown” compost materials.  So the manure is our green, the cardboard is brown.  We might have too much green, because hay is apparently green also…hmmm.  After it has cooked a few weeks, we may add some peat to the top before planting, and/or amend as needed.  We put some wood chips on the walkways, in between the planting areas. 

After the hay layer, Tim is sprinkling the top of it (more moisture) and will cover the whole thing with black plastic.  We’ll leave it this way to cook for about 8 weeks, just in time for our “last average frost date”, May 10, when we can begin planting.  

Meanwhile, I’ll be planting a few more seeds indoors this week, and I’m still reading lots of garden books for more ideas of what to plant and how to plant it.

Jackpot!

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This morning Tim was driving by a lot where a couple of men were putting branches through a chipper. He stopped and asked what they would do with the chips.  They had no plans, so Tim offered to take them off their hands and they thought that was great.  We went back later with the trailer to fill it up with wood chips for our sheet mulching.  We backed the trailer up to where they were chipping and left it there for a while, and they turned the chipper to blow the chips right into the trailer.  Later we went back and shoveled more in until it was pretty full.  Tomorrow after we empty the trailer and put out the chips in the yard, we may go back to get another load.  Wahooo!

Cutting Back on Power Consumption

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Another thing we have been doing to reduce-reuse-recycle is to cut back on our consumption of resources (reduce).  We turned off the hot tub, cancelled the satellite (and limit our tv to an occasional movie from Netflix), and are turning off things when not in use.  We just got our most recent electric bill, and last month we used about half the power we used a previous month, and about $70 less!! Woohooooo!  


Our water usage is less, too, but doesn’t cost us any less.  There is a minimum charge, so we still get charged for water we aren’t using.  It isn’t a win-win.

Outdoor Changes

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Tim has completed tiers 1,2,3 & 4, and some sloping below #4.  It looks great. The tractor could use some maintenance, but has held up pretty well. (THANKS for all your hard work, honey!)  


The next step will be to start our sheet mulching (or composting) to prepare the soil.  First we will put down cardboard to stop the weeds from coming up and to give the worms a nice, damp spot underneath where they can go and do their thing.  (Eventually the cardboard will break down and allow roots from our vegetables to go down deeper as necessary.)  

On top of the cardboard we will put about 12″ of layers of brown and green composting materials and top it off with black plastic sheeting.  We’ll leave it that way 6-8 weeks to “cook” the compost. After the compost is cooked, it should be about 6″ higher than the current dirt level.  This is the method outlined in “Lasagna Gardening” and we’ve heard it works great.  We have plenty of horse manure to add to the layers, old hay we aren’t feeding the horses, and some compost of kitchen garbage we began collecting about a month ago.  We also bought a chipper/shredder (seen at the top of the photo at the right) so we can chip up all the yard matter we can gather.  We got the used shredder from a craigslist ad, about $400 less than the new models.  It was barely used!

Around the entire plot we will leave a path for Lucky, the dog, so she can continue to run around and bark at the bunnies & horses, which she loves to do.  Between her path and the garden, we plan to put up electric fencing, some wires low to the ground to discourage the bunnies, and some higher to keep Lucky out.  We’re thinking of getting an outdoor cat, to keep the mice & bunnies away, but we’ll have to figure out a way to let the cat in to the garden without being zapped by the fence.


I’m beginning to map out what will go where, based on sun & soil needs and companion planting suggestions.  The plan is beginning to come together, so we can go crazy planting after (and in some cases before) the last frost date. The four tiered sections are flat, and then there’s a bit of a slope going toward the back fence and to the right in the last photo.  There, I’ll put some things that could benefit from the drainage provided by the slope.

Indoor Seedlings

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The seedlings are coming along nicely.  

Tomatoes:  3 varieties (Brandywine, Roma & Sugar Sweeties)  are nearing 1.5″ and looking good.  I bought a “Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Planter” which will hang from the porch and grow upside down.  We’ll give that a try just for kicks.  It was only $10 at Target.  

Peppers: Pepperoncini and Jalapeno are just beginning to make an appearance.  California Wonder and Yolo Wonder are barely beginning to show.  Most were planted 2/20-22, others 2/27.  


Artichokes:  The first batch, planted 2/20, are up.  Some I did what was suggested in my Burpee book, and refrigerated seeds in moist sand for two weeks before planting.  I planted those today.  It said that this process will promote early flowering.  We’ll see.


Celery:  One batch was planted 2/22 according to the Ferry-Morse package directions, at 1″ deep.  I thought this was fishy, after reading a couple of other sources that said they should be planted at barely under the surface.  So on 2/27 I planted some more according to these other instructions.  The 2/27 batch has just begun to emerge, and there is no sign of germination from the 2/22 batch.  Some sources say celery is hard to grow, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Endive:  Just for fun I started some Curly Endive, and these seeds were the first to appear.  Only a few germinated, so I went ahead and planted some more in the empty plugs, and they have just begun to emerge.

Leeks & Scallions are on their way, and thyme, oregano, basil, & bee balm.

I just bought some broccoli, kale, yellow peppers (canary bells), and sweet pea perennials, which I will probably start tomorrow after I make some more newspaper pots.

I saw a nifty deal to make newspaper pots online for $20, but instead of purchasing it, I’ve been making pots out of vitimin bottles that work quite well.  Now that I know they work, I’ll stop buying the peat pots and use only the newspaper one.  Besides saving money, I’ll save the peat resources by not buying those pots.  (A small dent, I know, but every little bit helps.)

The Terraces are Coming Along!

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington
We got some more railroad ties, and Tim is busily putting them in.  It’s hard to see, but there is one terrace behind the one in front, slightly higher.  Tim is carefully flattening out each level, and when he’s done next week we will begin “sheet mulching”, a form of layered composting.  

We should be able to plant tall things in the back, to allow the sun to hit the shorter items in front.  We are collecting information about what vegetables like to be planted together or away from each other, and will combine that with the size and preferred soil type and sun requirement of each vegetable or fruit, then will decide where to plant everything.  


Garden Terracing

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Tim finished building the grow bench downstairs on Thursday, so Friday I got busy planting seeds.  Several are planted now, but I needed to buy a few more, so today I will plant those.  It will be fun to watch them grow!


Later, Tim got out the tractor and began to dig out the area we will terrace.  First, he needs to fix the retaining wall he’d had there, then we’ll terrace the hill there, with “lasagna gardening”. This book was recommended, and looks great.  It explains a form of “sheet mulching”, layering and getting the soil ready to plant, along with tips for lots of different vegetables.  See it here: LASAGNA GARDENING