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| We moved to an acreage in late April and got the hair-brained idea to hastily plant a half-acre garden. Considering the circumstances and our inexperience, the venture went well and we enjoyed the endeavor.
To try to ramp it up for next year, I have ordered a semi-truckload of compost to mix into the soil, which should be arriving next week. Also, a tree trimming company is going to be trimming in our area, and is going to start delivering mulch starting next week. My plan is to till in the compost and then spread the mulch over the garden several inches thick. From here on out, I would like to stop tilling altogether, and simply spread out a new layer of mulch each fall, following the practices of Ruth Stout. However, we had a major powdery mildew problem this past summer. I didn't realize what it was, and it soon took over my entire patch of pumpkins, squashes, gourds, melons, and cucumbers. I pulled the vines at the end of the season and burned them. However, there are still leaves here and there on the ground which are infected. And I wonder about little bits of leaves and vines that broke off that I would never be able to remove. Should I worry about these? Or just go ahead with the compost and mulch as planned? Or should I treat the entire area somehow before tilling in the compost and mulching? Can you treat the PM and kill the spores in the off season? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ClassEdGardener none (My Page) on Sat, Oct 27, 12 at 13:00
| I should mention, also, that I tried to mulch with straw this past summer, which is closer to what Ruth Stout did with her hay. However, the hay and straw are at a premium in Iowa, even old, moldy bales, and so it is cost prohibitive. I could only afford one big, round bale, which covered about 1/5 of my garden. Then my sister lent me the Back to Eden video, which made me decide to go the route of free wood chips from the tree trimming company. I have been reading your posts about using wood chips, and it seems they are fairly mixed about whether using fresh chips are a good idea or not. If I spread the chips on in the fall, will they be "safe" by spring? |
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| Powdery Mildew occurs in susceptible plants when weather conditions are conducive. Will you see it again? Depends on the weather. the best way to try to keep this under controi is to understand something about the disease pathogens. I have not had a problem with wood chips applied as a mulch, well aged, or fresh. Where I did had a problem was when some wood chips were mixed into the soil which caused a temporary Nitrogen deficiency and some stunted growth. Put down as mulch wood chips will not be a problem. |
Here is a link that might be useful: About Powdery Mildew
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| We've had powdery mildew only when the soil has dried out, so building up your soil with organic matter makes a huge difference as well as an irrigation plan if you have dry weather. Plant something else there next year or PM resistant squash varieties. It takes time to build great soil, so you're off to a good start with compost & wood chips. We layered up on top of pit run over the years, so it can be done! |
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