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Thu, May 17, 12 at 6:48
| Newly retired, my first attempt at organic vegatable gardening. I the have plowed and tilled an area that hasn't been gardened for at least 20 yrs. There was a scarcity of worms in the soil. It has a clayish content but not too bad. I know the soil needs to be built up. I have access to good compost(cow manure,grass clippings , leaves) and rabbit manure. I plan to sprinkle just a light dusting of wood ashes before planting. Maybe a small scoop of rabbit droppings in each planting hole and then broadcast some droppings around the plants. Then use compost as a mulch over the whole garden. Then of course this fall after harvesting till the entire garden, add more compost and chopped fall leaves on top. Next spring till all that in and repeat the entire process. Does this sound like a good basic plan. If not, any advice on any part of the process would be appreciated. By the way, I forgot to mention about 1/5th of my compost is not quite finished, therefore the mulching technique rather than tilling it into the soil. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Do not add any wood ashes on that soil until after a good reliable soil test has been done to see if any might be needed. Wood ashes, 25 percent Calcium Carbonate, also when combined with moisture make LYE a very caustic substance that will do evenmore harm to the few earthworms you do have. Adding animal mantures to soil is a good idea when done properly and that means none introduced 90 days (for above ground crops) to 120 days (for root crops) before harvest becuse of the potential for diseas pathogens in that manure. What is the level of organic matter in your soil? How well does your soil drain? What does your soil smell like? What is the tilth (workability) of your soil? What is your soils pH? What is the balance of Calcium and Magnesium? What did a good reliable soil test say about the nutrietns in that soil? |
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| It might be a good idea to simply plant this year plus a little rabbit poop, and see how it turns out. Getting a test would not hurt either, then this fall put manure on heavily and plough it under letting it sit all winter as the winter frozen furrows will till much easier next spring, plus the ploughing helps give a base that invites worms. |
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- Posted by Marshallkey none (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 4:49
| Thanks so much for the advice,it is greatly appreciated |
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- Posted by diggity_ma 5 MA (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 8:40
| As kimmsr suggests, some basic soil tests would be helpful, especially considering that it's a new garden. That said, your strategy sounds good. Just make sure the manure is not fresh, and be very cautious with the ash. You might want to pile all that manure up and let it compost for a couple months before using it. If you have a lawnmower with a bagger, collect a few bags of leaves and add it to the manure pile. That will ensure that the composting process gets off to a quick start. While it's composting, get to know your garden a little... Do the soil tests, and most importantly... observe and learn. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Imperative
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 10:40
| Did you know worms are not native to north america? I don't think a lack of worms is a bad thing, but if you add more organic matter they will probably come to the soil. But, since they are not native, we could do without them. In some areas they are causing damage. They are eating the organic matter faster then it can be replaced and some species of plants are dying. Worms came from the old world. |
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| Worms are a love-hate item and yes in spots it would be better without them, yet in the boulevard hill up here, which is, depending on spot sandy-clay to sand with some clay, I have not put anything there to make the soil better in all but one or two depressions yet again when I dig out dandelions often out pop one or more worms even along the curb. Now that soil grows grass from fair to very poorly so I am glad the worms are there. When I go fishing and do not use all the night-crawlers I put them in the rose or veg. garden always have and always will, although at my late mother's place I should probably go out at night and catch and sell them as they are getting a bit too numerous again. |
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- Posted by diggity_ma 5 MA (My Page) on Fri, May 18, 12 at 14:08
| Call me skeptical of the idea that nary a single solitary earthworm inhabited all of North America prior to the arrival of the settlers... I understand the settlers may have inadvertently imported a few new species, but I just can't swallow the notion that there were none until a few hundred years ago. |
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| Speculation is that the "native" earthworm populations died off sometime around the time the dinosours did and that as europeans immigrated here they brought european earthworms in along with the plants they brought. Since the history of mankind has been traced to someplace in Kenya, and well have originated there, it is very probable that earthworms evolved the same way and came from a single point of origin, hence the earthworms we havew today may well be closely related to those now long gone earthworms that lived with the dinosours. |
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