MotherLode Gardens 2016

[newtothiscoco]

looking good out there man,
i got a few questions for you if you dont mind,
are you gona harvest some of that nice organic hay up behind your plants in the pic, to use for a mulch layer over the cover crop to get the microlife going ?
or do you buy hay to mulch over the covercrops on the beeds/bumps what ever you call them ^^,
and when do you plan on mulching it out over the beeds?, dont let the cover crop get out of controll before you start to mulch it down, it can go wild btw,
the old farmers in europe use thees to harvest hay/corn and grass around the fields and propertys to keep the traktors away from the garden and fields, and to get a daily work out, its a verry nice tool for a farmer that enjoys noisless work time, while getting the job done in no time,
i dont know what its called in english tho, but here is a pic of it to let you get an idea of the tool, http://jcollect.dk/Le.JPG

would be cool for you to be able to harvest your own hay mulch for your beeds, to kill off the cover crop to get the airobic and anarobic spores growing in the top inches of the soil,
keep up the good work, you are living a dream joob man of allot of ppl, keep it 100%, show them how its done organic 100%!! i like what i see so fare

 

[HorseBadoritiz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfIHiBB6xE

 

[plantingplants]

Holy shit. I want a scythe now. I saw some at peaceful valley.. didn't realize they're that much better.

That seems right up Shcrews' alley with his love of tedious manual labor lol

 

[HorseBadoritiz]

Holy shit. I want a scythe now. I saw some at peaceful valley.. didn't realize they're that much better.

That seems right up Shcrews' alley with his love of tedious manual labor lol

No you don't, lol! I've got a couple, and they are a serious workout. The guy in the video is amazing!

They are scary sharp, too, and keeping them that way is another thing... I use a weed eater, lol!

 

[Sforza]

looking good out there man,
i got a few questions for you if you dont mind,
are you gona harvest some of that nice organic hay up behind your plants in the pic, to use for a mulch layer over the cover crop to get the microlife going ?
or do you buy hay to mulch over the covercrops on the beeds/bumps what ever you call them ^^,
and when do you plan on mulching it out over the beeds?, dont let the cover crop get out of controll before you start to mulch it down, it can go wild btw,
the old farmers in europe use thees to harvest hay/corn and grass around the fields and propertys to keep the traktors away from the garden and fields, and to get a daily work out, its a verry nice tool for a farmer that enjoys noisless work time, while getting the job done in no time,
i dont know what its called in english tho, but here is a pic of it to let you get an idea of the tool, http://jcollect.dk/Le.JPGView Image
would be cool for you to be able to harvest your own hay mulch for your beeds, to kill off the cover crop to get the airobic and anarobic spores growing in the top inches of the soil,
keep up the good work, you are living a dream joob man of allot of ppl, keep it 100%, show them how its done organic 100%!! i like what i see so fare

Scythe is what it is called in English. Not many people in America use those sort of tools anymore here.

 

[yocs]

Yeah most people would rather whack it, With a weed whacker.

 

[RckyMtRdnk]

obama flew out to Yosemite to get a peek yesterday in a big chopper

 

[Shcrews]

obama flew out to Yosemite to get a peek yesterday in a big chopper

i heard about that. Yosemite is getting really popular. must be good for obama getting out and communing with nature

What kinda intervals do you have your drip coils watering on? I just set mine up.... Thanks for the good idea BTW

they're getting water once per day usually, about 40-60 gallons per plant. on really hot days i water them once in the morning and once in afternoon

 

[Shcrews]

looking good out there man,
i got a few questions for you if you dont mind,
are you gona harvest some of that nice organic hay up behind your plants in the pic, to use for a mulch layer over the cover crop to get the microlife going ?
or do you buy hay to mulch over the covercrops on the beeds/bumps what ever you call them ^^,
and when do you plan on mulching it out over the beeds?, dont let the cover crop get out of controll before you start to mulch it down, it can go wild btw,
keep up the good work, you are living a dream joob man of allot of ppl, keep it 100%, show them how its done organic 100%!! i like what i see so fare

The cover crop is a living mulch. I've never used it before so i'm gonna ride it out and see how it goes. Probably wont put anything else on there

problem with using the grass on the hill is it seeds up the mounds and weeds grow in it

 

[Shcrews]

Holy shit. I want a scythe now. I saw some at peaceful valley.. didn't realize they're that much better.

That seems right up Shcrews' alley with his love of tedious manual labor lol

if I used that for my whole property i wouldnt need to workout for months. but i dont have good luck with tools like that. theyget fucked up on rocks and such

 

[Stone House]

obama flew out to Yosemite to get a peek yesterday in a big chopper

Yeah, Obama's been reading this thread and wanted to get a peek at some Bodhi growing in the foothills

 

[newtothiscoco]

The cover crop is a living mulch. I've never used it before so i'm gonna ride it out and see how it goes. Probably wont put anything else on there

problem with using the grass on the hill is it seeds up the mounds and weeds grow in it

yes the cover crop is a living mulch, but you still have to either cut it down or mulch it down with hay/grass, before it blooms and throws seeds aka reproduce right ? the cover crop is used to hold on the nitrogen right ? and ofc to keep the soil covered so the water does not evaporate as fast, but you have to mulch it down at somepoint to introduce the nitrogen back in to the soil right ? or do you just plan on using it as its shown in the pics ? because im almost sure its gona throw seeds on you then and go wild, its not something you want to introduce in to nature i think, so i would probaly mulch it down or cut it down in time,

sorry for my bad english, i hope you can understand it, but im just trying to understand why you are using the cover crop on there if you aint gona mulch it down ? but yeah sorry for going off topic,
i just assumed that you was gona mulch it down with hay/grass, ill climb back in the bushes and watch from a fare agin

keep up the great work

 

[Shcrews]

6:00pm

 

[sacramental]

Damn that cover crop is raging!!! Right on bro!

 

[Shcrews]

sorry for my bad english, i hope you can understand it, but im just trying to understand why you are using the cover crop on there if you aint gona mulch it down ?

....
from the AEA thread:

your cover crop is the first indicator when something is off... needs water? Soil not balanced? Insect pressure? The cover crop gets hit first. It retains moisture and keeps microbes and mycorrhizae alive. All while fixing nitrogen and building carbon in your soil... not to mention the root exudates that the cover crop feeds to the microbes, fueling nutrient cycling in your soil...No till with cover crop is a no brainer...

 

[Hemphrey Bogart]

yes the cover crop is a living mulch, but you still have to either cut it down or mulch it down with hay/grass, before it blooms and throws seeds aka reproduce right ? the cover crop is used to hold on the nitrogen right ? and ofc to keep the soil covered so the water does not evaporate as fast, but you have to mulch it down at somepoint to introduce the nitrogen back in to the soil right ? or do you just plan on using it as its shown in the pics ? because im almost sure its gona throw seeds on you then and go wild, its not something you want to introduce in to nature i think, so i would probaly mulch it down or cut it down in time,

sorry for my bad english, i hope you can understand it, but im just trying to understand why you are using the cover crop on there if you aint gona mulch it down?

Im trying cover crop seeds this year for the first time and I'm chopping everything and incorporating it back into the top soil and then I'm adding more new seed as I grow. From what I understand, the point of having a cover crop is to eventually terminate it and allow the nitrogen stored in the roots to break down and be absorbed back into the soil. I suppose you could try to let the cover crop grow undisturbed all season, but those cover crop patches schrews has going may get shaded out eventually by what should be some ginormous plants, imho.

HB.

 

[Shcrews]

hot day on the hill. It's supposed to be over 100 for the next couple weeks. been watering the plants once in the morning and again in the afternoon. One thing that worries me, I did notice a few leaves that were a bit crinkled on a few plants. After the issues i experienced last year i am worried about any abnormal growth like that. IF it gets worse i will take pictures.

However they are all growing well except a couple which arent as big as i would like but still they appear healthy. The biggest plants are almost 5 feet tall now. soon will be ready for the next layer of support. Here's some pictures i took at sunset

south fork kush:

 

[FoothillFarming]

Plants look great brother.

Word to the wise, I would start pulling the buckwheat out of the cover crop. It gets big, and blocks everything else out, and gets unruly. Next year, no buckwheat in my mix. Was great when first starting, but too vigorous in the end.

 

[plantingplants]

Second round of support already? shit. I have one 4.5 ft plant now but mine don't even have the first layer! I need to get on that.

You have a jungle under those plants man. Looks great. I bet you see all sorts of life in there. Are you seeing any pests in the mulch or just lots of beneficials? I had some treehoppers, but just introduced lacewings and have been seeing less hoppers and now some praying mantises.

PS for folks wondering about living mulch, no you don't till it in, or chop it. You can partially chop it to manage it, but it's not a cover crop meant to provide N. It doesn't even really fix much N. Like it was said earlier, it keeps the important top layer of soil healthy with its roots and keeps it shaded.


Foothill, since white clover apparently doesn't like intense summer sun, do you think the tall buckwheat would be good for shading the white clover in spots where the plants don't shade it?

I made my own blend with 40% clover, 30% cowpeas, 30% buckwheat, since cowpeas and buckwheat are actually summer plants while white clover and a lot of stuff in the BAS blend isn't. But mostly since it was cheaper.

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

Shcrews, lookin' good!

I have a question: once the season is over and/or next season rolls around, are you at any point going to till the soil in/under the mounds? I imagine after a year the dirt might get pretty compact.