Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[OlJarhead]

http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/#movie
Have you seen this?

I'm really amazed at what he's done with Woodchips and am thinking of doing something very similar in my smaller garden. 

Check it out Glenn and let me know what you think.
Thanks
Erik

[glenn kangiser]

Excellent video, Erik.  It all makes sense and is a bit advanced from where I am now, but I am noticing the improvements from the work I did last year right now and even noted some of it last year.

I also will get after getting more chips and compost covering on my garden now that I have watched this film. 

I wanted to watch it on the big screen so found a link to it direct on Vimeo. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CEQQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F28055108&ei=EHzFUPWpJKWViQLhv4D4Cw&usg=AFQjCNETEvELL-UtVIwaa1iQ6Yu0vLaY_A&sig2=8SDJ1ukqhL7YLqoz9dIKsQ

I noted the key point I was interested in - part the chips down to the soil and plant in the soil.  In my case I will be adding pond bottom soil between the chips also.  Spraying with EM will also increase the benefit from the compost and chips as well as helping to fix nitrogen in the soil and break down the nutrients even more for use by the plants.


I have been shovel turning my soil as it has been getting more easily worked with the chips I added last year... but the plants I planted this year have been doing great since the chips were added last year and they are not robbing the nitrogen from the soil so badly.  I had the one broccoli that measured 12" across and many of the other plants are getting much bigger now too.

Anyway... thanks for the link, Erik.. Let's try it ourselves and share the link with others so they can benefit too. 

Note that this also fits well with Sepp Holzer's methods as Paul Wheaton has shared with us.

[OlJarhead]

I haven't tried it yet but I'm dying to...I only have about 500 square feet of garden that I could do it on and about 100 of that has some two year old onions on it so will have to wait until I finally decide to kill them (or eat them)...but I'm really dying to just get a chipper company to drop a load in my driveway so I can wheel barrow it back to the garden and get going...

and I agree, I like the part about parting the chips to plant in the soil until you have enough built up....very informative and inspiring.

Now if I can get the chips and get started!

I'm also thinking of some raised beds to increase my production (on our city lot since we're too far from our acreage) and a friend sent me a book on intense micro farming but as I'm out of work I have to be careful when it comes to spending (which I'd need to do to get bricks to make the raised beds)....

Anyway, glad you enjoyed.
Erik

[Windpower]

This looks like the same link (back to eden) I posted last spring

I tried it --It worked very well

In spite of the worst drought in 30 years here everthing did well to very good

and very minimal weeding

and minimal watering

[glenn kangiser]

I was thinking I had seen this somewhere before, Windpower.  Likely I did not view the whole thing last time.  Thanks for the update on your results too. 

Even 500 square feet could grow enough food for most of your needs, Erik. 

I have been collecting materials for 10 years here, yet I have not done enough or had the knowledge to be most effective....  I know I need to mulch but have not done enough about it.  I guess I will try to start today. 

Materials... I have been having chip guys drop loads off at the cul-de-sac where it is easy for them and I have a dump trailer and tractor I can use to move it from there.  They enjoy the break I think and can see forever from that point on the top of my mountain.  I currently have a stack of chips approx 65 feet long from part of last year and recently this year.  ......



My buddy with the backhoe is likely bringing me about 100 more yards of pond bottom soil too... not sure how soon though.

I am looking at dead trees on the property I can bury under the bottom to store moisture as per hugelkultur techniques also.  [idea]

[NavyDave]

That really was an interesting video. I have 2 neighbors who buy wood shavings from the lumber mill that I bought my exposed beams from to bed their horses on. They've both told me about the benefits of wood chips in gardens and have asked me if I wanted to come and get their used chips to ammend my soil. They have horse manure mixed in with their chips but when composted i'd think that would make it even better! I think i'll park my little garden trailer over to their place and start ammending!

This was my first year gardening at our new place and my crops were less than stellar but i know it takes a few years of adding organic material until new gardens do really well. Looking forward to seeing how this method works though!

[glenn kangiser]

Horse manure is excellent and will compost fastest by itself as it is a perfect mix of nitrogen to carbon.  Added chips will make it a bit short on nitrogen but adding chicken or turkey manure would make up the deficit.  That is just for fastest composting though - mixing with air and moisture weekly will turn it to dirt in about 4 to 6 weeks

Other than that the mix will work fine as long as you keep in mind that the chips will pull nitrogen from crops if buried.  Added on top of the soil they do not as mentioned in the video.

G/L with the garden - let's keep updated on each others garden adventures and production increases here so we know of better methods we can incorporate in our family gardens.

I just picked and ate a golden beet planted last February.  Still not going to seed yet though there was a little pithy area in the middle - I peeled it and trimmed the pithy spot out for the chickens.  They love scraps... Note that I also spray it with EM so that it will break down better for them and help their digestion as well as increase egg size and quality. 

EM is great sprayed on your compost and cow/horse or whatever kind of manure.  Helps to reduce smells and flies as well as break it down for better use by your plants. It can be added to fish guts - trimmings and waste for fertilizer without a bad smell per my friend from Burma.

[NavyDave]

I plan on adding some laying hens to the homestead in early spring.....i bet if I put the wood chips/horse manure in their run for a couple of weeks before adding them on top of the garden that the result will be black gold......it's crazy that it's December and i'm getting excited for spring already!

[NavyDave]

Oh and i did read the discussion you posted about EM awhile back when you gave me the advice about poison ivy.....pretty amazing stuff.....I'm gonna invest in some of it to have on hand.

[OlJarhead]

I'll have to make some calls and see what I can find locally that won't cost me.

One thing I did do today, however, was pick up 26lbs of cereal rye and order 200 more

I may just broadcast the rye on my garden this winter as I'd like to see how well the cereal rye handles our crabgass (I hate that stuff) and what the garden soil is like in the spring....then perhaps I can top the garden with chips in the spring and plant in the soil beneath to see what happens.

[glenn kangiser]

Dave, the EM is great stuff.  I use it on all poison oak itches or any other ones I may get.  The cats love it in their water..and it seems to help the old cats digestion.  I am taking some to a friend Wednesday and see if it helps with his digestion problems.  I hardly ever have reflux any more unless I really overdo a very excessive amount of grease or candy or some such.  I take either the standard AEM or Pro EM from Teraganix.  Usually a teaspoon a day with the Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar drink.

Erik, most of the seed I have broadcast on top of the ground has been eaten by the birds... enough that I never did see a plant come from it for sure.... [ouch]

I would recommend a good raking at least to get some of it out of their sight.  Maybe it will have a chance then.....

[Redoverfarm]

Erik, most of the seed I have broadcast on top of the ground has been eaten by the birds... enough that I never did see a plant come from it for sure.... [ouch]

I would recommend a good raking at least to get some of it out of their sight.  Maybe it will have a chance then.....

Glenn that is partially why I throw a layer of "mulch hay or straw" over the broadcasted area.  In addition to covering the seed it also holds the moisture while the seed is germinating. 

[OlJarhead]

Good point!

My first acre I disked up first and then drove over after planting because I don't have a cultipacker and was told driving over the seed will actually make it take better (apparently a local farmer found the hay he planted grew more successfully in his tracks then not).

I thought of looking into making a type of cultipacker for that reason but then watched some videos of people just broadcasting rye over the ground too....

[glenn kangiser]

Good Idea, John.  Guess I should do that next time.

Erik, roots need to get air.  I would think that driving over it would help the seed initially in contacting the soil thus germinating faster, but after it gets started I would think it would need air to the roots and it may not get that in a highly compacted root zone.  If the soil was the organic type such as the decomposed wood chips it may not compact from driving over it.  My soil here would turn into bricks pretty well stopping good growth. [ouch]

[rick91351]

As you can see you can not beat inputs of a lots and lots of humus into your soil.  Commercial inputs of phosphates and such leave a lots of deposits of salts and other residue that your soil has a lot of trouble divesting or cleaning itself of.   

You can cover your seeds very easily with a simple harrow pulled across your ground after it has been sown or scattering clean straw.  A harrow does not have to be one of those new high dollar affairs. 

[glenn kangiser]

Great to have you here, Rick....

My only problem is no flat land, and I may roll to the bottom of the sidehill harrowing.  That would be a harrowing experience....

I did get a bunch of harrows free for hauling them off - the kind with several rows of pipes and about an 8" spike sticking down every six inches or so.

[rick91351]

Great to have you here, Rick..

Thanks it has been sort of a harrowing experience getting here again!

My only problem is no flat land, and I may roll to the bottom of the sidehill harrowing.  That would be a harrowing experience....

And your point is     OH YA!   

I did get a bunch of harrows free for hauling them off - the kind with several rows of pipes and about an 8" spike sticking down every six inches or so.

Yes that is type I am talking about--- and free is always good.......

[glenn kangiser]

Glad you got that, Rick... I didn't want you to stagnate in your absence from the forum....

I am working on the garden today trying to do exactly what we have been talking about here..... I have gone through the old stuff I really upgraded with wood and manure last year and I am spading it down about 10 inches or so.  I will be adding a heavy mulch on top - Maybe a layer of composted manure and chips then cover it with plain chips that have been sitting a while. 

[glenn kangiser]

I planted about 150 plants in the garden today... spaded it all up by hand as the chips and manure added last year made it easier to do that than rototill it.  Some do not dig it all up like that - they just plant on top and add the chips but I wanted to loosen it deep and hopefully mess up the underground gopher trails if possible. 

I planted a couple kinds of Cauliflower, (Cheddar and something purple).. Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, two kinds of lettuce, Spinach, Pak, Cabbage and transplanted some potatoes that were volunteering.  Sprayed it all down with EM and  added a little 5-10-5 to get it going.  Rain tomorrow likely but hope to get the cover mulch on it soon. [ouch] 

Lately the gophers have been coming out of the ground then back-filling and compacting their holes to where I can't find where the went to.... probably down there snickering as they run their little compaction equipment and thinking they are so cool.... Gophers with Wackers... now I've seen it all....

[OlJarhead]

A Harrow might work for me...my soil doesn't have much organic matter in it which is why, I'm told, it can easily turn to a talcum powder like dust.

[glenn kangiser]

You need to get a bunch of compost worked into it I think besides on top if you want to grow in that soil, Erik, or make full depth raised beds on top.  It sounds very much like my clay soil here.... solid and wet in the winter and hard as a brick in summer.  Chips and or compost on top will help that too though.  Plants will not do good because air can't get to the roots.

While working in the garden yesterday I noticed some nice looking mushroom. 

Knowing that a small bite could kill me if the wrong kind I got out my two mushroom ID books and started studying.  OK - no obvious bad signs so far..... took a spore print last night to see what that tells me.  You simply take the cap - using a plastic bag for a glove if toxicity is suspected, and sit it on a white paper for a few hours or over night.  Never taste test an unknown mushroom.... 

Here is a bad pix of the print ........may have fogged my lens, but you will get the idea... [idea]

[Windpower]

What does the mushroom look like ?

My book about Illinois mushrooms says green spore prints are bad --- not sure what brown means

[glenn kangiser]

It looks very much like the Honey Mushroom I think it is called, Windpower.  I have to restudy the bad ones though I think similar ones have a white print.....

Better yet - here is a pix....

[MountainDon]

I think you need an offical "taster"   

[glenn kangiser]

....Ummm ... volunteers... Last call for volunteers...