From scratch only! No premixed bottles of "stuff"

calliandra said:
You need to redirect your water first then - make swales (if it's a small garden, they can be small too!) along contour lines so water is forced to take the longest possible path through your land. That way, it will begin to seep into the soil more, and organic matter will accumulate and decompose more quickly, creating fertile strips of land that expand outwards.
You can harness nature's processes to greatly assist you in your endeavor :mrgreen:
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Been reading the permaculture books then Calli? LMAO.........good stuff tho
 
thanks for the hints.
I laugh about getting rid of the rocks...There is [honestly] more rock than soil. I have to start the the sites with a digging bar. Shovel is only good afterwards. I broke down and actually bought something for the garden.... a bale of alfalfa.. Up to now, organic matter has all been composted weeds and kitchen waste... Work into some raised beds... slowly. as I get enough soil
 
DonBrennon said:
Been reading the permaculture books then Calli? LMAO.........good stuff tho
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I do confess :mrgreen: haha
Right down my alley, has been for a few years!

Azoned said:
There is [honestly] more rock than soil. I have to start the the sites with a digging bar. Shovel is only good afterwards. I broke down and actually bought something for the garden.... a bale of alfalfa.. Up to now, organic matter has all been composted weeds and kitchen waste... Work into some raised beds... slowly. as I get enough soil
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Wow that sounds extreeemely compacted :o
Yeah if you want to see the light in this lifetime, that's probably what you'll have to do, bring in stuff from the outside.
I tried to rehab a garden with its own resources alone for 3 years, and the soil was still weak. It was more suited to brickmaking than gardening when I got it, not quite as bad as yours sounds.
So yeah, I've lifted the ban on external resources haha
The trick is to bring in the right stuff at the right time in the right amounts and place it strategically so it has a maximum positive effect, fun stuff :mrgreen:

Sounds like if you're going to have to practically build your soil on top of what you have.
You could go the Hugelculture way, making a big mound of plant material layered with your soil & some compost.
Just brainstorming, can't help myself haha ;)
 
Id try and copy a forest floor in this situation. You could collect poeple bags of leaves this time of year and overload you garden with leaves. You may need to throw some boards over top to weigh it down if the wind really picks up but likely unnecessary. Fresher the leaf more nutrients to be composted. let the be a barrier over what you have for a few months or try and till it in first then breakdown. It's up to you of course. Have you practiced legume usage? gotten a soil test? Also you could consider a few truckloads of plain mulch. as it breaks down you'll get lots of hummus and peaty build up under the surface. Combine the mulch and leaves i see that being useful by mid spring. Of course mulch is somewhat expensive if you dont haggle lol. We as a neighborhood have piles of yard debri by the road that either get used by me or taken by the trash company.
 
I guess it could be compacted... I live on top of a little knoll and I see a large chunk of decomposing shale sticking out of the ground just outside the "garden"... that chunk... I presume to be bedrock... If I was choose a place for a garden... this would NOT be it.

it's coming around. I knew I was getting into virgin turf. It always takes a couple of years. I do OK. I am wanting the alfalfa to grow. The roots go down 2 or 3 feet. That will help... and I found earthworms this spring, when I was turning the sites.
 
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Azoned said:
I guess it could be compacted... I live on top of a little knoll and I see a large chunk of decomposing shale sticking out of the ground just outside the "garden"... that chunk... I presume to be bedrock... If I was choose a place for a garden... this would NOT be it.

it's coming around. I knew I was getting into virgin turf. It always takes a couple of years. I do OK. I am wanting the alfalfa to grow. The roots go down 2 or 3 feet. That will help... and I found earthworms this spring, when I was turning the sites.
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i had sand at my last place. built it into better sand haha. but i did ok by mulching every year and leaving it to decompose and adding fresh compost as a top dressing frequently and at the beggining of each crop.

alot of people dont top dress solid much i around here. those solids are going to be what becomes mature bedding as we add more compost. compost is free as you have figured out with your kitchen scraps.
 
Azoned said:
I guess it could be compacted... I live on top of a little knoll and I see a large chunk of decomposing shale sticking out of the ground just outside the "garden"... that chunk... I presume to be bedrock... If I was choose a place for a garden... this would NOT be it.

it's coming around. I knew I was getting into virgin turf. It always takes a couple of years. I do OK. I am wanting the alfalfa to grow. The roots go down 2 or 3 feet. That will help... and I found earthworms this spring, when I was turning the sites.
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dont give up! add as much as you can!!! seriously ha
 
so here's a nestled end of the tent. i'm kinda trying to warm things up in here to get ready for our new friends from the Attitude. Couple of mystery gender guests up in this joint. Q1 has a wonk to the leaves i saw this morning. I assume it either get a drift of the foliar spray or some environmental issue. Could have been a fan caused wonk. Some radish look a little over watered or something. They have a heavy curl. Dill is growing up nicely. I'm happy about this potential companion crop of dill. Should help repel some potential bugger guests. Oh and i lost my biodynamics dandelions to the neighborhood dog..


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To correct the Q1's wonky leaves i made a light 1qrt luke warm water, with 1/2 tsp molasses and 1/2 tsp EMe. Bubbled briefly. And watered the cup heavily to drench out anything weird. Worked like a charm since the cup isnt sitting in its run off. It's elevated by soda crate! Radio is now on the hard rock station for good and connected to the light's timer.

CIMG2833.JPG CIMG2834.JPG s-l1600 (1).jpg I ordered new larger capacitors to ballast my DIY LEDs i was at 300uF, 250uF, and 200uF but i found some nice 450VAC capacitors that should handle the large current pass pretty nicely. This'll run the LEDs up to 3A-3.5A WOAH (MAX) that might get kinda bright here! blurpleblurple nonsensebongsmilie
 
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1kemosabe said:
Look up and see if there are any farms around you. Most will gladly give you free manure. Ask if they have any older piles and if so than take that.
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Oh.. I'm an old hand. I live out in the country. I have ready access to all kinds. Horse, cow, bat, chicken... . And you should get paid to clean stalls/corrals HeHeHe
beetle grubs take place of worms in the compost heap. Big... BIG ones as thick as your index finger. I sift my compost before putting it into the mix. I have piles of weeds composting all over the property. Too lazy to haul it to one spot. That will go in once the garden is vacant. I do most of my soil prep over the winter. We don't get snow cover or prolonged cold. It is cold [15`-25`F] in the AM and warm [70-75`]during the day.

I add more compost every year. Hopefully, a net gain from year to year. It is amazing how fast organic matter disappears... get consumed. I put around 5 gallons in each planting site before I plant. And yes, I mulch. To help keep soil temps down... Average high in June is 100` And it a dry heat. Will test your plants vascular systems.
 
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Azoned said:
Oh.. I'm an old hand. I live out in the country. I have ready access to all kinds. Horse, cow, bat, chicken... . And you should get paid to clean stalls/corrals HeHeHe
beetle grubs take place of worms in the compost heap. Big... BIG ones as thick as your index finger. I sift my compost before putting it into the mix. I have piles of weeds composting all over the property. Too lazy to haul it to one spot. That will go in once the garden is vacant. I do most of my soil prep over the winter. We don't get snow cover or prolonged cold. It is cold [15`-25`F] in the AM and warm [70-75`]during the day.

I add more compost every year. Hopefully, a net gain from year to year. It is amazing how fast organic matter disappears... get consumed. I put around 5 gallons in each planting site before I plant. And yes, I mulch. To help keep soil temps down... Average high in June is 100` And it a dry heat. Will test your plants vascular systems.
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so you're definitely doing your garden some justice, consider adding compost 3-6 times a year. this would be 3 crops minimum and a top dressing halfway through each crop. bigget plants like tomato and peppers can be fed compost every 2-4 weeks depending on what you are feeding. and that's while foliar spraying fermented fruit extracts once a week. i envy your livestock access!
 
Thanks
If I had a backhoe... French intensive would have been done.

Fish frames and guts will get into the mix this coming year. Our "lake" dried up a couple years ago, and has got decent size bluegills again, now.
 
Azoned said:
Thanks
If I had a backhoe... French intensive would have been done.

Fish frames and guts will get into the mix this coming year. Our "lake" dried up a couple years ago, and has got decent size bluegills again, now.
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oo that'd be some nice exercise. i gotta till with a garden spade. my new beds are garbage sand and some fine clay permeated throughout. which if you think about it a prerequisite for healthy soil so I'm not really complaining.

what is a fish frame? for breeding?
 
fish frames = fish skeletons
I have a nice Troy bilt 8HP.. Worthless on this virgin soil. And it just sinks in my prepared areas.

some of my best gardens started with red clay. Great stuff, once you get it loosened up. Until then, no good for root crops... but is fine for corn and tomatoes and top bearing things.
 
my oldest's core went yellow on me so i fed a bokashi-vermicasting, FPE, EMe, mol, calphos tea. i think it's time for blood meal tea.
the rooted clone looks like it's dropping its oldest leaves and has some sort of environmental issue still so im hiding it from the fan and cut off the extra incandescent light. The querkle looks fine and unharmed in the same soil and feeding so it's likely too hot and too windy making those new leaves go nuts.
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