sheet mulching to rebuild soil and resist drought

Posted on March 30, 2012 by calskin

If you don’t read this whole post, please scroll to the bottom and check out the questions. I’d love to have peoples opinions and input.

I have been trying to figure out the best way to start a garden in Calgary Alberta. We have rich soil here and I’ve been hearing that if your soil is “too rich”, your vegitables such as carrots won’t grow as well.

sheet mulching

In my constant search of all things permaculture, I stumbled upon a series of videos a while ago put on youtube by the University of Massachusetts where they transformed a lawn into a very large permaculture garden. They did this without digging, and they didn’t even tear out the grass. Instead the sheet mulched the place.

Sheet mulching is where you put a layer of compost down on your lawn, and then put cardboard or newspaper on top of the compost. After that, you put a thick layer of mulch down such as wood chips or straw or whatever. The cardboard breaks down and the lawn dies underneath and becomes biomass. This makes a very rich soil to grow in and thickens the topsoil layer.

Check out the video.

the conundrum

While I was visiting Plantation Garden Center (again, very nice people), I was speaking with one of the people who helps out there and she was saying that this can be referred to as lasagna gardening and that it can have bad effects on our gardens. I am not about to say that she’s wrong in any way, however I was very surprised to hear this. I thought the richer your soil the better. It seems silly in my head to purposely have a lower quality soil so that certain things will grow better.

Maybe I’m looking at this wrong too. Maybe a healthy soil isn’t one that is jam packed full of nutrients. There is a balance to everything and perhaps this is just one example.

Another line of thought is, if certain things won’t grow in this climate in a nutrient rich soil, maybe we shouldn’t be growing them. I want to build the soil and make it deeper and richer. I want the soil to be healthier and deeper next year and the year after that. If carrots get stringy, then maybe we should grow tomatoes and other nutrient loving things instead.

I’m not trying to put that lady down in any way. I asked for her opinion and I accept it, and I’m not going to sheet mulch the gardens I’m working, so I’m taking her advice. It’s just something that struck me as odd from a permaculture standpoint anyway.

input

What are your thoughts? Have you tried sheet mulching? Have you had issues where your soil was “too rich”? Am I thinking totally wrong here?

Let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

Caleb

learn how to make sustainable natural buildings and ovens

Link

learn how to make sustainable natural buildings and ovens

These guys teach courses on how to make cob or clay houses and ovens. They’re offering workshops in Calgary and Claresholm and even offering a wood fired pizza dinner in Calgary!

I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to make it, but it sounds awesome and I’m going to try if my schedule is open.

Check them out.

Caleb

i just found the coolest website

Link

i just found the coolest website

This site shows you when to plant veggies, when to start them, how to, explains your city etc. Really cool!

video: them man who stopped the desert

Posted on March 29, 2012 by calskin

I have not seen this documentary, but I really want to. It’s about a man in Africa who applied agriculture techniques that he calls Zai farming. I was hoping it would be on Neftlix.ca, but it’s not. I might have to order it online.

what inspired me to grow a permaculture garden

Posted on March 29, 2012 by calskin

I’ve always been very interested in ways of taking care of our needs which are beneficial for the planet. My personality wants to solve problems and I think that’s why I ended up in IT. So whenever I see something that solves a problem in a way that is good for the planet, I’m blown away and I research it like crazy.

the first bit of inspiration

I was in college when I was watching National Geographic and it was on deserts, but they had a segment where they showed a lady who lives in the desert and planted trees there. She planted palms I believe and used mulch to capture rainwater. I don’t remember well enough to say if she was using permaculture or not, but it blew my mind that you could reverse desertification by planting trees. That was when I realized how important trees really are.

Since I was in college though, I didn’t have any time to research agriculture, so I left it for a while.

I wish I could remember what the video was. I tried searching for it, but I wasn’t able to. If anyone knows the video I’m talking about, please let me know!

the next kick of inspiration

I got into a phase of watching TED talks. I found them right up my alley. People presenting their ideas and solutions to issues we face. If you haven’t ever watched a TED talk, I would recommend you look into it. They’ve had speakers like Bill Gates, JJ Abrams, etc.

While searching for TED talks, I stumbled upon a talk by Vandana Shiva (who is one of the most brilliant people alive today IMHO), and she was talking about sustainable and organic agriculture. There is so many layers to her lectures, so I’m just going to post a video rather than write 10000 words on her.

my introduction to permaculture

Up to this point, I had never heard of the word permaculture. Then while looking for that video I first told you about, I found this one by Geoff Lawton which is better. This video amazed me because they took a desert plot in Jordan which is one of the driest countries in the world and made a forest in it. Not only did they make a forest, they made one that requires no watering, reverses the horrid effects of chemical fertilization and over grazing and feeds people.

Everyone in the world should watch this. It is incredible.

Since watching that video, I’ve watched hundreds of other videos on permaculture. I’m reading Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway and often I wish I could learn everything by osmosis so it would go faster.

in conclusion

I could write pages and pages and pages on this, but I feel like I’m pushing it when it comes to keeping people’s attention, so I’m going to leave this post where it is and write more later.

Let me know how you like the videos, and if you agree or disagree with anything. I’m happy to hear everyone’s thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

Caleb

video: how to make newspaper seed pots!

Posted on March 28, 2012 by calskin

I’ve spoken a few times about newspaper pots, and I thought I’d share a video on how to make them.

It’s a great thing because reusing something is better than recycling it, and definitely better than throwing it away. Not only that, but newspaper decomposes and worms eat it!

I’d love to know if anyone uses this technique and one question I have is, can you plant the plants into your garden in the newspaper pot? Will it decompose fast enough to allow the roots to grow?

Thanks for reading

Caleb

grow tons of veggies and flowers while you live in an appartment!

Posted on March 28, 2012 by calskin

This video shows demonstrations of a really cool technique of virtical gardening using a product called the garden stick.

I can’t stand buying something that I can easily make myself, so I’m planning on making one this year. It’s a great idea.

my seeds are sprouting!

Posted on March 28, 2012 by calskin

I’m pretty stoked right now because my seeds are sprouting! I know these plants might not make it because I planted them too early, but I’m very happy to see green in my house!

I’m two weeks away from starting seeds using phase two which will be newspaper pots. I’m really looking forward to that.

I thought I’d give a rundown of what I’m going to be planting, and I would love your comments and ideas on where I should plant the different plants. I don’t know nearly enough about guilds so I guess this year is going to be a watch and learn year so I see what does well beside one another. I will also be staggering where the plants are and what they’re next to.

I would also love your tips on when to plant them (or if I just plant them all together) if you have any experience with that.

the list of plants (all organic)

Rainbow Chard – Neon Glow
Italian Heirloom Kale – Lacinato
Jewel – Toned Beets – Red, Gold and Candystripe
Rainbow Radishes – Easter Egg II
Tricolor Carrots – Circus Circus
Royal Burgundy Beans
Heirloom Pole Beans – Rattlesnake and Purple Pole
Ornamental Sunflowers – Sun Samba
Dill – Just Dill
Snap Peas
Exhibition Sweet Peas – Blue Celeste
Dark Green Zucchini
Italian Pesto Basil
Cilantro
Thyme
Chives
Orange Cherry Tomatoes
Parsley – Moss Curled
Red Calabash Tomato
Purple Tomatillo
Brandywine Tomato
Lavender
Heirloom Flowering Vines – Cathedral Bells
Lettus Outredgeous – Lactuca Sativa
Arugula – Eruca Sativa
Carrot Royal Chantenay – Daucus Carota Sativus
Happy Bee Blend -Buckwheat, Phacelia, Dragon’s Head and Dill

I would have to say I’m most looking forward to the tomatoes, beans, peas and herbs. I’m also going to try and talk my dad into letting me build a herb spiral too!

Please leave me any questions, comments and ideas.

Thanks for reading.

Caleb

Starting seeds

Posted on March 22, 2012 by calskin

So I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m fully shooting from the hip on most of my endeavors as far as gardening is concerned and because of that, I fully expect to make lots of mistakes. To try and minimize my losses though, I’m hitching my bets as much as possible. I’ll be using at least three different techniques to start my seeds this season with hopes that at least one will work well.

seed starting tray

I purchased a coconut husk seed starting tray from Plantation Garden Centre (very nice people, please support them if you need anything) in the NW of Calgary, and yesterday I used the whole thing to plant basil, thyme, lavender, 4 types of tomatoes, parsley and cilantro. I’d love to hear comments from you on whether this was a good move or not.

I also purchased a grow light from a local hydroponics store called Quick Grow (also very nice people and really helpful), and I figured out that under my desk is the perfect spot to start seeds. The light will sits just above the tray because it’s mounted under the drawers. I loved this idea because it’s not in the way at all!

Picture below: Planting seeds

After mounting the light, I put the seed tray under there.

Picture below: Mounting brackets

Picture below: Under my desk where it’s completely out of the way.

Picture below: Under the light

pots and soil

My second technique to starting seeds will be to use old fashioned organic potting soil. I purchased some soil from Plantation Garden Centre, and I’ll probably be using old yogurt containers and whatnot to house the soil and seeds. I’ve also heard of using newspaper folded into a cup, egg shells (which seems like an awesome idea), toilet paper rolls, etc. I don’t really care, but I’ll be starting some seeds in soil also.

hydroponic media

My third technique will be to start seeds in this weird seed starting media I got at Quick Grow. It’s fluffy and I have no idea how it works. These seeds will not be going into the garden. Instead they’ll be going into a window farm that I’m building.