Comparing gardening techniques

[Neil D]

I have build 2 bins measuring 4'X8'X30 inches...

I have sandy soil, which will shed water before it drains into the soil. I tend to think that it is poor soil as the plants around the house are a bit sparse. Where there is lawns/plants, the soil underneath has change from sandy to loam. There are no earthworms in the sandy soil. At least, not that I have seen. There are earthworms underneath weeds.

In both bins, I have added some of the soil from the holes where I am placing the future fences. There is a lot of space left and I realize that I need to fill it with some 'filler'...I have aquired two 30 gallon and one 20 gallon garbage bin and filled some rotted goat manure with alfalfa hay and was placed in one bin. In the other bin, aged cow manure loaded with earthworms.

In bin A [to differentiate them], the goat manure/alfalfa hay also was placed a bale of alfalfa and watered down. Dirt and the goat manure was placed upon the top of it. Lettuce and tomatoes and mellons/cucumbers was also place on top of the mixture. Ten bags of Top soil [bought from wall mart] was place on the top and filled in between the plants...

In Bin B, a 2 inch layer of grass clippings was placed in the bin followed by the cow/wormcastings followed by 6-12 inches of grass clippings from my yard and the neighbors yard. Also, that bin has also been watered down also....nothing has been planted in bin...

I have lost some tomatoes plants and some melons/cucumbers plants already. It got down to 34 degrees last night, but the soil is warm underneath these plants....most of the plants have some sort of plastic cover and these are doing well...there are 4 watermelon plants that are doing well....and growing!

Whatcha think? You planting a garden this year? How are you preping your garden? What you puting into it? Organic fertilizer or the chemical fertilizer? Is my garden going to go? Or will the alfalfa underneath burn up the roots of the plants? will my grass filled bin catch fire from the breakdown of organic material? Am I foolish in what Ihave done?

[Gerr]

I'm not an expert gardener, just a learner. While we were in CA, I used Mittleider's (sp?) method. He says in his book that you can grow anything in any soil as long as you have the right nutrients. At least that's how I remember it. When I first used his method, it was in grow boxes, using a mixture of sand and sawdust with the chemicals nutrients added. It worked out pretty well. The sawdust kept the moisture. Here in NC where I started a garden last year, the soil looks like reddish clay to me. I have left-over horse manure from what I used to enrich the poor type soil that was brought in for my lawn. I am mixing this with the soil I have and am also using chemical fertilizers to supply the needed minerals and nitrogen. Everything I have planted seems to be doing fine so far.

[Neil D]

Doug,

Why do you say that?

Gerry,

My thoughts-

with the addition of man-made fertilizers, don'tcha think that they would be harmful in the long run? Sure, you get the plant food that the plant needs, but the soil would be starved...It's always been my understanding that if you feed the soil, the plant always gets what it needs...

And my understanding is that if you got earthworms in the soil, you can make that soil very fertile but it takes time....

That's why Mittleider's method was sucessful, as it provided food in a relatively short time, without building up the soil....

Now, this is just an exchange of ideas...I'm not makin' any accuations nor insinuations...just thinkin' out loud, so to speak....

[nuff sed]

They died??? Did the plants survive????? nuff sed

[Neil D]

I guess it's true....plants died from over eating....