BTE, hugelkulture, hydroponics and other unconventional gardening

[Lazy Gardener]

Thanks for the reply. Where I live, what we call a "buttercup" is a flowering herb, mostly regarded by gardeners as a weed. (I'm sure it may have herbal uses...) At least 90% of gardeners I know try to weed it out. To me 20# means 20 pounds, so I visualized 20# of that kind of buttercup.

But if you were happy with the result, then I'm glad you got it.


I'm in a British Columbia mountain-valley upland situation, above the valley bottom land that lies close to the flood plain. The land below ours has a naturally loamy soil, with the typically desirable mineral-soil mixture of clay, silt, sand particles. That makes for a coherent soil (you can squeeze a moist handful and it will hold together).

On the other hand, our higher elevation bench land has almost entirely a sandy or sandy-silty soil, which isn't coherent. The efforts of ourselves in addition to several previous landowners, over a more than 60 years of organic nurturing, has improved the upper layer — but that isn't very deep, and the soil beneath is still "well drained" but incoherent.

Due to the fact that we built the 10"-deep soil in our greenhouse raised beds, the situation in there is very different. We are very experienced organic gardeners, and my characterization of our soil isn't a lament but it is pretty accurate. But I don't mean to say we're reluctant to trying a new technique.

Here's a diagram of what people often get with hugelkultur in this soil type...
View attachment 9173

I don't doubt your great results, Lazy Gardener. I applaud them.

By the way, what is "buttercup" in your sense of the word?

Have you looked at Back To Eden?

 

[tortoise]

A few people here are trying BTE or lasagna gardening with varying success. I have wood chips next to my garden but am afraid to put them on. I'm worried about the possibility of black walnut in the chips.

 

[tortoise]

I am not planning to rotate my garden for the next couple years, so this helps me feel more comfortable

"Fortunately, there are a number of vegetables that will tolerate juglone, including lima and snap beans, beets, corn, onions, garlic, leeks, parsnip, carrots, cauliflower, soybeans, parsley, Jerusalem artichoke, melons and squash. Avoid planting vegetables that are sensitive to juglone, such as asparagus, cabbage, eggplant, peas, peppers, potatoes, rhubarb and tomatoes."
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/growing_vegetable_gardens_near_black_walnut_trees

I would really like to do deep mulch with onions! I have so much trouble weeding around them!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

My understanding is that the allopathic chemical in Walnut breaks down with composting.

 

[baymule]

Is the asparagus planted IN the tree trunks, or adjacent to them? Issues with weed control for the asparagus? I don't do well growing asparagus.

Next to them

 

[Chic Rustler]

Ive done pretty good with bte. We started an orchad last spring. Its doing awesome!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Note to self: When a plant fails to thrive, check it over with a magnifying glass. I discovered a heavy infestation of 2 spotted spider mites in almost all of the plants in front of one window. I've been chasing mites for almost a week now, giving them repeat sprays dilute with Simple Green followed by heavy water spray. Harvested all the dill in one pot rather than mess with the mite infestation in the ferns. I'm hoping that it was caught before moving onto the plants in the other window, and before doing lethal damage to my egg plants. A lot of leaf burn from soap concentration. But... rather that than the mites.

The plants spared included a window box full of geraniums, some day lily seedlings, Citronella, and Rosemary.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh man - that sucks! Ugh...hope you got 'em! I had no idea you could use Simple Green like that. I love that stuff and now I have another reason to love it! Thanks!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I'm not really sure whether it's too strong for the plants or not. I used it b/c it's what I had immediately available, and it was already in a spray bottle. I added more water to dilute it down even more.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Back when I used to show goat and kept up with tattoo-ing them - Simple Green was one of the few thing that would clean tattoo ink. I always carried a bottle in my tack box.