Got an idea i just cant shake

[Chic Rustler]

So bte has been good. We have built a few inches of the good black stuff on top of our sand and water retention has increased. Right now i still have a couple inches of woodchips on the garden.

I want to till it under. I know it will lock up nitrogen but i can get urea 36-0-0 for cheap. Its only $20 for a 50lb bag. I keep coming back to the idea of tilling it under and planting cover crops for winter. I cant shake it. I think i can spead decomposition with the urea and keep a surplus of nitrogen for crops.

Part of me doesnt want to spend any money at all and keep the path i started. But i just feel like im missing an opportunity for something great. Idk

 

[milkmansdaughter]

@flowerbug I had to go look up "stirrup hoe". I've never used one, or even seen one used. That seems to be exactly what I need around here as I have been trying to reclaim a garden area that has been part of a lawn for several years. I'm told that it was a prolific garden YEARS ago. There was no evidence of a garden when we got here 3 years ago.

@Chic Rustler you've done amazing things in your garden these last 3 years. I doubt tilling (or not tilling) will really harm your garden in the long run. Why don't you try tilling half of it, and then compare results next year?

 

[Mini Horses]

Came across this appropriate article in a magazine today and scanned it into computer to share. It's pretty good and direct.....listing various cover crops & their impact

 

[CrealCritter]

Would you cut logs and stack them up for a log home? That would be so cool. With your sawmill, you could cut some beautiful wood for the inside that would be unaffordable otherwise.

That's kind of the plan yes... I need access to hundreds of mature white pines and several mature hardwoods preferably hard/sugar maple for flooring. But I'll take any closed grain hardwood like white oak or even soft/red maple.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I don't use a stirrup hoe. Use a rogue hoe instead. It has a 4" triangular blade that is razor sharp on all sides of the triangle so that you can cut the weeds in a forward, back, motion or side to side. @Beekissed introduced me to the design, and I love it.

thanks for the clarification. So... what you are doing is burying the weeds that have been decapitated by the stirrup hole? basically trench composting. Yes, that is an effective method. I usually go one step further and make weed tea, then dump that into the trench.

 

[thistlebloom]

your further claim though is false.

???
Flowerbug, I do recall you being a little touchy about stirrup hoes over on TEG.
I'm not trying to poke the bear or get into an argument. I have more than one good quality stirrup hoe that has lots of hours and years on it. And now I have a couple of Rogue scuffle hoes. My opinion is that the Rogue is a better tool, for me. If you have never used one I can understand how you wouldn't understand the edge statement.
I'm happy that your stirrup hoe meets all your needs.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

My apologies if I'm a bit touchy about the comparison of stirrup to Rogue!

 

[Mini Horses]

Have you considered leaves? It's Fall, people are raking them -- they rot well. Most are free. Chickens love to shred them for you Layer them, throw some lime & dirt on them and wait. You could probably get clover to grow where you are for a while. It will re-appear in Spring. Most types won't get extremely tall and could be left for ground cover, just hoe a row to plant.

Beyond that, fast is a dump truck load.

 

[baymule]

Patience grasshopper.

 

[CrealCritter]

But we welcome everyone's input and ideas. I HAD to disc up the garden when we got here. But I like not tilling and just adding more manure, cardboard and wood chip mulch. Maybe by the time I run out of mulch, I'll have rich, deep soil.

I make chicken poop (fresh) water and spray it on the garden.

My gardens are kind of big not to use machines and easy to apply fertilizer. I'm planning on expending the summer garden if my bid isn't excepted on a new homestead site. If my bid is accepted, then I won't have a garden at all next year. Because I'll be busy building a house for my wife. If I'm going to building a house next year I would at least like to get it dried in before winter sets in so we could move in and stand up internal walls and finish the inside over the winter.