Category Archives: Leaf mulch

Bottom Heat Improves Seedling Root Growth

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You might think it counterintuitive that soil temperatures are lower in the spring than at any other time of the year,  but there’s no question about it, and cold spring rains don’t help.

Plant Seedling

The soil is heated by infrared rays of the sun, and residual soil temperatures create a lag of approximately 3 months. This also causes soil temperatures to be highest in the fall months before tapering off in the winter.

Plant root systems develop best in soils that are 70 degrees, plus or minus 5 degrees, and this is why you’ll get your best results in starting seedlings, and growing them out if you use bottom heat.

Garden supply stores sell two types of appliances for achieving this goal. There are mats that you simply plug in, and heating cables that are generally buried in sand filled benches. Both of these solutions are expensive so you might want to improvise. Continue reading →

Recycle Plastic Milk Containers for Weed Free Gardens

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A Quick Update on my Heavy Metal Containers

Last year I began recycling metal coffee can containers and the results have been promising. Both the scallions and carrots grew well, and weed free because they were planted in a potting mix, also known as a soilless medium.This worked out so well that I’ve decided to expand into a new area – half gallon plastic milk containers.

Scallions

carrots

For root vegetables there are two advantages. In addition to eliminating weeds around the plants, harvesting the plants could not be easier. Just lift up the container, tap the sides and the potting mix falls out.

If you look closely you’ll see that tangled in the roots is bits of wood. Though I tried both of the leading name brand potting mixes I found that the mix is largely shredded wood. This stuff makes for a messy harvest. So this year I plan to revert to peat moss and sand. The peat typically comes in 2.2 cubic foot bales. I’ll cut the bale in half and mix in a bag of playground sand. That’s about enough to fill my wheelbarrow with some space to work. Continue reading →

Ron Finley ~ LA’s Gangsta Gardner

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“Growing your own food is like printing your own money”

At TED2013 Ron Finley presented his quest to make urban gardening a reality. His talk mixes logic and humor into a plea for humanity.

His begins with a citation ordering him to remove a garden he planted on strip on land he was required to maintain but belonged to the city. Officially known as a parkway the strip measured 10 by 150 feet and Ron turned it into a “food forest.” But someone complained and he was cited, then served with a warrant.

Ron won that battle and went on to form LA Green Grounds. I encourage everyone to not only watch the video below, but share it with your friends.

Why Worms are a Gardener’s Best Friend

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Of all the critters that can be found in a garden I’m always glad to see a worm. The most obvious benefit comes from their constant tilling of the soil providing aeration and improving the percolation of water throughout the root zone. But having been trained in the scientific method at the University of Arizona I’m also glad to find data that supports my beliefs.

Last fall I received an email from plant pathologist at Cornell University. Ms Allison Jack, a PhD candidate, forwarded studies on the use of vermicompost, also known as worm castings, in disease control and plant growth. While scientific papers can be tedious for the layperson, if you’re interested I’ll gladly forward these studies to you. Just send a request to OzarkAggie@gmail.com and I’ll reply with the articles attached.

Fortunately Allison has published an award-winning video that provides an overview of vermicomposting, and how worm castings provide both a nutritional benefit and disease protection for plants. It’s definitely worth a watch.

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Making Mulch – 4 Steps to Green Nirvana

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Raking leaves isn’t my favorite activity, and with mature trees on 3 sides of my house I have plenty without the neighbors leaves blowing into my yard. But just like the guy with too many lemons I take advantage of the situation. My good luck stems from the fact that I have wide drain that runs along the road that backs up when it rains and forms a shallow pond. And that’s where I rake my leaves.

I let nature take its course and my lawn mower does the rest. It begins when the leaves saturate with water and fungi and bacteria begin to colonize the cellulose in the leaves. Cellulose forms as a result of photosynthesis generating glucose which is then polymerized. In its most basic form two glucose molecules are bound together and form structural cellulose.

Fungi and some bacteria possess the ability to break the bonds and derive glucose and other micronutrients from the leaves. Slowly the leaf breaks down. Worms help that process by feeding on the fungi and wiggling around as worms will do. Of course raking the leaves into a pile and mulching them with a lawn mower speeds things up considerably.

In the early stage the leaves are simply wet and matted and therefore a welcome environment for the fungi and bacteria. Second from the left are the leaves I ground up with mower last summer, the next pile was ground up last spring, and the pile on the far right was dug out the year before and is ready to be incorporated into the soil.

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Plants Need Understanding – Soil Amendments for Your Garden

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Plants require a root system that is equal in mass to the top growth, and vice versa. So without a good “understanding” your plants can never reach their potential and provide a harvest worthy of your efforts.

Here in the Ozarks we’re usually faced with a clay soils of marginal fertility that’s more appropriate to pines and oaks rather than corn and tomatoes. The standard recommendation for improving the soil is to add organic matter in the form of manure or compost. In truth this doesn’t actually improve the soil – which technically can only be comprised of sand, silt, and clay – but organic matter, or humus, does make the soil more friable and increases its ability to hold nutrients.

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