guildfordcycads

(I’m not sure this is exactly the right community for this question, but it seems like people here might have some good knowledge.)

I just got a new organic community garden plot that I will be putting grapes on with some cover crops, possibly red fescue and wooly thyme. It is currently very overgrown with weeds and I’m trying to figure out the best way to clear it. I favor no-till methods, and would like to be able to suppress weeds as much as possible to let my cover crops establish. My plot is roughly 20′ x 40′, the growing region is 7B, and I will likely be doing this as it gets a little cooler to avoid bees and wasps as I clear. I will also most likely need to put down some lime to adjust soil pH.

These are the methods I’ve been considering:

• Sun Tarp: My understanding is the heat is able to kill the seeds, while the heat, lack of light, and lack of oxygen kills the plants. I figure it will be too cold to do this effectively, namely for the seeds. It is also perhaps a bit pricier.
• Crimping: Use something wide and heavy to flatten the weeds. Cover with leaves and dirt/mulch. This seems doable. Will this mitigate undesirable weeds from growing?
• Just rip everything out by hand and put in compost pile.
• One Time Till: Till once to establish everything I want, then use no-till methods to maintain in following seasons.

Additionally, should I add a barrier of something like cardboard or fabric to suppress weeds? I imagine that would just limit the crops from establishing well. If there are winter cover crops that die back in the spring that could be planted in late autumn I’d love to hear about those too. I looked, but it seems I’ll be too late. I’m new to all this and greatly appreciate any insight and help.

I want to plant some fruit trees next spring in my backyard and I was going to use some cedar mulch. Based on the area I would need to buy some 5 yards of the stuff which with delivery would be quite expensive and a pain to get to where it needs to go. I was looking through a hardware store site and saw that a 3 cuft straw mulch bag was advertising that it could cover 100sqft with a 2-3 inch thick layer. This seems like a lot, but was wondering if that was the case as I could get away with a few bags of straw instead of hauling 5 yards of cedar.

The way I got my 5 yards estimate was 360sqft area x 4in thick layer. I would end up using 6-8 bags of the straw instead which is about half the cost and much easier to apply for me.

I know that straw would decompose quicker but that’s fine as I’m going to get some ground cover plants in place once the trees get established.

Has anyone tested doing a miyawaki style superdense / diverse planting but focused around edible trees?

I know it’s not exactly miyawaki, and it’s got some similarities with syntropic agriculture, but it’s got a few fairly distinct properties.

I’d be interested to experiment with it myself and see if it actually encourages faster growth in a food forest or orchard setting.

(Pic above is stock image not my actual yard)

I have a large pine tree that drops a lot of needles near my house. I don’t mind the needles below the canopy because they keep the grass down and the native clover and sorrel really do well with them compared to when I’ve raked them off. A lot fall onto my roof and equipment staging area so I’d like to do something with them. Pine straw seems the easiest but I’m open to any and all suggestions.

Hey guys,

So for the past year I’ve been slowly building up a banana circle on my property. Cold hardy bananas that i can overwinter, lemon grass, taro i plant in summer, and a may pop i want to use as a pollinator hub and privacy fence.

The only thing I want to add is sugar cane, I want something that my may pop (passionfruit) can grow up each year, even if I can’t harvest it fully I think the aesthetic would be great and a much less invasive avenue than bamboo.

What varieties would anyone recommend for this? I’ve googled a lot and can’t find anything consistent beyond a couple lsu varieties.

Thanks!

Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this question.

I have about 80 acres of family land in the southern Midwest. I’d say a third of it is treed, with a very small seasonal creek running through it. There are two man made ponds on it. The rest of it has historically been used for hay production.

I would ultimately like to transition this land away from hay and make it something more interesting and diverse.

I’m envisioning mowing and maintaining a running path through everything. I’d like the land to be as life giving as possible. I’m hoping to grow things that will help pollinators, as well as give ground cover for insects and small animals.

Is there a best approach to start this process? I’m sure just leaving everything alone and letting nature do its thing would be effective. But is there something I can do in the meantime to help things along?

Planting a few trees or bushes in the middle of the hay fields? Building dead hedges somewhere? Planting certain types of native flowers or grasses?

I’m in zone 7.

Thanks for any guidance you may have.

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this issue that’s currently ongoing in Ísafjörður, Iceland. Our community permaculture garden, Gróandi, is at risk of being destroyed to build a cable car for tourists. If you could take a moment to read about the garden and maybe sign the petition, I would really appreciate it!