buckwheat sowed - should I mulch?

Hi,

New here,
I start a permaculture garden.
My soil has been grass and weed only, exposed to wind, sea, hot sun and it looks poor. I'm in Prince Edward Island.

A friend of mine wanted to please me and plowed the patch - quite big - I intend to grow.

Not that I'm fan of it but its done.

Anyhow I sowed BW to not leave a bare soil and to improve it anyway. I'll add lupin as well. They're deep rooted and in that well compacted soil it will help.

But I couldn't find a straight answer.
Can/should I mulch the seeds?
How thick? Won't it prevent germination?

And generally should any new seeded patch can be mulched? (I know there is topic about that and I'm still going thru and still not sure)

The theory to practice is a bit challenging and for some reason I never ask myself that question sooner.
So I'm kind of caught not as prepared as I thought.
The newly plowed patch make me rush.

Thks for your input.

Cheers.

I wouldn't worry much but my neighbors think that what I'm doing and the all perma is BS and stupid and nothing grow with mulch and I should use traditional (read Industrial type) method.

So I really want things to happen the best I can and limit the tryout. I would have tried otherwise different mulch. Meaning I would myself mulch.

I'll post a pic soon of where I am now.

Hi David and welcome to Permies.
Yes, I think a thick mulch would prevent germination but a light straw or grass mulch would help hold in moisture and help the seeds to germinate. I like to plant buckwheat thickly on bare places and mulch lightly with something stemy so rain can easily reach the soil. The plants can push up a light mulch. One of my favorite cover crops...plant just before or during a rain on warm soil and it is up in a few days.

I agree with Judith. Buckwheat and lupins, or any other kind of legume I know, will push through a thinnish mulch (say an inch or so)
My buckwheat self-seeds through quite thick mulch. It's a delicate plant, and I'm always surprised!

Off topic, but how large is the plowed area? If you can't reach the middle without standing on the garden, I recommend dividing up the area and creating paths after the cover crop's finished.

Hey thanks to all,

I didn't wait for the answers, actually the day was cooling down so I went with my gut feeling and I just finish a light mulch. A 1".

It is a big piece of land. Around 1000 sqft. But I have way more space to grow if I want.

So yes I made division.
I first sow the part that will hold corn, sunflower, beans, squash. The first being my wind break. I'm on the shore so lot of wind.

I will pretty soon sow the length with BW again as a wind break with Jerusalem artichokes.
Also I'll built a raised bed with logs and other material. Again for wind break and have a crop on it that could also catch the salt. At the expense of that crop probably.

I'll keep the length of BW for seeds.
The first patch of BW will be used for green mulch and liquid fertilizer. With stinging nettle. That I have to find.

So I guess I went not too wrong.

I have access to a lot of material. Straw, thousands bale of hay - that t I still don't know how to bring some in - I wanted to use horse forage for mulch but the stuff was full of seeds. Free, so it will be good for compost.

So there is hope!

Thanks again!

I take picture as I go so I'll post some.

And yesterday I started a worm farm. They seem slow but it's still not warm.

I'm really excited. Even if the conditions are challenging. Exposed to salt and wind.
There is no tree and I need a good planning on how to achieve to grow some with the short nice season and the harsh winters.
Several rows are needed. Sand and salt are hard workers. They sandblast pretty much everything.

So I'm not done yet. And again I did my home work the all winter but I skipped that little aspect.
I didn't plane the plowing though and the cover was actually a nice natural mulch. So it may have disturb my thinking. I'm getting old.

I enjoy doing it, I found it relaxing. And food is so much better.

I wish I could bring a neighbor in. And share our experiences. But they really are skeptical. Adorable but skeptical.

David, welcome.. I'm new here too. I think this is my second actual post.

I'm out West in Edmonton and your living next to the sea caught my attention (but primarily it was the BW as I"m about to do the same myself (just looked and no rain for the week though). I put in 110' of hugelkulture beds in my front yard last fall with a rainbarrel overflow swale alongside it. I figure some deep rooted goodness will help anchor the beds in place.

was just reading about sea buckthorn as I'm about to put in a pair myself (1 male, 1 female). They thrive next to the sea and tolerate salty soil quite well. They're grown in Canada so not to worry about that..

From what I understand, there should be a 10% male to female planted.

Awesome berries, super good for you, look amazing and can be used as an animal break too due to the thorns, but I'm totally guessing there.

Sorry I saw your post but I was short on time.

Hi, thanks about the buckthorn. I'll check it further.

When I sowed rain was suppose to happen few days after but nope, it never came.
I should get some today or the next days, so far I can't notice any germination with the buckwheat.

I'm still working on my layout. I wish I could do it full time.

I'll keep posted

Finally some rain!

So far no germination from buckwheat, rain should help.

Buckwheat is out,
About 3 inches.
The little rain we had was good but not enough. There is a lot of wind and the soil dry out fast. The mulch is precious. Does its job.

But I'm far from done yet.

david olivier wrote:Buckwheat is out,
About 3 inches.
The little rain we had was good but not enough. There is a lot of wind and the soil dry out fast. The mulch is precious. Does its job.

But I'm far from done yet.

good to hear it germinated! The rain is not quite so crucial once it is up. I have had seed sit for a month until it rained.

Judith Browning wrote:

david olivier wrote:Buckwheat is out,
About 3 inches.
The little rain we had was good but not enough. There is a lot of wind and the soil dry out fast. The mulch is precious. Does its job.

But I'm far from done yet.

good to hear it germinated! The rain is not quite so crucial once it is up. I have had seed sit for a month until it rained.

Good news. Thanks. I don't have much experience with buckwheat.
I like to see plants growing.

Regarding a salty wind break; you might also want to consider Rosa rugosa (atop a hugulkultur bed perhaps) as a very viable option

David Hartley wrote:Regarding a salty wind break; you might also want to consider Rosa rugosa (atop a hugulkultur bed perhaps) as a very viable option

Thanks, I'll try that. I haven't built the High raised bed yet. So I'll take that option. vitamine C from hips is good.

A little update by the way.
On topic, the buckwheat can handle some mulch, Some part were pretty thick and it went thru. Little sun and moslty rain for the last 10 days. At least. So it's up, but the growth is slow. Next time the sun will shine it should go up fast.
Pretty much everything is sowed now.

I started Tobacco. I smoke a little so I prefer to grow my own. It's legal in Canada.

Rock on! . Buckwheat smells and looks wonderful when in full bloom and is a wonderful feeder for bees

David Hartley wrote:Rock on! . Buckwheat smells and looks wonderful when in full bloom and is a wonderful feeder for bees

I can't wait to see them going up.

I hope it will work out nice for the other species. I didn't start anything inside. Except the tobacco. Seeds are so small, like super tiny, and shouldn't be covered so I didn't feel it could work to just sow them outside. But I'll try some just to see. It's good to experiment.

The mulch is doing a good job on the weeds. Keep them down nicely. There's still a few but not too bad. Dandelion is bad. Though I don't mind the plant itself, root is a coffee substitute, flower makes Dandelion honey, and young green are good in salads. So I don't mind having them, I hope to control them with the growth of other plants, and I get some out. But I should do research on their needs and impact on other plants.

Regarding dandelion, I actually psuedo cultivate true dandelion However; false dandelion are cut at the base when they start to bloom, with the root left in the ground, and the greens left to compost nearby.

There are a few species that look quite similar: http://www.namethatplant.net/article_dandelion.shtml

David Hartley wrote:Regarding dandelion, I actually psuedo cultivate true dandelion However; false dandelion are cut at the base when they start to bloom, with the root left in the ground, and the greens left to compost nearby.

There are a few species that look quite similar: http://www.namethatplant.net/article_dandelion.shtml

It's true dandelion. After little search I could find pro and con about it.
I think I'll keep some and try to get rid of some. Harvesting the young leaves should hold the dandelion down.