Sam Billings

William Bronson wrote: I have terrible,tainted soil,that's my reason for building raised beds.
You have good soil, so why raised beds?
A lot of the tools you mentioned seem ill suited for raised beds.

I suppose that is a good question.  Perhaps they are not entirely necessary for some crops.  I like the idea of leaving beds in place and improving the soil while having perennial cover crops in the paths.  I also like the aspect of a raised bed that creates microclimates, drainage and frost protection.  

I am entering into my second full season as a full-time market gardener.  While establishing infrastructure and perennial crops, I need to establish more space to grow annuals for cash-flow.  The short of it is, I need more beds, better beds, fast and cheap.  I have a walk behind tiller (not a fancy bcs just yet), a tractor with a regular plow (no discs or tillers), a broad fork, flame weeder, and plenty of hand-tools.  So far, I have been just tarping beds, broadforking, scuffling hoe-ing, adding compost, shallowtilling, raking, flameweeding and planting.  Or some variation of something like that.  This makes a good bed, I have pretty great soil to start with, but it's a lot of work and the beds really aren't "raised".  I imagine that there is a good way to incorporate the soil from the paths into my beds, or at least the new ones I make.  I also imagine that over time with the addition of more compost etc, the beds may get more "raisy". Anyway, I am looking for some good advice to help me open up some more beds and/or improve my existing beds without working crazy hard physically (like I did with the first ones) or buying more equipment. Oh, and I need them to be plant-able in one year or less. And also a million dollars...  Any thoughts? Thanks!

If you're looking for some a cool project in central mass, you may be interested in checking out my project in Plainville.

I have been studying and teaching permaculture for about ten years now and just finished my first growing season at Crystal Spring Farm.  I was chosen to revive beautiful old farmland that has been a center for earth-based education for many years.  I'd love for you all to see and follow along with my project.  I have a newsletter that you can sign up for on my website that goes out every few weeks in the winter and almost weekly during the growing season.  I'll be giving guided tours, teaching classes and hosting events come spring time.  

www.crystalspringfarm.org

Hey new permies!

I have been studying and teaching permaculture for about ten years now and just finished my first growing season at Crystal Spring Farm in Plainville, Ma.  I was chosen to revive beautiful old farmland that has been a center for earth-based education for many years.  I'd love for you all to see and follow along with my project.  I have a newsletter that you can sign up for on my website that goes out every few weeks in the winter and almost weekly during the growing season.  I'll be giving guided tours, teaching classes and hosting events come spring time.  

www.crystalspringfarm.org

I hope I hear from you!

-Sam

Hi Tao,

Love your book! My girlfriend's parents gave me a copy a few months ago, thinking it might be up my ally. Boy were they right! Love the history and level of detail you incorporate. It is clear what drives your insights. What a contribution to the movement, I have already recommended it to a few friends.

Gushing aside, here's my question:

On our farm, there is a swath of Japenese knot weed that's maybe about 1000 square feet. For the past decade or so (before my time here) it has been whacked back with weed whackers and brush hogs a few times annually. No chemicals management, thankfully. Yet of course the roots persist and it gets harder to manage each year.

I recently came into about $200 worth of bamboo plants as part of a work trade. 6 decent sized root balls. My thinking was to grow it out a bit in another location and steadily introduce it to the knot weed area by digging up sections large enough to get the bamboo to set roots and give it a little space on either side. My fear is that I will just lose the bamboo plants to competition. I want them to spread out in that area because it will take many years to expand my six plants into that 1000 square foot area. I guess my question was more a plea for advice on how to accomplish this. Or if you think it is even a viable war to wage?

A few other things I thought of:
- tarping the knotweed area systematically
-putting rhizome barriers around the bamboo sections until they establish

Thank you for any advice you can offer to this little side project and for your excellent book!

Chris,
Thanks so much for the info! The interior space is not huge, so putting full bales on the inside is probably not the best idea. I will have to look at the space again on the outside of the building to see what it would take to insulate it that way. Are there any other materials that do not require as much physical space as straw bales that I could use inside? Do you recommend any sort of cross-over material between the nasty pink fiberglass stuff and something healthier and more natural?

Bill,
I appreciate the tip and your example. This particular building has electricity but not plumbing. Any other out-side the box ideas come to mind for you? Also, I love the quote on the wall! HA

Worked for me on my IPhone using Safari

Hi Chris and Linda,
Thanks for taking questions!
I am looking to use natural building methods in central Massachusetts to insulate a wooden shed such that I might be able to put an air conditioner and a coolbot in there to make walk-in storage for crops on a low budget. I am wondering what the best materials will be: cob? Straw bale? Earthbags? Any other General construction advice is more than welcome of course.

Thanks!
Sam

This is a great post. One I think 99% of permies have probably encountered before. We know we should give our "elevator speech" for permaculture, but opt for a simpler way out of awkward conversation. Paul, I would love to hear a bit more about your conversations leading people not to compost. I am guessing you try to get people away from it because they are often doing it poorly and breeding pathogens?