Travis Schultz wrote:As far as close spacing goes, and the problems you stated on them, there's just as many good things about it as there are bad. As with most things, depending on the variables at hand. The microclimate created in wide beds has an amazing effect on the health and vigor of a plant, John jeavons has done much work with this. And the countless vineyards on peninsulas around the globe is testament to that. Also the spider level in a shaded living bed is huge. As well as getting the same results as mulch without the slugs. If the voles are going to use both methods happily than I guess I should use the method that doesn't support slug procreating (They are actually hermaphradites).
If you have your soil tested regularly like I do and have legitimate proof that what your doing is building top soil, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, and P K CA increases as well as an uptick in a naturally acidic sandy soils pH then you can say like I can that you are not depleting the soil like industrial ag. If you know what your doing and you have the lab results to back it up, intensive gardening is a great way to show families how much of their diet they can grow in their own backyards, while healing the earth and building community.
Lawton has said many times that the most productive systems in the world are always the smallest.
Hi Travis,
I just want to put this out there,but have you heard of beetle banks? Predaceous beetles such as the slug- and snail-eating carabid beetle (Scaphinotus marginated) have specialized body parts that enable them to prey specifically on snails. Beetle banks involve tilling a strip within or close to the production field and raise it to about 1 foot above the surrounding field, by plowing and reverse plowing. Smooth the top and prepare a fine seedbed for native grasses. The dry insulating clump that forms at the base of the native grasses provide habitat for ground beetles. Also, native grasses are preferred since they don't invade. Apparently, this practice has caught on at the Oregon State University.
I highly recommend the book, "Farming with Native Beneficial Insects", by The Xerces Society. They have a variety of conservatio biocontrol techniques, providing habitat for native and predaceous arthropods as well as a host of other integrated pest management mmethods.
Anyways, just a thought and good luck on keeping them slugs off your crops!
