Simon Kamina

Amy Gardener wrote:Enlarging something that William wrote:

How about some sweet potatoes? They vine and run readily

Pardon the cliché, but could you plant those vining sweet potatoes "outside the box?" If you have the space, consider putting those sweet potatoes in-ground at the edge of the raised bed so that the vines may travel through the bed but not be rooted in the bed.
I have a raised bed with some exposed soil so I covered it with the vines from a nearby grape plant then cut the vines if they get overgrown. Maybe those sweet potatoes could be planted in-ground next to the raised bed and the vines artfully moved into the raised bed gaps as needed. Sort of a compromise "living mulch cover crop" that takes no nutrition from the raised bed to grow, allows easy access to onion sets, and thrives on the "trickle down" nutrients (such as worm castings) from the bed runoff.

That's a very good idea. I could probably do that in the walkways and guide the vines into the bed or use a pot and let the roots just go down a bit. I think I will try it next year! Thanks!

Climate is caused by the sun, the earth, the solar activity in the sun, the tilt of the earth, and the ever changing orbit of Earth as the solar system travels through the galaxy. Can't change that. You can however cover your house, sidewalk, and driveway with green to absorb solar rays that would otherwise just turn into heat hitting the concrete and siding.

Cattle panel trellises over walkways with grapes and/or beans. Put trellises all around the house so climbing plants can use that light before it hits your house. Idk about the roof. Regreening your area would help that energy be stored for later instead of turned into heat now.

I have a medium sized irrigation system that stores about 200 gallons of rain water. Helps keep the water in the ecosystem instead of in the river.

William Bronson wrote:Generally I selectively weed, trying to encourage Creeping Charlie and broad leaf plantain, while pulling grasses, bindweed, smartweed, etc.
I've seen a lot about sowing white clover as a living mulch,but it never seems to compete in my lawn, beds or containers.
How about some sweet potatoes?
They vine and run readily.
I put some out just last month , very late in the season and they have spread quite a bit, but they don't seem to climb.

Any idea which weeds are heavy vs light feeders? I've got clover and some random broad leaf ones. Be nice if the cover crop would stop other weeds and let my main crops grow but that's asking a lot.

Problem with sweet potatoes is I would have to dig them up and destroy the pepper/tomato roots. It's kinda my no till bed and every year it seems to improve in quality.

I have a box that I grow my peppers and tomatoes in (tomatoes on one side peppers on other side). In between the peppers and tomatoes I grow onions in the spring then harvest by the time the peppers/tomatoes are taking off. Normally I just used thick mulch and wood chips for soil improvement but the soil is pretty healthy since all the improvements.

So I was thinking of using a living mulch which doesn't use much resources. I just want something to protect the soil and that I can dig into for the onion sets and transplants.

Has anyone tried this? As long as it doesn't cause problems with the peppers or tomatoes it seems like a good idea but I don't know how much they would compete and which types to use. "Green and Gold" looks like a good candidate but I haven't found anyone saying they used it in a garden.

Has anyone else tried a living mulch with peppers and tomatoes. Hoping it will help stop the weeds from trying to become their own living mulch, or maybe I will use some of the weeds if they are non-competitive with the important plants.