Zak Tucker

I think ypur best bet is to throw and mow, the chopped weeds will act as a mulch, I would save half of your seed blends for the following year for whatever doesnt establish this year. Other than that, throw, mow, and let nature do its thing. The seeds that are in less than ideal areas like your blueberries for example will be outcompeted where they dont belong and vice versa, it's worth a shot! Good luck

Look in wetter areas with lots of black and yellow birch, tends to grow in wounds on the trees, i always have good luck on riverbanks and in wetland areas

Does anyone else find and consume chaga? It is a miracle mushroom that grows on certain species of birch in the northeast, as it grows it extracts betulin from the birch tree wich occurs naturally in birch and concentrates it in the dense wood like mycelium of the chaga mushroom, betulin (the medicine) is then extracted from the ground mushroom and soaked in alcohol to create a tincture making betulinic acid, it is one of the most beneficial plant medicines known to man, from brain and immune system health to heart and nervous system health, it is truly a one of a kind mushroom, easily missed as the mushroom actually looks like charred wood or a knot in the tree it can take almoat 30 years for it to grow the size of a grapefruit. So, does anyone else find and consume this miracle mushroom?

Anne Pratt wrote:That looks promising!  This has me thinking . . .



I just filled two new raised beds, so I don't have any soil to add if I tried your system.  .

Neither did I ! I just flipped the sod I dug out! Granted it wasnt as clay like as you're describing

I'm sure there is a way to utilize it as a resource! Like you said as either a water source or an irrigation source, or in my case (hopefully) a self irrigating garden! Heres what I did with my soggy low spots, its raining right now and as you can see the trenches are already filling up, and the highspots are running off, im going to add some fresh topsoil to the high spots and get planting!

Oh man, i used to be a garbage man and let me tell you people throw away some good shit. Ive seen everything from boxes full of pornos to envelopes full of cash. If I had to say the best thing ive ever taken from the back of the garbage truck (aside from the cash) i'd have to say an old Crosley record player that worked like a charm, ive had it for years! But ive taken guitars, movies, furniture, antiques, you name it!

Also there is a very high water table, the surrounding area is quite swampy

I have a low spot in my yard that pools up for a day or two when it rains, I started digging a trench to drain it and found that it was a natural spring and continuously releases water into the trench so I continued to trench the entire area in a zig zag pattern creating definitive high and low spots with grade creating almost a small stream with high spots in between in rows, I plan on planting on the high spots but they are still quite soggy. Should I fill the trenches with stone, pile topsoil on the highspots higher, and then plant? Or should I just plant water loving plants in the Soggyish soil? Mind you it has aeration it is not saturated, just wet. Also, is there a word for this? I dont think it would qualify as swales, Its more of a stream with highspots that are continuously wet, self irrigating maybe? Its a hard spot with the spring at the highest point and takes about 4 or 5 days for the trench to stop running, but only a day or so for the high spots to run off and become prettty airy, just wet. Plus the sod was flipped onto the high spots adding a layer of composting grass/aeration. Suggestions? I will add a picture tomorrow

I have a low spot in my yard that pools up for a day or two when it rains, I started digging a trench to drain it and found that it was a natural spring and continuously releases water into the trench so I continued to trench the entire area in a zig zag pattern creating definitive high and low spots with grade creating almost a small stream with high spots in between in rows, I plan on planting on the high spots but they are still quite soggy. Should I fill the trenches with stone, pile topsoil on the highspots higher, and then plant? Or should I just plant water loving plants in the Soggyish soil? Mind you it has aeration it is not saturated, just wet. Also, is there a word for this? I dont think it would qualify as swales, Its more of a stream with highspots that are continuously wet, self irrigating maybe? Its a hard spot with the spring at the highest point and takes about 4 or 5 days for the trench to stop running, but only a day or so for the high spots to run off and become prettty airy, just wet. Plus the sod was flipped onto the high spots adding a layer of composting grass/aeration. Suggestions? I will add a picture tomorrow

So i've got 2 raised beds that i filled with a pretty dense clay like soil, i figured it would lack certain nutrients and restrict oxygen to the roots  so i added about 4 inches (12 inch deep beds) of FRESH cow manure mixed pretty well with hay and straw,, tilled and turned for a week or so, let it sit for a week or so and turned again, and layered the top with some good topsoil. I had well established broccoli plants (some cabbage too) and i needed to get them out of the house so i planted them the other day and they appear to be slightly stunted, and the leaves are curling inward slightly especcially on my cabbage. Could the leaves be cold temps and the stunting be from transplant? Or did i not give my manure enough time to age/compost? It has also been raining a lot, so theres a lot of variables, what should i do? How do i save my broccoli?