Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Betsy Carraway wrote:Hi, for Diane Kistner: Maypop (passiflora Incarnata, or just "passiflora") is safe and popular herbal throughout Europe, Central and South America, and maybe more; it is commonly used as an extract, tea, or in capsules, for anxiety issues, insomnia, and even babies' colic. It is not only quite effective and lacking in any side effects, but safe at any dose, even for babies. So you may wish to collect the mature Summer leaves, before fruit formation, and dry them in shade for use as tea or powdered.
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Best luck: satisfaction
Greatest curse, greed
With appropriate microbes, minerals and organic matter, there is no need for pesticides or herbicides.
Mary Cook wrote:The thing about using ashes and gypsum to lighten clay soil is that ashes raise the pH dramatically, and gypsum lowers it. You might want to test the pH to see if you've arrived at a happy medium. I've used both--the gypsum in the form of wallboard scraps left over from building our house, I just laid them on the ground for a couple years before expanding into that area. It did seem to help a lot. With ashes, I'm not sure about the clay-lightening effects; I know it's similar to lime in its pH effects, and has a lot of potash, but haven't ever found out about other minerals. Since we heat with wood, this matters. My soil tests usually say I'm TOO high in things like calcium and magnesium. But some of this is because clay soil tends to be high in nutrients; it retains nutrients--and water--much better than sandy soil, that's the upside. By the way another approach to the dandelion effect is daikon radishes, but they need to be planted early enough in fall to make good growth before killing freezes, somewhere in the low twenties. The roots plunge deep, collecting nutrients maybe but also spiking down, opening pathways for water and air, and then if the daikon dies and rots, you've got that pocket of organic matter. Cover crops are good in general for adding organic matter to your soil without having to haul it in; daikons are particularly good for punching through hardpan, for improving subsoil.
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Mary Cook wrote:I'd think burying organic matter in clay would improve the soil, unless you're talking deep burial and/or really dense clay.
Mary Cook wrote:I've had endless arguments about adding sand to clay soil. Everyone "knows" that "clay plus sand is the formula for bricks." What I know is this: I add sand to my clay soil and it gets softer, looser, more friable and I get better carrots in particular--it was for carrots that I first began adding sand.
Best luck: satisfaction
Greatest curse, greed
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Best luck: satisfaction
Greatest curse, greed
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Best luck: satisfaction
Greatest curse, greed
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
John Suavecito wrote:It's worked well for me for decades.
John S
PDX OR
Best luck: satisfaction
Greatest curse, greed
Best luck: satisfaction
Greatest curse, greed
Some places need to be wild
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
Acid Razzor wrote:I live in Virginia with clay like concrete ...so adding new better soil and hoping the crabgrass will hold it together is probably the best I can do now.
John Suavecito wrote:Getting back on the topic of improving clay soil after using quite a bit of gravel in the plantings, it greatly improves drainage. You can hardly notice that it is there when you move the plant later.
John S
PDX OR
It's my space, my mess.
If you don't like it, don't come in.
It's my space, my mess.
If you don't like it, don't come in.
Tristan Vitali wrote:
Acid Razzor wrote:
Read the weeds and either help them do their job or try to do it for them. Running just off this list from the old farmer's almanac, https://www.almanac.com/what-weeds-tell-you-about-your-soil:
FYI: The link doesn't work.... I'm pretty sure it's the colon as part of the link. I did a search and came up with the correct link, without the colon.
https://www.almanac.com/what-weeds-tell-you-about-your-soil
It's my space, my mess.
If you don't like it, don't come in.
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
John Suavecito wrote:
I also think that compressing the soil by driving over an area is not an optimal way to start a garden area! Yes, we inherited large patches of soil with six inches deep of gravel on top of black plastic, covering the clay. Not a good situation. The clay was great for ceramics, but terrible for gardening.
It was a lot of work, but I had to remove all of the black plastic. Then I had to mix in organic material and spread the gravel across to other parts of the yard that didn't have the gravel. Then it was moderately mixed in with the organic material to open up the clay and let oxygen and life in. We kept many of the plants, but gradually moved over to more food, diversity, and native plants. It has worked spectacularly!
John S
PDX OR
It's my space, my mess.
If you don't like it, don't come in.
Check out Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
John Suavecito wrote:I live on a suburban plot, so we're not talking about acreage. I had been adding wood chips to it for years before I realized that the depth of gravel and black plastic was even there. Removal of the plastic happened over about a month or two, on half of my back yard. Spreading out the gravel happened over years. Luckily, I had some partially rotted organic material that mixed in with it. I had to use a pick axe to get down to the bottom of it. Then I would plant something. As I kept putting more organic material over it, the gravel kind of mixed with the clay and organic material each time I planted something. I also have put rotten wood in the holes of every tree or bush I planted for years. Kind of a mini-hugel. That helped too. Then over the years I had finished planting something almost everywhere and the soil kind of healed on its own.
JohN S
PDX OR
It's my space, my mess.
If you don't like it, don't come in.
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