“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln
You have to be tough or dumb - and if you're dumb enough, you don't have to be so tough...
Nick Kitchener wrote:I'm guessing your familiar with the "Back to Eden" method of using woodchips in annual gardens. Once the chips are down, you don't top dress with compost like you do with a normal garden bed. The chips slowly break down over time and you add more chips as necessary.
The thing with Nitrogen... There are actually 2 forms of plant available Nitrogen. Nitrate and Ammonia. Bacterial decomposition of woody material involves a chemical reaction with Nitrate which is why there is an initial period of low plant available Nitrogen.
Nitrates inhibit the growth of fungi, and fungi are required for breaking down lignins in woody material, so that Nitrogen drawdown is an early succession phase that allows fungi to take over. Fungi in turn, synthesize Ammonia, which is the only form of Nitrogen that trees and shrubs can use. Annual garden vegetables are also able to metabolize it too, but most herbaceous early succession / pioneer plants do not. The ratio of Nitrate to Ammonia in the soil is a fundamental driver of what actually grows in the soil.
Another reason why yo don't top dress a woodchip system with compost is because that system is geared for a fungal dominated soil food web, while compost is typically bacterial dominated. Adding compost alters the ratio of bacteria to fungi in a system like that and forces an earlier succession state. It is effectively working against how the system is designed to work.
I would save the compost for use in garden beds that do not have woodchips, and for making compost tea that you can use to improve lawns, pasture, and other herbaceous plant dominated areas you may have.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
Trace Oswald wrote:I do it differently. I do top dress with compost or any other amendment I want to add, whether it is azomite, sea-90, "complete organic fertilizer", whatever. I just put it on top of the wood chips and let the rain wash it down through them. I haven't noticed any ill effects.
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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
Catie George wrote:
I know the back to Eden method specifies chips that have gone through a chicken run, so adding manure to fresh chips makes sense to me.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis
Trace Oswald wrote:
Catie George wrote:
I know the back to Eden method specifies chips that have gone through a chicken run, so adding manure to fresh chips makes sense to me.
I have seen people write that time and time again, but I've never seen it in any of the interviews with Paul or anywhere else. Do you remember where you heard it? I would love to see the original information.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln
"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis
You have to be tough or dumb - and if you're dumb enough, you don't have to be so tough...
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln
Moderator, Treatment Free Beekeepers group on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/treatmentfreebeekeepers/
Jane
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