fiona smith wrote:I have just found a large batch of dumped woodchip.
why is white fungus in it? not a lot but enough for me to ask. is it safe to start mycore? or should i just use it for my path?
thanks
fuck it
fiona smith wrote:i'm trying my hand at hot composting. how often should i turn it ? it keeps cooling down, but hot in the middle.
thanks
Freakin' hippies and Squares, since 1986
Dale Hodgins wrote:Now a question for John. There's been talk in other threads of lack of aeration of the interior of very large hugelkultur beds. Do you see that happening and if so, would it matter that a bed transitions from aerobic to anerobic decay as depth increases ?
Dale Hodgins wrote:John, the soil here is naturally acidic. My strategy has been to spread a generous quantity of dolomite throughout hugelkultur mounds. About 2 lb. per cubic yard. Any recommendation as to how much to use.
The material is all young hardwood.
Thanks.
Dale Hodgins wrote:I should have stated that I'm simply looking to get the stuff to begin to break down. I've always used a bit of lime in compost since I heard that the process slows when acid levels are too high. Since my piles contain plenty of gravel and silt, should I compost them in highly acid conditions in order to let the acid draw on basic elements within my glacial till or is it better to lime early in the process ? If adding lime at the end is suitable, I could use an appropriate quantity of lime on the finished product according to the needs of crops that I'm producing.
Dale Hodgins wrote:John, I'd like to get your take on this --- Thanks ------ https://permies.com/t/26699/hugelkultur/Nitrogen-Fixation-Free-Living-Bacteria
Andy Cook wrote:Hi John,
We have a histosol soil on top of volcanic breccia. The soil is approximately 18", then there is a layer of the breccia gravel. This is due to our land used to be the beach 4-5 thousand years ago. The exact same gravel forms our present day beach. Our area is experiencing isostatic rebound at +- 2 mm a year. Our garden site grows grass 8' high, has wild vetch, comfrey, rhubarb, white clover. I have hand-dug "swales" and drainage ditches due to the 100+ inches of rain we receive. It is becoming more monsoonal in nature with wetter winters and drier springs and summers. We are at lat. 56. We have all the seaweed and clam shells in our "front yard that we could or want to lug up to the "back 40", along with salmon carcasses. We have planted scads of nettles, more comfrey, dandelions, clover. We are digging up the grass as it out competes almost everything else and are using the sod to hugelkulture the spruce and cedar stumps that still remain. These stumpkultures are between 1-4' high. It provides areas of good drainage.
What would your recommendations be for additional cover crops and soil amendments to increase minerals and ph?
Andy Cook wrote:Gosh, this game is loads of fun!
We are in SE Alaska. . . temperate rainforest, histosol soil of low ph, hi leaching. Hence my thinking low nutrient/mineral availability. Love the idea of burning the spruce, cedar and clam shells. The property faces due south and is on the salt water in a protected bay. The main growing area is protected from the wind off the water and is noticeably warmer than the front of the property. A gardening neighbor has told us that livestock other than goats struggle due to low minerals in the forage. We have been onsite 4 years in the summer, so are still learning "the ropes". The rest of the year we teach overseas. Currently in India.
I grew up on a small organic farm in New England, but this is a different deal.
If you are using a wood chipper, you are doing it wrong. Even on this tiny ad:
HARDY FRUIT TREES FOR ORGANIC AND PERMACULTURE
https://permies.com/t/132540/HARDY-FRUIT-TREES-ORGANIC-PERMACULTURE
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