I am growing a variety of fruits in a suburban
yard. The top layer is a sandy loam found around old flood plains but under that is heavy clay soil with a lot of flint and chert. Some of it is the red clay and some is the yellow and dark gray clay. In between these two layers is the remnants of a largely pine forest.
I have a lot of fruit
trees already planted and want to move away from fertilizers and all other chemicals. My trees include Asian Pears, Asian Persimmons, Goji Berry, Pawpaw, Jujube, plums, nectarines. I am keeping them around 12 feet tall so I can grow them withing 20 feet of each other. My bushes include blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, as well as kiwis, grapes and muscadine vines. Through the years I have ran a buried
drip irrigation system to everything but now that many of the trees are well established I may only water during droughts. My problem is these trees are not very productive. The bushes and vines are still young and getting established.
Where I am heading:
I also grow a lot of pollinators to attract
bees, wasps, butterflies, etc. I collect clay to provide the solitary
bees with material in hopes they build nests. I have read abut companion planting but need to know what works in the North Alabama area. Is there a way to use a companion plant to loosen up the hard packed clay?
My resources:
I am also growing
mushrooms outside and inside. I will soon start an aquaponics hobby as soon as i can finish enclosing a carport. I would like to find ways to use these together and reduce wastes and quit buying something I can develop myself. Does spent fungi and fish waste help in the composting? There is a un-developed plot of
land next door, so the smells would not be a problem.
I have access to all kinds of
wood chips since I can provide the tree service groups with a large area to dump. Since they dump while i am away it is often hard to tell what was dumped and by whom. I do ask them to not drop cedar or walnut. My neighbors all bag their leaves and put them by the road. I have a small dump trailer and can get horse manure for free. Mushroom spent blocks and decayed logs are also available.
My goal:
I want to get away from use of all chemicals in everything. I have seen some of the E. Ingram soil science videos and want to learn about hot composting and
compost teas but am unsure of how to apply these methods so it will do any real good. I would appreciate any advice.
Do I just treat the surface? is there a way to get down into the soil and treat the clay (around 10 inches)? I saw her mention rye grass that can grow
roots down 10 feet and more. Are there some plants that do well in North Alabama (Zone 7a) and can provide other benefits?
In a nutshell, I am working on my
retirement plan on how to keep busy and hopefully engage with my neighbors who want to do similar efforts. I want to start on the soil and composting this winter.
Thank you,
Dennis