Tessa Neill

Thanks for the reply. I've been asking around and the are a couple ways people work with rye. One is as you suggested, and the other is to dig it in while still green between 12" and 18". Any shorter and it comes back. Someone that suggested I do it this way also said it would be a good idea to pull it up, turn it over and let the sun kill the roots, then till it in. I've decided to give this a try. We'll see how it goes!

Hello,

I'm using cover crops this year in some of my beds in the mandala I built last year. I've chosen to use winter rye and hairy vetch, I also threw some turnips to break up the soil down deep and some Austrian pea. My question is what is the best way to deal with the rye. I know it can lock up nitrogen for a bit it's it is added to the soil early on, depending on when you dig it in. Adding the legumes will help with that. It's regrown now- about 6 inches tall. There are two options I'm reading about. One option is to cut it (and chop it in?) when it's about 12"-18" tall, and the other is to wait until it has formed the seed head and starts dropping pollen, then chop it in. I think.

Any help or advise would be great. I wanted cover crops that I could chop and drop, or some that I could just pull out when I wanted to put in a tomato or whatever. Dealing with Rye is a little different because when you deal with it if you don't want it coming back you have to do it at the right time...hoping someone can help with that! I'm also wondering what the best way is to chop cover crops into the soil- what tools work best, etc.

Thanks!

I only use the fine grade perlite, which is much smaller sized, in my soil block mix. No matter if I'm making the 2" or 1/4", but very little in my 1/4" mix. I use coco coir to hold them together better instead of peat. Using vermiculite is not a good idea as once it's compressed it stays compressed- since the soil blocks are make with a press, that doesn't make much sense. I think Coleman stated that in his show Gardening Naturally. I use vermiculite in my potting soil mix though as it is really good at holding moisture.

I'm also wondering about what to grow with it- I've been reading other forums about using asparagus in guilds- any thoughts? I'm considering strawberry for the ground cover.

Thanks, Alder, that's what I figured. Thanks for the squash idea- that sounds like it might work out.

Hello,

I'm new to these forums and I'm glad I found you- need lots of help!

I've built a 7 bed mandala on the field new to my house. I'm wondering where to site asparagus? I've thought about putting it in the outer beds surrounding the mandala, but I feel it would probably be smarter thing to plant barrier plants and berry shrubs instead- any help would be great! Instead of posting a bunch of pics, here is a link to my album start to finish for this mandala- still working on it.
https://plus.google.com/photos/112919457933810327511/albums/5932100192658129809

Thanks,

Tessa