James Miller

Thanks good people!

OK, I'm making some biochar. Would it make sense to add the biochar to this pre-soil mix? Would it help accelerate the transformation?

Or am I better off adding it to my established garden (w/functioning soil)?

Thanks for the input.

OK, I'm making progress. I need to reach a point where I can "top everything off" with woodchips, but I need to keep adding nitrogen (urine/coffee grounds). I'm at around a foot deep of coarsely shredded leaves. I asked a much better gardener than me about what I should plant. He recommended legumes. I'm wondering what is fast-growing and generates a lot of green biomass while fixing nitrogen.

Any recommendations?

UPDATE: So, my other neighbor who I gently lectured about spraying round-up (not the neighbor I referenced in the OP) saw that his neighbor was moving out of his house. He said to me, "Man, I hope we get someone who likes gardening and doesn't spray round up near the perimeter of my fence."

This is the same guy that was spraying round up in his own yard about 9 months ago, about 10 feet away from my yard. He's been watching me garden and has started sheet mulching just like me. He's also wild about wood chips after talking to me.

So, overall I've made a lot of progress.

I just harvested about 6 sweet potatoes. What an amazing plant. It muscles through the hard-packed soil. This thread has been helpful, because now I started loosening the vines that had started to take hold in the garden. Hopefully it will lead to more potatoes at the root of each plant.

I'm interested in eating the leaves. Do you eat the leaves after you've harvested or can I eat them as the potato continues to grow? I'm concerned about taking away the plants ability to absorb sun/photosynthesize by plucking the leaves. BUT, I do have a ton of vines, so it shouldn't hurt to pick some, right?

OH, I just reread the thread and this part in particular....

And yes....eat the greens! They cook up bland and soft, comparable to spinach or chard. And keeping the vine tips pruned helps curb rampant growth where it might be unwelcome, and a moderate amount doesn't seem to harm the crop of roots....

Thanks, Alder!!

So, I still have a long way to go, but I figured I'd ask now.

What's the best thing to grow in chunky, unfinished compost/soil?

Squash, sunflowers...I'm just thinking about things with big seeds that could push through chunky soil.

I love that thread, Ken. Thanks for taking me back to it. I'm glad you think my plan will work. Honestly, a large part of it is so I don't have to mow so much. I'll try to get it a foot deep. I'm going to lay down some newspaper this weekend.

I'm all about leaves since I read your thread and listened to the "You bet your garden" guy about leaves making superior compost.

About a month ago they laid down some mulch. Hallelujah!

I'm doing due diligence by pulling any weeds near the fence, so they don't have any germination on their side. I also laid down some wood chips along the fence.

So, I've done a ton of work getting a 25' x 25' garden set up. Of course, I already want to expand the garden, but I don't have the time or the right vehicle to haul soil. My plan is the following

-Lay down either cardboard or newspaper
-Put down brush next, mainly branches that are 6 months old
-Gather everyone's leaves they lay on the curbside (shred them with my mower) and lay them down
-Put as many coffee grounds as possible as the next layer
-Top with 1-3 inches wood chips (to keep the stuff below insulated, promote mushrooms/etc)

I'm not expecting to plant in this soon, but I wanted to start something, mainly so I don't have to mow as much and I don't have to have soil delivered.

Does this plan seem feasible? I wouldn't plant for another 6 months to a year. I'd probably fertilize it here and there with urine.

I'd love your feedback. Cheers.

Hi Permies: Long time lurker, first time poster here.

Sunday afternoon, I looked up my hill and saw my neighbor spraying with a canister into her bare, hardpanned section of soil that is about 10 feet from my vegetable garden. I approached her, offered the cordial "How's it going?" and then asked her what she was spraying. RoundUp. I had to stifle a rant, and basically said, "That's the worst thing you could put on your lawn." I then soft-pedaled a bit and told her that I was concerned because my veggie garden is close. She gave the usual ignorant response of, "well, it's not going to rain today, so you're good." I told her about bioaccumulation (roundup found in breast milk) and how it doesn't disappear, and also told her there are greener ways of handling weeds. She said she'd consider that in the future.

How do permie folks deal with civilians who think RoundUp is kosher? I was thinking of printing a short article about white vinegar is as effective as RoundUp and being very polite and giving it to her the next time I see her.

Your thoughts?