Judson Carroll wrote:May I respectfully urge you, at the age of 18, not to think of yourself as a teenager. When I was 18, I was laying in a bed, paralyzed in both legs. I was injured at work... a full time job paying my way through college and with a fiancée. My friends, soon, were going to war. We were full grown adult men. Most came back. Yeah, you will technically be a teenager for another year. But, even with the suck factor.... it is better to be a man. And yes, it does really suck.... that girl left me... I went to funerals... saw young widows and crying children... but then, childhood is brief. Who we become is forever.. A few years ago, I met an old man who said I looked like his best friend.... when he was 18 he was storming the beaches of Normandy.... his friend was cut in half by machine gun fire. Great men walked before us. Be one, now.
J Davis wrote:If you are tight on timing, maybe do one small one so you can validate your method and results before putting an entire slope at risk of erosion.
Many of the factors will be local. Soil, rain, cover crops, etc. So even researching and prepping will only mitigate some risk. Much risk will remain until you have tested your method onsite.
Permie methodology is observe, act small, observe, expand scale.
Especially important when dealing with potential erosion on sigilnificant slope.
That said, sound idea. A bit jealous on your water supply :)
Tyler Ludens wrote: If you want the swales to act as swales and not ditches, and have more control over the water, you might consider digging them on contour and installing swivel pipes so that when you want to move the water downhill instead of holding it, you can swivel the pipes. At minute 4:00 in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcgHvYWLs-Q&t=80s
J Davis wrote:Sounds perfect.
Only advice would be have your mulch, straw, seeds on hand and ready to go and choose your timing as best you can to ensure heavy rains dont arrive while distrubed soil is bare.
eric fisher wrote:
-- You have some potent stuff in this list.Good to know about the ash, it’s just usually a resource I have a lot of in winter because stove fires. Weeds usually include, at least in the batch of tea I’m referring to, chickweed, miner’s lettuce, foxtails, etc.
You gave me a lot to think about here Dillon so I slept on it, and then there is the time zone differential. Anyone reading this and posting on here, be rest assured I will get to you.
You have already told me that you feel your mix does feed your plants and you notice a positive response so I expect the feeding aspect is positive. If you want to enhance things further consider the nutrient balance and what essential and beneficial elements are available to your plants. For the sake of brevity I won’t go into the ‘law of the minimum’ and essentiality here which you may already be well aware of.
Don’t think you have to worry much regarding phytotoxins since you leave it in the 3-4 months and these are usually prevalent in fresher organic matter.
I am rather nervous regarding your use of the ash (Potassium Hydroxide), it has a very high pH of up to 14 ! ; which is very extreme. On a plus side it is likely to nuke any pathogens around because most of them are neutrophils. On the minus side it’s going to nuke almost every other living organism too. When you put your solution/mulch on the land the earthworms may want to avoid it, which is not something you want. I gather you have laid down a lot of ash. I would be inclined to do a soil pH test and test your solution as a matter of urgency.
I would also be inclined to use the ash as a separate amendment and add seaweed instead in your bucket which is high is potassium, traces, growth hormones and is more gentle.
Chickweed (Stellaria media) is high in calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc and iron.
Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliate) is an interesting one. It is high iron and high in oxalates which have pesticidal properties like rhubarb leaves.
Regarding foxtails present in varied grasses be careful with this stuff. It is toxic to dogs, horses and an irritant to humans. The inflorescences and spikelets can enter the body via the nose and ears and is high in oxalates like miner’s lettuce.
Hope that helps. Just for the sake interest I have included a spikelet pic below.