Chop and Drop - PEP BB gardening.sand.chopndrop

I chopped-and dropped mulch on an unused area of a hugel bed at Wheaton Labs. The area I helped was approximately 5 feet wide and over 15 feet deep.

BEFORE:



This picture is of the uppermost area of the hugel bed with the unwanted plants (grasses) chopped/pulled and then mulched in. It was recommended the mullein and garlic be left undisturbed.



I began cutting the grasses from the lower portion of the hugel bed and also raked dead grasses and pine needles over some of the lower area.



Finally, I used a hand scythe to trim more grasses from nearby and added them to the rest of the hugel. I also rid the hugel of that annoying bunch at the upper-left corner in this photo. Tree bark has been added to the paths on the upper portion of the hugel bed.

AFTER:



A large-size version of the "after" photo is also available:
https://let-off.neocities.org/permies/bb_chopndrop/004_full.png

Thank you!

I chopped and dropped an area along the back wall approximately 30' x 2'. The area is home to a couple of elderberry bushes that I'm trying to establish and some okra sprouts that I scattered in to fill space while I establish more elderberry. There's also a volunteer pokeberry that I want to experiment with for making homemade ink. I used a grass knife to carefully cut down the grasses surrounding the okra/elderberry/pokeberry. I also cut away some grass in front of the planting area to get enough for a good cover. Pictures show before, after, and my grass knife.

Feedback was that the project needed more grass cover, so I chopped from a few more areas of the property. Pictures of the additional cleared areas were added below with another final picture of the chop and drop area with more coverage.

I chopped underbrush from the area outside the Abbey fence--snowberry bushes, the ones that look like currant bushes but aren't, and greenery from small conifers I felled for junkpoles. I used it to cover a side of the Hügelkultur I built inside the fence--a roughly 7' by 7' area (actually a bit taller than 7' as you can see). I've included pictures of the side of the Hügel (continuous with adjecent Hügels) prior to mulching, one of me standing next to it with the tape measure showing the vertical height, and the side of the Hügel after I mulched it.

Here is my submission for Chop and Drop - PEP BB gardening.sand.chopndrop:

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
  - Chop materials and mulch 50 square feet of desirable plants.
  - Chopped area likely needs to be 150 square feet

To document completion of the BB, I am providing the following:
  - Photo of the area prior to mulching
  - Photo after mulching

Used conifer branches, service berry leaves, St. Johns wort, and other greens to mulch.

My chop and drop adventure

Copping and dropping grasses and thistles from the garden border and placing it around the garlic.

As you can see this is a fresh chop and drop over older cycles. Slowing building up armor and nutrition over the soil.

BTW you are looking at garlic, Egyptian walking onions, potatoes, fava, and chickpeas interplanted.

Did chop and drop this morning. Scythed an area of 25feet by 15feet and dropped it on the berries patch!

This post will have at on of pics as I chopped many large areas and have a lot of measurement pics. So for this BB, I had a few garden beds, a few active, one empty. The active ones only had a few things growing in them as I have not done much gardening this year and relied heavily on recurring perennials. So most of the chop and dropping you will see goes on mulching the area around these perennials, as well as blocking out potential weeds. Also, if you see any plants with roots on them, those were not chop/drop, I had to pull them up because they were too big to chop. Just wanted to mention that before we started to ensure BB integrity.

The measurements (pics to follow) for this BB is as follows:

Garden bed 1: 10 feet long by 10.5 feet wide = 105 square feet
Garden bed 2: 10 feet long by 10.5 feet wide = 105 square feet
Onion bed: 5 feet long by 4 feet wide= 20 square feet
Walking lane (across)- 3 feet wide by 23 feet long- 69 square feet
Walking lane (between 2 beds)- 3 feet wide by 6 feet long= 18 square feet
=342 total square feet

Sorry for all the pictures. I just wanted to make sure everything was documented. I can post measurements of the walking lanes if needed, but I think I am covered square footage wise without them lol

The war on the ground elders will never be won. Luckily, this means material for chop'n'drop forever and ever and ever...

Here are the pics from the latest battle. 150 square feet equals 14 square meters, so this should be more than enough, I think? Have more pics if needed.