Keeping Weeds out

[dufflight]

I put a lot of mulch around plant. It helps keep moisture in the ground as well as making it harder for weeds to grow. Something that I don't have to worry about in a grow bed. But in the dirt there is always weeds to contend with.


Good use for old blue drums when you upgrade to larger gb's

[Castaway]

Hey Duff,
I started reading this book yesterday. Written in 1950 but is quite interesting. Explains the role of weeds in restoring necessary plant nutrients. You'll find that certain weeds only occur in your garden because of soil deficiencies. Once the soil conditions are restored - they don't grow again.

Weeds: Guardians of the Soil by Joseph A Cocannouer
http://www.naturalsequencefarming.co...%20%283%29.pdf

[Bidadisndat]

Where'd you get the book Castaway? It's a great reference book, but it's been out of print for some time now and copies are as rare as hen's teeth, so hang on to it. (For anybody else that would like to get a copy, you can download it from here: http://www.soilandhealth.org/copyform.a ... ode=010149 - I think there's also a copy on the journeytoforever website, but that appears to be down at the moment, so I can't check to be sure.)
Another great book with tons of information and encompassing work by Rudolph Steiner, Margrit Selke, Alex Podolinsky and others is 'Secrets of the Soil' by Peter Tomkins & Christopher Bird, though it's also one that you'll have to hunt around for.

[Murray]

Thanks for that link Bid, I have just joined and requested the download. Excellent info.
Weeds in the dirt garden are not all that bad when it is a raised bed garden. The big problem for me is forgetting to water the raised bed garden. I think that is the biggest element for me re aquaponics....I don't have to water the garden.

[Castaway]

I think Fish Food mentioned constructing a Wicking Bed. I had to search Google for that one. See Diagram. Would fit nicely into Aquaponics - Plenty of pipes laying around? Not a problem. Put 'em to good use to pour water down to the bottom layer of the garden bed with lots of moist hay or cane mulch as a base to soak the water underneath and feed the soil from the bottom up. Clever design. Less water wasted. I want one. Would be good for root crops like potatoes or vegetables that take up a lot of space and a not really economical or smart to put in an AP system.

[fishfood]

I have 2 now they are going great guns havent watered them in 2 months and they are still damp and theres worms everywhere
Make that 4 2 are filled just with coco fiber they have onion schollots potato cabbage

[Castaway]

Do you use a plastic liner Fish Food? Just wondering what would be the easiest method to make one?

[dufflight]

I've ordered a bag of lucerne seed to plant around the yard to fix the soil. This mulch is more to get rid of the grass without having to spray it. Or mow it. :lol:

[Bidadisndat]

".....Or mow it. ...."
No Dufflight, you should mow it - when it gets about 30cm tall. Rake up the cut stuff and dig it into your garden beds, feed it to the chooks, use some in the compost heap and leave what you don't use on the ground where it was cut so that it will decompose and further enrich your soil. It's a perrenial legume and will just keep coming back year after year. An article in our local paper said that a farm around here had been growing lucerne in one field for 17 years - never been plowed, just the same plants left to regrow. The paddock was finally being plowed under as the property was being sold to a developer. BTW, although the root system usually grows down between 90 and 180 cm, it can go down as much as 3 metres!
Another way to enrich your soil is to sow white clover, another leguminous plant. It's not the terrible weed that most think it is and goes a long way towards improving soil.

[fishfood]

Do you use a plastic liner Fish Food? Just wondering what would be the easiest method to make one?

Photos are easy first i made with plastic liner and then overlaid some heavy liner over si i wouldent poke holes in it [i like to dig with a fork ]
Second is a plastic tub with a one third height stand pipe