Go for it - that is what is called a Hugelkultur - been around for a pretty long time way before there was "fertilizer". I would amend with more stuff, think Coots/BAS soil recipe to get it going and keep it strong. "topsoil" is a relative term there - I'd be VERY selective. Where I live I'd be getting a delivery of compost not topsoil and mix in amendments.
Ok - add insult to injury, today I go see my girls in veg and one of them is showing signs of insect damage (canoed leaves) and little white spots. This is on some "iffy" genetics that I've not tried before (yea yea why?? I'm asking myself that right now). Last plant had the mold now this one is attracting insects and there are lady bugs starting to show up indoors so that's a sign right there. Grrr Pests are everywhere no way to eradicate them just grow strong plants that have natural defenses, oh and neem cake and neem oil, check.... My question and point is coming.... wait for it.... has anyone tried Rue for insects?? We have that growing in our garden and my wife tells me to use it same as neem and of course I should be grinding it up and making a foiler spray but I'm the skeptic that I am wanted to get another view.. so hows about a little Rue for insects?? Anyone try it. It has a very strong nice smell and it's flowering right now!!?? First pic is a tree in the park that has cool looking berries (poison?) 2nd pic is the dark devil # 2 (first had the mold this one has insects) 3rd pic is some of our new Comfrey getting going... !!
Thanks! The landscaper says he has some really high quality topsoil right now and we've used him before and trust him. Ideally I'd like to do it just like my potting soil with something like Pak's recipe but it's going to be 72 yards of topsoil and I'm trying to control costs. I figured ewc was probably the most important thing to add though. I feel like perlite and peat moss would be pretty expensive on this scale and wouldn't bring as much to the table. I'm thinking about turning a bunch of worms loose in the garden too. They seem to show up on their own around here pretty well though. What amendments do you think would give me the most bang for my buck?
Kelp meal has all the micro and macro nutrients but I'd throw in some minerals too. The minerals like glacial rock dust provide places for the bacteria to set up communities. Bacteria is the bottom of the food chain so making them successful is just as important as the worms. For my vegetable garden I brought in some commercial thermal compost (15 yards) plus added 1 1/2 yards of aged cow manure. That worked out good for me but I wish I had added some aeration. I'm doing it slowly over time now. You don't need to build the perfect soil out of the gate. I look to improve every year.
Hello everyone, I am a new grower with the ambition to become fully organic. After reading as much as possible, I have ordered the ingredients; waiting for the mail! (neem cake) Just want to follow along and try to learn as much as I can. Thanks for letting me hangout. Irish
your current grow has turned out great bud, once you go all organic you're gonna be rolling along just fine.
Thanks, I hope to have a great little garden full of happy plants. The only way I see that happening is with organics. Plus you can't put a price on clean, healthy smoke,IMO. Again, thanks to all experienced organic growers for the knowledge and expertise. Irish
Something interesting to share from a book called Celestine Prophecy.. Cmon, Ill show you. She motioned for me to follow her and we walked around the metal building to a plot of beans. I noticed they appeared to be exceptionally healthy, with no noticeable insect damage or dead leaves. The plants were growing in what appeared to be a highly humus, almost fluffy soil, and each plant was carefully spaced, the stems and leaves of one growing near but never touching those of the next. She pointed to the closest plant. Weve tried to look at these plants as total energy systems, and think of everything they need to flourish-soil, nutrients, moisture, light. What we have found is that the total ecosystem around each plant is really one living system, one organism. And the health of each of the parts impacts on the health of the whole. She hesitated, then said, The basic point is that once we started thinking about the energy relationships all around the plant then we started seeing amazing results. The plants in our studies were not particularly larger, but according to nutritional criteria, they were more potent. How was that measure? They contained more protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals. She looked at me expectantly. But that wasnt the most amazing thing! We found that the plants which had the most direct human attention were even more potent. What kind of attention? I asked. You know, she said, fiddling with the ground around them, checking them every day. That sort of thing. We set up an experiment with a control group: some getting special attention, others not, and the finding was confirmed. Whats more, she continued, we expanded the concept and had a researcher not just give them attention but to mentally ask them to grow stronger. The person would actually sit with them and focus all his attention and concern on their growth. Did they grow stronger? By significant amounts, and they also grew faster. Thats incredible. Yes, it is . . . Her voice trailed off as she watched an older man, appearing to be in his sixties, walk toward us. The gentleman approaching is a micro-nutritionist, she said discreetly. He came down here about a year ago for the first time and immediately took a leave of absence from Washington State University. His name is Professor Hains. Hes done some great studies. As he arrived, I was introduced. He was a strongly built man with black hair, gray streaks at his temples. After some prodding from Marjorie, the professor began to summarize his research. He was most interested, he told me, in the functioning of the bodys organs as measured by highly sensitive blood tests, especially as this functioning related to the quality of food eaten. He told me what interested him most were the results of a particular study which showed that while nutritionally rich plants of the kind grown at Viciente increased the bodys efficiency dramatically, the increase was beyond what could be reasonably expected from the nutrients themselves as we understand how they work in human physiology. Something inherent in the structure of these plants created an effect not yet accounted for. Knowing the universe is all energy, vibration and frequency like the Great Nikola Tesla stated. Focusing on Love and Gratitude towards a plant or just being in the pure state yourself makes sense to me that it should do wonders for a plant or anything alive in general. Think how sometimes a very positive, loving person uplifts everyone else in the room, and suddenly the colours become brighter
Does anyone have any info on Violet River Kush? It smells great but the nugs weren't particularly impressive. All I can find is that it's space cheese x blue moon rocks. I wasn't fond of my other bmr cross but this smells so good, I found myself thinking about it later on. Thanks
my sister has read that book. I have not. Never really even thought to check it out when she had it sitting around when we were younger
Its one of those books that changes your whole perspective of life if you are open to the information provided that is. It really makes you think and too me at least made great sense, Not necessarily about plants or organic growing but that was just one part i remembered
I found the opposite to be true, actually. When I got a nice camera I started taking a lot more pictures. Taking 10 pics to get the best one with a phone is time consuming, but with a DSLR it only takes a couple seconds. I've filled my 32 gig memory card in a single day before....
Assuming you mean Ruta graveolens, you should be very careful with it. If you make a foliar, do not get it on your skin. Rue causes severe phytophotodermatitis, which essentially means your skin will burn and blister if exposed to sunlight. It's great if you're trying to convince people you're a vampire, but otherwise it's not something you want.
Yes that's the plant. My wife has extreme contact dermatitis when she's picking certain strains of lettuce so I know what you say there. I thought we were going to have to have her hands amputated before we figured that out. That was serious. So yah thanks for the tip. She's 100% into Rue - she LOVES the smell and of course she's got a use for it. She says it deters fruit flies, we have them in the compost bin so some make their way into the kitchen. Cut flowers in the kitchen, I think its working too! I'm trying to get her to bond with fenugreek! I spread a lot of that around the out door gardens this spring and when the sprouts came up - woah birds were crazy.
I've been listening to Jimi since the late 60's and never knew much about the man aside from his music. I invested 1.5 hrs of my life this weekend watching the Jimi Hendrix bio I Hear My Train A-Comin'. If you're a Hendrix fan it is an absolute must see and well worth the investment of 1.5 hours. What a helluva a dude. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr4ySKIgtsQ
That was it. Man.... for me it was a "wow" moment. Not all of his music is what I consider 'easy listening' but considering now, after watching the vid, how his music all came about I can certainly appreciate better what it is I am hearing when I do listen. That kinda makes sense .... doesn't it lol.
Yeah. I think so. I picked up a nirvana band tshirt today. It was next to ACDC, guns and roses, and lynard skynard. Finding a band I listened to in high school in the retro old T section was weird.