journey11
Garden Master
Looks like you got a good haul from your tomatoes there. Next year will be even better as the chips start to break down. You have no weeds that I can see either.
Back to Eden Gardening
- Thread starter Beekissed
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canesisters
Garden Master
I've been following with interest.
Once it's all over and done (for the season) - will you post about what you like, what you'd change, what was a mistake, etc???
All in one place. (I have a terrible time searching the tiny screen on my pocket computer and don't get here from the work PC much anymore)
Once it's all over and done (for the season) - will you post about what you like, what you'd change, what was a mistake, etc???
All in one place. (I have a terrible time searching the tiny screen on my pocket computer and don't get here from the work PC much anymore)
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- #233
Beekissed
Garden Master
Mary, I'm just going to throw it on there and let God sort it out.
I've been reading about what the chips need in order to decompose properly and the most important factor was nitrogen...well, that and moisture. I intend to haul all the manure I can to place on top of these chips, then add more chips on top of that, then the leaves....we have a full plenty here if I can just get them to the garden. I'm also going to be applying our wood ashes all winter, bags of lime, and also a couple bags of 19/19/19. If nothing grows next spring it won't be from lack of my trying to get this thing to decompose enough to make rich soil.
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- #234
Beekissed
Garden Master
No weeds to speak of and those that popped up were pulled as easily as can be...and this was a great year for weeds! Rain, rain, rain!
I sure will! I'll do an objective review, though I'll have to factor in the weather this year and the nature of the soil before starting. I've seen other BTE gardens in their first year and they almost made me cry....lush, HUGE growth, tons of yield.
ninnymary
Garden Master
Bee, I had been wondering how I was going to enrich my soil. Since the wood chips right now are acting as mulch, I though covering them up with compost would defeat the purpose. I wasn't sure if I should add more chips on top of that. My only concern is that the beds are going to get higher. When they get too high water runs off onto my brick pathways and gets them all muddy. But I need to do something so I'll do it this fall.
Mary
Mary
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- #236
Beekissed
Garden Master
Mary, if it all decomposes like it should, your bed level should go way down this winter. So much so that you may have room enough in the spring to use more wood chips for mulch and weed control...or you may not need to do so, as you should still have a goodly layer on top that have not decomposed that can be pulled up and around the plants. Not sure as this is my first year with this also, but trying to glean all the info from those who have done it.
This page leads to many folks and their experiences with the BTE:
https://www.facebook.com/BackToEdenFilmOrganicGardening?fref=ts
This page leads to many folks and their experiences with the BTE:
https://www.facebook.com/BackToEdenFilmOrganicGardening?fref=ts
journey11
Garden Master
There's another BTE facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/BacktoEdenGardening/ , that I've been checking in on throughout the summer. Lots of people posting their results on there too. I've seen quite a few that had major struggles and you can get advice from other members of the group on what to do. I've seen some like you have that were highly successful too.
Just my observation, but it seems that the more broken down the chips become the better it gets. My reservation right now on starting a BTE garden lies there. I think if I do, I will pile the chips up and let them compost for awhile before I begin to use them. I think I will also use mulch hay underneath to try to get a good balance of greens and browns going.
I use hardwood bark mulch from the sawmill to mulch my front landscaping. It breaks down very quickly as compared to wood chips that are mostly cord wood. After the first year there was a good, black dirt layer underneath with only the larger chunks remaining. After the second year, it was all completely decomposed and added a nice thick layer of humus to my awful clay soil. I will need to add more next spring. I have still had trouble with weeds the whole time, but I think that may have a lot to do with my lawn (and my neighbor's) containing so many weeds instead of good turf grass. This was a farm originally, not a suburb. I've got pasture grasses reseeding by the millions. It is still hard to keep after them (if you don't get to them while they're just little things).
The plants in that bed have grown and thrived so well, far beyond what they did before I transplanted them from an un-mulched area. The decomposing mulch allows their roots a more friable soil to move through, as compared to trying to spread through rock-hard red clay. I totally see how this BTE method will work, but I think it may hinge on time allowing the mulch to break down some first. That, and I hear you have to put it on really thick to beat the weeds. How many inches deep did yours end up being, Bee?
I've enjoyed following this thread on your experiment and I expect we will really see some great things happening in your garden next year!
Just my observation, but it seems that the more broken down the chips become the better it gets. My reservation right now on starting a BTE garden lies there. I think if I do, I will pile the chips up and let them compost for awhile before I begin to use them. I think I will also use mulch hay underneath to try to get a good balance of greens and browns going.
I use hardwood bark mulch from the sawmill to mulch my front landscaping. It breaks down very quickly as compared to wood chips that are mostly cord wood. After the first year there was a good, black dirt layer underneath with only the larger chunks remaining. After the second year, it was all completely decomposed and added a nice thick layer of humus to my awful clay soil. I will need to add more next spring. I have still had trouble with weeds the whole time, but I think that may have a lot to do with my lawn (and my neighbor's) containing so many weeds instead of good turf grass. This was a farm originally, not a suburb. I've got pasture grasses reseeding by the millions. It is still hard to keep after them (if you don't get to them while they're just little things).
The plants in that bed have grown and thrived so well, far beyond what they did before I transplanted them from an un-mulched area. The decomposing mulch allows their roots a more friable soil to move through, as compared to trying to spread through rock-hard red clay. I totally see how this BTE method will work, but I think it may hinge on time allowing the mulch to break down some first. That, and I hear you have to put it on really thick to beat the weeds. How many inches deep did yours end up being, Bee?
I've enjoyed following this thread on your experiment and I expect we will really see some great things happening in your garden next year!
- Thread starter
- #238
Beekissed
Garden Master
They recommended 4-6", initially, but for most of my growing season I barely had 2 in. and not even that in some places. Since I didn't start it last fall, I had no decomposition at all, so the only thing the wood chips did for me this season was to hold moisture and keep down weeds.
I think the success of the wood chips on a garden stems from all the decomposition being at the soil layer, with the intact chips at the surface working as mulch and weed suppression. If I decompose the chips in a pile, when I move that pile the decomposed parts will mix with the chips that were uppermost and I won't have that layer of decomposed matter next to the soil where it's most needed. Not only that, but I'll have wood chips from the top of that pile winding up next to my soil and leaching the nitrogen out of my soil layer in order to decompose. I think that's the whole point of having the wood chips decompose in place on the garden itself, so the layers stay in place and perform like they are supposed to do.
I think the success of the wood chips on a garden stems from all the decomposition being at the soil layer, with the intact chips at the surface working as mulch and weed suppression. If I decompose the chips in a pile, when I move that pile the decomposed parts will mix with the chips that were uppermost and I won't have that layer of decomposed matter next to the soil where it's most needed. Not only that, but I'll have wood chips from the top of that pile winding up next to my soil and leaching the nitrogen out of my soil layer in order to decompose. I think that's the whole point of having the wood chips decompose in place on the garden itself, so the layers stay in place and perform like they are supposed to do.
- Thread starter
- #239
Beekissed
Garden Master
http://www.motherearthliving.com/Gardening/The-Great-Chive-Division.aspx
I got to thinking I need to divide my chives but didn't know when was best to do that, but found the above article that explains when and how. Good to know and I'll be getting on that this week, if I can remember amid all the other things on my numerous lists of things to be done before winter.
My chives have produced richly in this nutrient challenged garden this year and have been clipped and used over and over in cooking, all the while growing back quickly in a lush, deep green growth. They have thrived on this BTE method, I must say.
Soon as all this canning is completed, I'll be turning my attention back to this garden and finally getting all the chips moved into it, as well as the the manure that has been sitting in the compost bin this summer. I'm also going to dampen down Mom's newspaper collection and add it to the garden where the chips are currently very thin, before placing manure and chips on top of those areas.
I also need to plant some fall crops of romaine, spinach, kale and beets and will be using a big bag of potting soil to aid in the germination of those things...this garden produced only one single, lonely head of romaine out of all the seeds I planted this spring, so I want to give this fall crop a fighting chance by planting it into a better soil medium.
I got to thinking I need to divide my chives but didn't know when was best to do that, but found the above article that explains when and how. Good to know and I'll be getting on that this week, if I can remember amid all the other things on my numerous lists of things to be done before winter.
My chives have produced richly in this nutrient challenged garden this year and have been clipped and used over and over in cooking, all the while growing back quickly in a lush, deep green growth. They have thrived on this BTE method, I must say.
Soon as all this canning is completed, I'll be turning my attention back to this garden and finally getting all the chips moved into it, as well as the the manure that has been sitting in the compost bin this summer. I'm also going to dampen down Mom's newspaper collection and add it to the garden where the chips are currently very thin, before placing manure and chips on top of those areas.
I also need to plant some fall crops of romaine, spinach, kale and beets and will be using a big bag of potting soil to aid in the germination of those things...this garden produced only one single, lonely head of romaine out of all the seeds I planted this spring, so I want to give this fall crop a fighting chance by planting it into a better soil medium.
ninnymary
Garden Master
My husband is off this week and he asked what he could do for me. 
Honey, all I need is for you to go up to the Oakland hills and get a truckload of horse manure for me. Well he did and we spread it on top of the wood chips throughout the garden. I even put some on my large containers with fruit trees. I watered everything afterwards and I just hope I don't burn anything. Hope I did it right. I hope the smell doesn't last too long and hope my preschoolers don't pick up any "rocks". 
I need to start my fall planting soon of mostly kale and peas. I will just carefully move stuff to the side to plant the seeds and starts. Am I doing this right Bee?
Mary
Honey, all I need is for you to go up to the Oakland hills and get a truckload of horse manure for me. Well he did and we spread it on top of the wood chips throughout the garden. I even put some on my large containers with fruit trees. I watered everything afterwards and I just hope I don't burn anything. Hope I did it right. I hope the smell doesn't last too long and hope my preschoolers don't pick up any "rocks". I need to start my fall planting soon of mostly kale and peas. I will just carefully move stuff to the side to plant the seeds and starts. Am I doing this right Bee?
Mary
