Why would you not mulch veggies?

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by nate_taylor, Aug 9, 2009.

  1. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    Re: Why would you not mulch veggies?

    mmm ours do very well in a live garden condition up here, we even add in food scraps under the mulch right near any plant we have growing, so soil feeding is an ongoing thing. so the worms and bacteria are working full swing all the time in someplace in our garden. and we mulch right up to the plants as well often using mulch to hold brassicas upright.

    len
     
  2. Salkeela

    Salkeela Junior Member

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    Re: Why would you not mulch veggies?

    I'm delighted you thought the idea worthy of a trial... but don't be so hard on yourself ;).....
    I didn't worry too much about this so long as there was enough sand to keep the paper from flying away!
    I made the hole with a pencil and stuffed the seedling straight in - I haven't tried this with seeds
    Leave it a day or two after wetting so the sand dries a little?
    Guessing is fun :)
    Hopefully you will have a prize crop this year!
    It is all trial and error - some things that work for others don't work for me & I expect the reverse is also true.... It's all about finding what works for you and then repeating the successes.
     
  3. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

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    We have done that this year at purple pear with great results. We used straw mulch to hold the newspaper down instead of the sand (more available) the weed growth is mainly from the paths and the plants have benifited from the lack of competition - we may have a great harvest this year.

    Thanks Salkeela and give my regards to Ireland.
     
  4. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    We tried it this year too, but fortunately/unfortunately we just keep getting rain and the onions were just too wet for too long. The onions I didn't mulch are going well though, but I have to keep weeding around them so they don't get lost. It's raining outside as I write and the paths of the garden are already under water. Australia eh?
     
  5. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

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    I love a sunburnt country a land of droughts and flooding rains - stay with it G
     
  6. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    I was just saying yesterday that this time last year I had been watering to keep things alive, this year we just about need a canoe to get to the vegies. And there is more rain due in a couple of days. The creek is higher than we have ever seen it. It's all good.
     
  7. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    I have recently had a horrifying invasion of voles, they are like mice on steroids, and they are living under my 4" mulch that I rely on heavily for killing weeds and keeping the sun off my tough clay soil But they are tunneling from dripper to dripper and creating wind tunnels under plants that dry out everything, they eat roots and plants, they are a nightmare. So now I have had to pull mulch back off of one acre, move the compost pile, compost everything, start spreading it around at a depth that acts a bit like mulch but is not enough for them to get under....and get rid of them, primarily, but they are sneaky and clever and there is no sign of dirt mounding while they create vast caverns that dry out the soil.

    So my permaculture plans have changed, but I still will do everything I can to keep improving the soil from the top and not let the sun bake it to death.
     
  8. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Hmmm Vole Pie perhaps? What would be their natural predators and could you introduce them without killing something you want? Or could you put them to use somehow?
     
  9. mischief

    mischief Senior Member

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    What a great thread.
    I've really enjoyed reading through all the posts and what you are all doing on this subject.
    I am re thinking how and when I apply mulch to the garden.
    I had decided to pull the mulch off the first spring bed so the sun warms it up faster and thats as far as I got with my planning.

    Over the weekend I started reading a library book on biodynamics.
    I got it cos the first page had a speil on gardening by the moon which is still doing my head in.
    These people dont mulch but also dont water after the initial planting, which is also doing my head in.
    How do you get away with that?

    Letting chickweed grow through the plants sounds like a good idea.
    We have this growing here at the moment so I am going to try that.
    Also going to use compost bins this year so any weed seeds are 'cooked' and so dont spread.
     
  10. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    mischief, what's the name of the book? Are you sure they aren't just watering deeply before planting, mulching, then holding off until the plant comes close to fainting before giving it more water, that way the roots go deep rather than be lazy and hang out near the surface. And are they talking about perennials (which can be dry farmed) or annuals too?

    eco, I'm thinking more along the lines of a full-length vole coat, and it's absolutely politically correct!! :)

    I have had to fence off the deer and rabbits, and in doing that I fenced off the bobcat and the foxes, the main guys who got inside the fence and helped out. Occasionally a pair of buzzards comes and swoops low in search of them, but obviously not nearly enough! A raccoon comes around, and I found a body-less head of a vole, but they can escape underground, so the raccoon is not helping either, and he stole all the apples!

    They are jumping into buckets half full of water. It doesn't rain here and they have to search for water, so I've got about 10 buckets out. But my new theme is: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide!!

    the compost pile is now next to the branches pile where the snakes hang out. There's a whole lot less running around going on, but it might be interesting to install a night camera and see what's really going on.
     

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