izentrop wrote: There is the Soltner method, but they no longer give green waste compost in my community of communes.
Soltner is one of the "contributions" in my reflection. When I went in this direction in the summer of 2012, I did not know this latest work by Soltner.
So I started to take pictures of "my" method, with the idea, when I retire, to blog (I don't know how it's done; but even when I retire, I hope still learn!).
And fortuitously, by random research on the internet, I came across this Soltner book, which I acquired ...
It's a very good base, which I recommend!
So my seedlings this year:
- last summer: meadow / mowing ... then later, place two thicknesses of hay (round bales)
- this spring, the hay is packed, partly decomposed:
- I open a furrow with a large kitchen knife (like a butcher's knife) [it is sweet to garden lying in the hay ... dry!]
- I spread with a small manual 3-finger hoe and I dig a little
- I spread
- I cover with commercial compost quite beast; a big bag bought at the supermarket; I did about 60 ml - linear meters - of seedlings with 1 bag / less than 10 euros ... [I also used the soil of the molehills; I do not recommend; it is "dirty" therefore much more raised of weeds]
- you will understand, I leave the hay between these lines
Two "obstacles" encountered:
a) birds, which scratch for worms; I am therefore obliged to go back to "discover" the parts of lines covered! [bitch of birds!]
b) slugs; and there, no fuss, Ferramol [ferrous sulfate; authorized in organic; it is also an excellent "fertilizer": plants need sulfur - an often neglected limiting factor - and need iron - naturally present in ocher-colored soils in the form of oxide; no hesitation except to be a protector of slugs; and except ... the price!]
PS: this method does not go without a bit of philosophy; I want to share with slugs, birds, field mice ... Especially since
it doesn't cost me a lot of effort.
I just don't want to share everything! And on the seedlings, no choice! If not,
nothing left in one night !!!
On the other hand, last year, I was not bothered more with this ground cover than when I was digging / hoeing. A little antimimace on the edge. There are natural enemies of slugs that unfurl ... On condition, to bear some small damage and to wash salads well! If no slugs, no auxiliaries. So you have to tolerate it. And be a little patient.
The method is a "cyclical" farming method. It is therefore necessary to constantly consider the duration of natural cycles: for such and such a parasite, the auxiliary sets in and multiplies in a few weeks; for others the cycles are annual or multi-annual ... You must therefore be patient!
It is also necessary to "raise" the parasites, in places slightly away from the garden, but not too far: for example aphids. Nasturtiums, roses, elderberries are excellent "breeding areas" for aphids ... where they often settle very early. Leave it ... A few days later we will see ladybugs ... Always let it happen ... The adults eat little ... But they lay eggs and they are the larvae [of the "horrible beasts" that few people recognize !] which in a few days will devour everything ... If you "treat" the aphids first, the ladybugs die ... But it is better to raise them on the edge of the garden!
PS2: my garden is in the middle of .. meadows! So, I have a hell of a lot of slugs and field mice! With lots of groves. So a hell of a lot of birds!
I had the joy of observing this spring a couple of kestrels, undoubtedly attracted by the mowed areas around my garden: an easy hunting ground! With the groves - and a power line nearby - as a perch.
A garden of this type is a "
very complex system", which must be learned to observe. [My wife often asks me:" what are you doing? you dream ??? - "No, I observe and I think! Did you see the falcon?" - "What hawk?" - "Over there !" - "Ah yes !)
A bit of philosophy: we too often call "action" what is only agitation! For it to be an action, there must be a meaning!
