Raising the soil level

[Feral007]

As I've mentioned before we have quite thin topsoil here. Lots of rock in the form of small and large peices everywhere, and large rock formations just under and just above the top soil.
It's often hard to grow things for longer than 18 months to 2 years as they are likely to hit rock somewhere by then.

We've been raising plants on little hillocks with some success. But we are now trying to fill in the spaces between them as we go.
Son has been filling in with grass clippings, there was a hillock of topsoil we bought, but it ended up being so depleted in minerals that it stayed in it's little hill. And then there were two bags of complimentary sheep poo.

It's looking like rain. In fact, there has beeen two very short light flurries of windy rain already. I'm praying for some heavier stuff.

I went out and put the sheep poo over the grass clippings. Also above all the plants, so that it washes the nutrients downhill as it goes.
I put some one the depleted soil, then covered it with old grass clippings.

We have a pile of 'fast compost' that wasn't as fast as expected, and we plan to use that to make small areas in the raised line to plant into.

We have just received a delivery of green manure seed for cooler climates and will be sowing this in as well and then slashing it down. It's woolly pod vetch, oats, fenugreek, and subclover. That will be going in/on garden when son gets back. That's his baby.

There's lot of weeds out there atm, but they are staying, as in between where the horses have trodden it down around feed bowls in winter the ground is hard and compacted. We're planning to replace weeds with good ground and plants. Not get rid of one before the other two are ready. The weeds are protecting the ground, and put back what they took out when they die there.

Hoping that next year the part we did this year, looks so much better. And that we can get another part started, and just keep going.

We have to work with the paddocks too. So there will be lots happening out there too.

Really, really need to get this place on the up again.

Will be posting this to my blog by tomorrow, with photos if you're interested in following it all.

Will be a Forever Work in Progress.

I've also hand filed two downpipes so they can fit into some water butts, to save water from running away off the shed.

[Bigmallly]

Sounds like a plan Feral, don't you also have horses? as you didn't mention manure. Are there any locals that you could also source manure from or do they use it themselves.

[Sheneval]

Feral - Sounds like you know what your doing - hope it all works out - will be having a look at your pictures

[Feral007]

Have horses, but going around and collecting it is time consuming on 29.4 hectares. Although they do tend to congregate together around certain fence spots

By the time you collect it, compost it, make tea out of it.............well let's face it the paddocks need it as much as I do. My plan is to mainly use comfrey, lucerne, seaweed teas, and now and then manure tea. Wanting to grow as much comfrey as possible, ditto tree lucerne, and green manure from seed.

I think my next venture will be into the rockdust issue. I think that might be our best bet to get the paddocks good. And won't hurt the garden either.

[Two_Sheds]

Feral, I'm enjoying your blog. I'm SO interested in how you manage to grow veg in your part of the world. Have you read Gaia's Garden? It reminds me of you, your situation, growing in a hostile deserty kinda place. Lots of tips, lots about building water-saving into your design.

" I’m looking for the new seedlings that should be coming up. And before I see them I’m seeing some cracking going on with the topsoil we used. I shouldn’t actually be seeing the topsoil through the hay mulch. But I am."

Your topsoil is cracking? That may be what I call "capping", where the soil gets a crust on it. It can be too hard for seedlings to break through, which is why I now some carrots (which are wusses at breaking my topsoil) into a wet drill topped with MPC, not soil. It's much softer for them.

Also, don't pour water onto your topsoil if it's prone to capping/crusting. Pour it into containers that go straight down to the plant roots

[Feral007]

Thanks for reminding me about Gaia's Garden, must have another look. Sometimes you just get so caught up in stuff you can't remember where to look.

We've found that some of the small seedlings can come thru the mulch quite easily, but others seem to not know which way to go when they can't see which way is up. So we have been trying not to overwhelm the seedlings. But it means that the crap soil brought in has not been able to improve as quickly as was expected. I'm sure it will improve by next season, but I have no patience. I want my food, and I want it yesterday

I'm reading a contraversial book Back from the Brink by Peter Andrews. He talks about the clay pan and cracking soil and hwo to improve soil (farm style). Very interesting. Notoriously hated by agriculture people as he loves weeds and reeds and anything that protects the soil. He has another book I'll be looking at as well when this one is finished. I think they are books you could read forever and still find something that you'd missed.

[alldigging]

Have you read
http://www.permaculture.org/nm/image...Techniques.pdf

[Two_Sheds]

Back from the Brink by Peter Andrews.

Back from the Brink: How Australia's landscape can be Saved: Amazon.co.uk: Peter Andrews: Books

I might order that, I love this kind of thinking (tackling problems from a different angle). My weeds are green manures anyway.

Sepp Holzer is brilliant too, did you read him?

[Feral007]

Have read a little of everything. Son is an avid searcher on the internet and keeps filling me in. I'm more of a 'sod it let's try that' and get on with it sort of gal Drives son mad!

I'm looking for something called The Eden Project - gravel put into green waste. Finding lots of things about Eden Project but nothing on that particular aspect. Getting tired now, so had best give up for a while.

Thanks for the links - makes it easier to find things faster.

[Feral007]

Would love to get some books mentioned here, but funds are low as usual, so they will be on the wishlist.
Two sheds, I've seen bottles used above ground and just the neck put into the ground but that link looks more useful. I had planned to put some pipe into the ground near the seedling trees, but it's hard to keep it upright when it can't go very far into the ground. So will look at incorporating that as well.

All digging, thanks for that link. I finished reading it. It is really interesting, and makes you think a lot more. Altho because he gives names of trees etc that you can use, there is a lot there that I can work with.

If only I had the time, the energy and the money for it all. Oh well, I'll just have to live longer so I can get it all done anyway! :d

I put a shout out on a new organic fb page yesterday for raspberry and blueberry cuttings. Ended up with 10 raspberry plants, and about 50 strawberry plants. So got all of them in, into mulch so hoping they will cope. Watered all the garden beds. Went thru the pumpkin and gramma squash area, and fine tooth combed the corn.
Here's some photos of what I came up with

[alldigging]

I thought the titanium oxide in sand thing was interesting ..
Discussed more here
Mollison's third world endless nitrogen fertilizer supply

[Feral007]

I have managed to get in some raspberry plants, and a huge amount of strawberries. And had a chat with someone about fruit trees. I'm going to try the planting apple cores around the place, and see if anything comes up!
I figure while I'm buying some grafted trees (and I'll be going back to look at fb's rootstock lessons) I can also start growing ungrafted trees. I'm going to try it with nuts as well.

I can't afford to buy hundreds of trees, even if none of them cark it on me (which would be unusual) but also trees that can start growing here, should be more resilient as well.

I'm going on a foraging expediciton to find those apple trees that are planted around town. I'm going to plants some up and see what 'appens. Same with the tomatoes that the vegetarian dog hasnt comsumed yet! D@mn dog!

I shall be trolling round town, looking for any and every fruit to stash in the soil and see what happens. If even one grows it will be good!
Alldigging that link was great for a bit of motivation. Thanks.

[Feral007]

I was more taken with the solar I'd love to get off the grid. But I'm not particularly handy. It did sound easy. That might be one of my weekly challenges this year - to try and make a couple of those things.