Blaze
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Hello fellow farmers! So here's what I've been working on this last year. This was a new site and a new garden for this year so everything had to be built from scratch. Due to extremely cold and wet weather we got off to a late start and were not able to plant until mid-June. Despite the late start the ladies have done pretty good, but I hope to get them 50% bigger next year.
I would consider this system of growing to be a hybrid-organic method of growing. I am using a combination of organic soil and soil amendments, aerated compost teas, and organic liquid fertilizers. The plants themselves are being grown in large, raised beds, with a built-in drain system, each of which holds over 3 yards of soil.
To get started we scrapped aside the layer of native topsoil that was present, then dug out a 6’ x 6’ by 20” hole. Next we built an in-ground drain system by placing a perforated pipe in the bottom of each hole, and covering it with about 8”-10” of lava rock. Each pipe connects into a main line that runs the length of the garden and drains out to the downhill side. Care was taken to make sure that the whole system has a slight downhill slope to it, to ensure proper drainage. Finally, we placed some mulch cloth on top to prevent the soil from filtering down into the lava rock and potentially clogging the system.
After the drain was in, we started building our lower layer of soil. This layer went from right above the drain to the current level of the native soil, a depth of about 12”. This mix consisted of rice hulls, lava rock, contractor sand, (which is just pea-sized lava rock) gypsum, the native top soil we saved, a small amount of earth worm castings, and organic compost made from green waste and grape pomace, oyster shell flour, bone meal, blood meal, kelp meal, Dolomite 10, greensand, soil sulfur pellets and Glacial Rock Dust.
I would consider this system of growing to be a hybrid-organic method of growing. I am using a combination of organic soil and soil amendments, aerated compost teas, and organic liquid fertilizers. The plants themselves are being grown in large, raised beds, with a built-in drain system, each of which holds over 3 yards of soil.
To get started we scrapped aside the layer of native topsoil that was present, then dug out a 6’ x 6’ by 20” hole. Next we built an in-ground drain system by placing a perforated pipe in the bottom of each hole, and covering it with about 8”-10” of lava rock. Each pipe connects into a main line that runs the length of the garden and drains out to the downhill side. Care was taken to make sure that the whole system has a slight downhill slope to it, to ensure proper drainage. Finally, we placed some mulch cloth on top to prevent the soil from filtering down into the lava rock and potentially clogging the system.
After the drain was in, we started building our lower layer of soil. This layer went from right above the drain to the current level of the native soil, a depth of about 12”. This mix consisted of rice hulls, lava rock, contractor sand, (which is just pea-sized lava rock) gypsum, the native top soil we saved, a small amount of earth worm castings, and organic compost made from green waste and grape pomace, oyster shell flour, bone meal, blood meal, kelp meal, Dolomite 10, greensand, soil sulfur pellets and Glacial Rock Dust.
