Grow your own mulch
Garden Update 2018 Week 21
Earlier last week I noticed a bit cool down coming in the weather for the May long weekend. Even though there wasn’t frost in the forecast, I know that here in southern Alberta our proximity to the Rocky Mountains means big swings in temperature and that frost still could happen.
I decided to hold off transplanting, but I figured it would be a great time to get the next round of seeds planted. Cool temperatures (days around 15C or 60F) make for nice weather for the gardener and also make it easier to keep the soil moist for germination.
Continuing with the experiment in fall rye as a cover crop, I had to come up with a plan for removing it. I got out my triangle hoe (pushing to cut rather than pull) and my regular hoe and went at. As I was removing it, I noticed that I had a lot of material — and I mean A LOT. I could pile it up between the rows and have 3cm (~1”) or more of material. That was when I thought — hey, this could work as my mulch. And it won’t come with the problems of wood mulch — I won’t need the wood frames around the seeds.
Since I had already planted a part of the bed there was an area without any rye mulch so I distributed it evenly across the area. Next year I’ll consider not doing an early planting so that I can grow as much mulch as I can. We’ll see. From there I just scratched the soil up enough so I could plant my seeds at the depth I wanted. Instead of narrow rows I went for 10–15cm (4–6”) wide bands up against the drip line. Once the seeds were planted I spread some compost over and watered it in with some liquid fertilizer.
The compost is coming out beautifully this year. I use a three-bin system and turn it just once a year. It’s a slow process, but now that I’m into it I always have fresh stuff each year. Before putting it on the garden I do a final sifting to pull out the stones, garbage (not much, but it somehow makes it in), larger sticks, and any stuff that hasn’t fully decomposed. The stones goes over the fence into the alley, the garbage gets thrown out, the big sticks go to the pathways, and rest gets dumped back into the active composter to keep breaking down.
In the little bit of rain that came on the weekend (8mm or 3/10”) I was able to fill the rain barrels. Since the fall rye sucked the soil dry, I put it through the drip line right away. I want the soil profile full so that as the seeds germinate the roots can explore deeply for water. Each night I run an impact sprinkler for 10–15 minutes to re-wet the compost and the soil below it. It keeps in the moisture well, but with the return of hot temperatures (25–30C or near 80F), I want to make sure the seeds always have moisture around for germination. With the nice, black compost, and hot sun I hope to see them soon!
Until next week,
Scott.
