Turn 55 lbs into 8-10,000 lbs of Dry Organic Matter to build garden soil health. Just plant Pearl Millet & Sudangrass seed weighing a total of 55 lbs in June and You will have by late Fall 8-10,000 lbs of composting leaves Biomass. Building Soil health via the soil food web.
VIDEO: Making your own Fall Leaves, Building GARDEN SOIL health organic composting..
Turn 55 lbs into 8-10,000 lbs of Dry Organic Matter to build garden soil health. Just plant Pearl Millet & Sudangrass seed weighing a total of 55 lbs in June and You will have by late Fall 8-10,000 lbs of composting leaves Biomass. Building Soil health via the soil food web.
Another thing on tall grasses as cover crops in winter: If You're in an area with heavy winds in winter and drought problems in spring time those grasses will do a good job in scavenging snow being driven by the storm and later feeding the soil with water.
Wow! Sorghum Sudan Grass really makes the biomass! Gotta try it on our homestead! Thanks!
the Winter Rye has a lot of dark circles too — why do you choose the millet and Sudangrass instead of the rye? Just wondering.
what happened with this field this year? I imagine it would reseed itself pretty well and am curious as to how you would handle that aspect if you planned to plant something else.
Can I still get the biomass from the plants if I let it go to seed and collect the seed?
are you tilling when you seed the first time?
Love your whole series.I have learnt so much about soil.I was convinced there was a better way and this is it.
I understand what you are doing in this field but when and how is the sequence of planting Vegges in the ground?
I just discovered your channel and am enjoying your videos and wisdom immensely. Please consider putting your general location in the about section. Thanks again for the fantastic videos and instruction!
You need to raise chickens and turkeys. The field peas you raised in other videos are perfect for turkeys and chickens could help break your insect cycle. They'll eat the adult insects then if you run them through after all the vegetables are picked they'll scratch up most of the larva. I was thinking of it during the earlier videos then I saw you growing all the millet and sudan grass and all I could think of was chickens going nuts. Just push it over or cut it down once the seed heads are mature and the chickens will pick them clean. Even if you don't want to raise chickens commercially they'll earn their keep cleaning up pests and fertilizing your crops then you at least get all the eggs you can eat and chicken for the family as you retire birds or get tired of a certain annoying rooster. I like to call aggressive rooters "Dumplings" because they make great chicken and dumplings.
Such great video
Hi, from Uk, I am watching your video and I am interested to use leaves but I already have winter broad beans on it. My question is if I can still put leaves on my raise bed, my broad bean won’t die? Thank you.
You said it's 12 degrees, where are you located and what is your growing zone. I'm in Colorado and my growing zone is 5B.
If the snow doesn't knock it all down, how do you terminate it so you can plant a crop? Janice P.S. As I finish this question I see a video about managing cover crops. Next for me. Thanks.
Wonder if this would choke out kudzu
hello Mark , may i ask how often should you add leaves to your garden? and does it work better than wood chips ?
I know this is old but interested in subject as a newbie. Great idea! I have Oak leaves so planning to use them in multiple ways. I miss the NJ/ NY but not the blizzatds and the extreme cold!
Is it possible to undersow this with winter rye and maybe clover a little earlier in the year to keep things going over the winter? Maybe debris will foil the geese? Or is it too shady to get rye to start? I guess birds will eat rye seed too, if you can't rake it in… Thanks so much for the video, must be hard to manage in the cold! PS For others: "Managing Cover Crops" book is available online https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version. Thanks again, Mark!
Can I use Nettle instead?
Question plz Mark. When a branch from a tree is cut and left so the leaves dry after a time, is that leaves carbon or still nitrogen?
In India we don't hv winter rains nd snow fall in winters where I live, so concerned about decaying of sudan grass nd pearl millet..Had to weight for next 9 months for the rains to come to decaying this mass .Is it wise to cut nd thrashing nd store somewhere else to use for decaying
How do you plant this cover crop? Do you broadcast seed it? or drill it in?
Tried this last year with Rye and the Deer came and ate it down, ha. Oh well there was enough left that i could crimp it and then had free straw. thanks for the education.
Can u eat all the geese?
When will you start plant crops/vegetables? What will you plant?
Thank you.
any issues with growing sudangrass and chopping and hilling potatoes with the green sudangrass ? hopefully not seems like it work good expeically since the normal grass in the yard stops growing around june-july all summer due to the heat and typically fairly dry weather hear in pa . i have a bag of the pipper sudangrass i threw out some seed in a small patch this morning before the rain showers..
I have a small area in my backyard estimated at 2200 square feet. In my location, I have a hard time getting free wood chips to control the weeds.
Using Pearl Millet & Sudangrass seed, I could technically rejuvenate the soil rather than using wood chips.
What do you do after growing the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass after 1 season?
You did not cover how you would then use the above technique to grow your vegetables and fruit trees after growing the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass?
Instead of weeds, do I have to now deal with the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass after using the above technique?
Thanks for your feedback.