See What Happens If I Mix/Bury wood chips in building a raised gardening bed with native soil. Breaking the # 2 rule in wood chip gardening and Back to Eden method with wood chips. This test trail will show the results of wood chip compost in starting a NO TILL gardening 101 method with mulch.
VIDEO: Pt 1 Breaking WOOD CHIPS # 2 RULE. Can I MIX Fresh Wood Chips in a Raised Gardening Bed ?
See What Happens If I Mix/Bury wood chips in building a raised gardening bed with native soil. Breaking the # 2 rule in wood chip gardening and Back to Eden method with wood chips. This test trail will show the results of wood chip compost in starting a NO TILL gardening 101 method with mulch.
Ok Mark. I can't wait to see how this turns out. For a second there I thought you were going to excavate a trench a couple of feet deep, fill it with with wood chips and cover it with soil, in effect, constructing a hugelculture bed. I have heavy clay in my B2E garden and I find that when it's wet, I inadvertantly drive the chips into the ground just by walking on it. Half my garden is often too wet and plants drown, so I will be building hugelculture beds this year. Much love to you and your boys.
I think this experiment will turn out well. I think the winter rye is going to look and grow healthy. I believe the effects of wood on nitrogen are insignificant compared to the benefits of structure and microbial food wood chips will provide for the otherwise dead hard clay soil. If there were a Maslow's hierarchy of needs for soil, i'd say that the right amount of moisture is #1 importance. Nitrogen availability is only like number 5 or something ๐
Mark, my dad and I would dig under wood chip piles where the utility companies dumped for years. The decomposed chips where so black and the horse weeds that where growing out of them where 7 feet tall. That made me question the nitrogen problem that we have been told should exist. My theory is that wood chips from trees that have green leaves and sap, have enough nitrogen value to aid decomposition and also earthworms feeding on the green leaves produce castings that have about one percent nitrogen value. Could you repeat this experiment later with chips from green leafy trees? Thanks. Love your channel.
That would be awesome if it works. I would think it will take some time for the chips to breakdown, but I believe the roots will find there way.
Love your experiments. Maybe another one as a control? Just till up the native soil and cover. Take notes on how much water each gets or needs…
I think the nitrogen tie up is more with adding and mixing in sawdust. I think wood chips don't tie it up as much as sawdust would.
Mark, do the trial with leaves… I did . The first year it was a little slow growing but the 2nd year it was "worms gone wild"….
Ahh, ya had me freaking out there for a second! Iโm trying to no-till. Second year, after absolutely decades of traditional: plowing, tilling, planting, watering it all and hoe the weeds out! We also did raised beds with cinder blocks-I absolutely hated that the worst! First year garden was awful, this year so far is 100% better…now if Mother Nature would just โease into summerโ rather than slamming us into it! Mid Illinois here.
I love the videos, you have a great teaching style! Thanks!
What model tractor do you have? It looks similar to mine.
How about a layered bed or buried wood chips with winter rye on top?
Thank you for your experiments. They are very helpful for me! I've learned so much about growing soil and I think about your videos often while I garden. Can't wait to see your results.
Could you repeat the same trial but with a leguminous plant like Phacelia tanacetifolia in stead of rye? Many thanks.
It's would be much more efficient to broadcast the chips and rye on top of the ground and Rototill everything in to the ground in one pass.
You also should try ripping that hard clay soil at least 2 1/2 ft deep.
And to greatly increase your soil health top inject some fulvic and humid acid to maximize your soil potential
https://www.maximumyield.com/humic-or-fulvic-acid-what-kind-are-your-plants-on/2/1352
The rye can have special root ability that vegetables don't have. Try the same experiment with different kinds of veggies. I'm doing a similar experiment this year direct sowing in the wood chips with a mix of veggies like how you did with the peas. I'm in my first year of wood chip cover so the soil underneath is still hard clay. I also have control areas and some areas where I pushed the chips aside and sowed in trenches. I'll see how it all grows.
Hey Mark, glad you introduced the experiment, where would Organic Gardening be without them, isn't fun ๐ It's good to have a forum like you do as all my friends are traditional farmers farming lifeless dirt so I have no one local to share with that would listen, lol ๐ So thanks for sharing and we are gladly watching and listening ๐ The only thing I have to add is that that you be sure to state the date in each video, thanks ๐ Don
Love that you're trying this. Keep on experimenting!
What do you think of crop layering. Hard for me to explain, see this video.
https://youtu.be/eIVO444M4kM
I agree with you. Clay soils need the wood chips tilled in for the first few years. After that you can add wood chips on top as a mulch layer year by year. They will draw some nitrogen from the soil in the beginning, but replace all taken and more in the decompsition.
Interesting and yes do the other bed. I love the other comments as well.
I like these trials and look forward to seeing the results, you could do a little vegetable bed like you did before with the raised beds some sunflowers tomatoes etc.
I have a garden area at my factory,50 x 80, that is old high clay nutrient poor industrial "dirt" that I've been working for the last 10+ years.Adding organic matter is key. Currently working on an extension of 50 x 80. Added 200 pounds of lime,then 6 to 8 inches of 3rd year course screened mulch(free from city). Then plowed in with mold board plow,then disced multiple times and every 2 weeks or so I've been going over it with a 3 pt tiller about 6" deep. Next I'll add straight nitrogen fertilizer(23-0-0) about 200 pounds,then continue with tilling.This fall I'll add another 200 pounds of lime then plow again with MB plow and disc. Come spring next year several passes with tiller only and soil should work for a vegetable patch.
Don't know how to do a link but I have posted a couple of videos of this project.
what about 10 foot bed of no chips mixed in adjacent to the bed with wood chips mixed and see the results, every time you plant the rye conditions are different comparing to what you did and how the rye grew before is not a same test.its not like you don't have the space or equipment.
We really need to get you a nerd scientist. Who lives on your farm and just records data so it can get published.
If I was a dairy farm with all that manure this would probably be agood time to mix in liquid manure into that woodchip soil pile. make that the first layer of the garden put that rye in and go to town. Then keep seeding it with various cover crop / kill / cover crop / kill for a solid year. Then you could probably get a really good vegetable farm started. I'd do that to a whole 2 arcer and you could have a really good opration up very quickly. I always though those dairies were a waste of good lidquid poo.
Thanks for making this video hopefully I see the next video
I grew potatoes in my fresh wood chips this year, they did great. Fresh cut trees with some green leaves mixed in
I was told that you shouldn't mix wood chips or compost into the soil at planting because it will rot plant roots when you water the soil. Just as if you had compost in a bucket of water and after a few days it turns into sludge. I was told that alot of people kill plants because nurseries plant their plants in compost and wood chips/bark and not soil, and so the plants are not healthy and last for about 3 months which is the time it takes to sell it to home gardeners. When the home gardeners put the plants in the ground the compost/bark decompose and rot plant roots. Can you comment on what I was told. It gets a bit confusing. I am combing through your videos to gain a better understanding so I hope you don't mind the many questions as I've watch many gardening videos and it gets confusing. Thanks!
Thanks angain! I intuitively did this on a part of my soil this year before I heard, that one should not do it… So: You will tell me with tihs series now what will happen and I am glad about that!