The last two years I've had very spotty results with the soil in these GA Mountains. This year I've tried sheet mulching in raised beds in an attempt to enrich the soil. This is a totally new experiment so we'll see what happens! Here are some pics:
Kinda, more or less, how I do sheet mulching (Idea from the book "Gaia's Garden")
1. Break the soil down about 10" with a broad fork to loosen and aerate.
2. Spread ammendments: Horse/cow/chicken manure, Blood meal, Bone meal, Green sand (whatever the soil analysis requires)
3. Layer of newspaper, cardboard, carpenter's paper, any natural weed block (I like carpenter's paper cause it's already 3' wide)
4. About 6-8 inches wheat straw or hay (any good mulch)
5. Heavy layer of wood chip mulch
6. Couple inches Compost on top
If the bed's "cooked" for 6+ months I just plant right in it after putting the compost on top.
If it's a new bed I dig down through the straw, cut the paper, fill the hole with potting mix and plant in the potting mix.
Some peas, sugar snaps, Cabbage with a huge volunteer mullen in the back ground in a bed I'm letting "rest." Gonna let the mullen grow and save the seed.
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Some tomatoes, peppers, onions, basil, squash and cukes in the background
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Some Rattlesnake beans just pokin' their heads up. Beds in the background for Purple Hull Peas.
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Some Bloomin' Cukes!
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