[compost_tea] Re: wood chips and compost - ramial chipped wood

From: Tim Wilson <thegoodjob_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:07:15 -0000

Thanks Kirk

That is something I've been thinking about for a while. The paper as outlin=
ed is quite challenging though. First of all where does one easily acquire =
the material unless they own the trees? One good source of tree trimmings i=
s from the crews that clear along roadways and under power lines but they a=
re not all deciduous, usually have green foliage and are not all under 7 cm=
.

Another challenge is that the authors suggest discing or working the RCws i=
nto the top 5 cm of soil. This is easy in a small garden manually but I've =
yet to see a set of discs that cut only 5 cm into the soil.

A friend of mine seemed to have a decent work around to incorporate RCWs in=
to his horticulture program. He had the road crew dump the chipped product =
(comprised of deciduous and some conifer) at his farm and he would compost =
the material thermophilically(sp?). In this way he could used the resultant=
 product as his soil, through and through. He did not seem to encounter any=
 nutrient lock up problems and he used absolutely no fertilizers, with the =
exception of ACT.

This concept has inspired me to attempt a container mix using aged bark mul=
ch. I'm hoping that having been aged and at least partially composted, that=
 mixed with vermicompost there will be a gradual longterm nutrient release,=
 amended with ACT and/or molasses dilutions.

Salutations,
Tim

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Kirk Leonard" <kirkleon_at_...> wrote:
>
> I was tempted to post this with Chris' initial post. It's an old subject=
 
> here which Stephen provided a great segway to. Laval wood, or ramial chip=
ped
> wood has remarkable soil regeneration properties. There is a wealth of
> material, a good deal generated from research at Laval Univ, in Quebec.
> Google "laval ramial chipped wood."
>
> Here is a very informative paper:
> http://www.sbf.ulaval.ca/brf/regenerating_soils_98.html
>
> Kirk
>




Received on Sun Sep 25 2011 - 14:30:54 EDT

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