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Re: Living Mulch



On 18 Apr 1996, Marjakecol wrote:

> Can anyone suggest a "living mulch" for hardneck garlic beds?  Last year
> planted 5'x50' beds w/cloves one 6"x6" centers, but ragweed, red-pigweed
> and lambsquarters were quite a problem.  Cultivating at such close spacing

> feeds, and would it starve the garlic.  Plenty of dairy and race-horse
> manure/bedding around for mulch, but I'm concerned about the effect
> vermicides and antibiotics have on soil microorganisms. (Not to mention
> uptake)

I doubt there would be enough vermicide & antibiotic residue to affect 
your soil or plants. If the horse/dairy farmer providing mulch/manure
is using no more than standard amounts of these medicinals there should 
be no problem. At least that's my impression based on bedding, horse 
manure, cow manure I have bought, composted and applied to my market
garden raised beds. One of my piles of cow manure I looked at yesterday
was beginning to swarm with earthworms. You could always ask
the farmer in question about his medicinal usage.

I have had problems with the same weeds you have. I used tillage to get 
rid of them. I think that if you mulch your garlic beds with an adequate 
depth of compost/manure/mulch/rock powders you will both partly or 
completely smother the emerging weeds and make it very easy for you to 
pull the remaining ones out by hand or specialized tillage tool. 
You should then be mostly rid of then and could use the no-till
heavily mulched raised bed system to grow your crops. You would
never turn your soil, only tilth it ocassionally with a fork and apply 
more finished compost. No more weeds and your soil tilth and fertility
improves dramaticaly each year; earthworms and other soil microorganisims
flourish in such a stable environment (tilling disrupts this).

You could alternate between growing cover crops (red clover and other 
legumes) and garlic in your beds to help stabilize and balance nutrient
levels and further build microorganism populations. I think some clovers
(red perhaps) enhance the growth of certian microorganisims
that contribute to increased levels of available phosphorous, as well as 
nitrogen, in the soil; others contribute to soil disease suppression.
You could follow clover with a non-legume such as chickweed in case
legumes leave residues in the soil harmful to garlic.

There must be many other useful strategies you could employ to turn
your garlic beds into a permanent, regenerative production system.

I'll bet Steve Diver (steved@ncatfyv.uark.edu) will have something to 
offer on this topic.

Lawrence

: 
Lawrence F. London, Jr., Venaura Farm, Chapel 
Hill, NC USA london@sunSITE.unc.edu - http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london
london@mercury.interpath.net - http://www.interpath.net/~london 
Organic Gardening, CSA, Permaculture & Renewable Energy Information
:





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