Fixing soil

[Alasgun]

@Manda_Rae, if your a reader this attachment may interest you. when you mention “white stuff that went away when the sun hit it” it leads me to believe it could be that mycos have colonized that pile? Powdery mildew doesn’t go away in the sunshine.
The article stresses the importance the mycos have on plant root systems, i add it in granular form to all my beds and from time to time will find it on the surface in the grass surrounding garden beds. Many times i’ll encounter it when raking just below the soil surface. in every case; once disturbed it is not visible any longer. we’re talking about a very fine, easily disturbed structure.

The Huge Impact of Mycorrhizal Colonization on Plant and Soil Health - EcoFarming Daily

Elaine Ingham emphasized the concept of the soil food web. In the living soil food web the keystone species of the living soil community are mycorrhizal fungi. These unsung heroes cannot be cultured apart of plant roots. Mycorrhizal fungi are obligate symbionts growing from the soil into the...

www.ecofarmingdaily.com

a second attachment contains a wealth of “soil health management” information as well.
Hope some of this is useful?

Soil Inputs | EcoFarming Daily

Learn about the importance of soil inputs, and how to perform them correctly from an ecological and economical standpoint.

www.ecofarmingdaily.com

 

[ducks4you]

As you know, I live in a tiny town and drive past farm fields every time I...drive.
I see that three 50 acre fields went no till this year. You can see soybeans reaching up through other vegetation and looking healthy.

 

[Phaedra]

We have clay, too.

Besides the nitrogen-fixing plants, no matter green manure or something we can consume, I might plant one comfrey (the variety won't self-seed).

What you would like to grow in this area in the future might also be considered.

 

[flowerbug]

We have clay, too.

Besides the nitrogen-fixing plants, no matter green manure or something we can consume, I might plant one comfrey (the variety won't self-seed).

What you would like to grow in this area in the future might also be considered.

comfrey is pretty hard to kill off completely and it will fill in the area really well. just based upon my experience in how quickly the few pieces of comfrey i had here grew and became large plants. they're really nice plants IMO. just wish the deer didn't like them so much. and they do smell like squash plants when i cut them.

 

[Manda_Rae]

I ended up throwing some woodchips down for now and letting some melons grow along the top for now.
I'm hoping the woodchips help compost it down

 

[ducks4you]

Woodchips will probably work, but it will take them a Very long time to break down.
After the garden season ends, I suggest that you rake them up and mulch in another area.
SAVE YOUR LEAVES!! SAVE YOUR GRASS CLIPPINGS!!!
Both make a better mulch.
This Fall use your mower to chop up leaves, rake them up and save them in your garage by using those tall paper yard waste bags. Work that into your garden next Spring. It Does work.

 

[Manda_Rae]

Woodchips will probably work, but it will take them a Very long time to break down.
After the garden season ends, I suggest that you rake them up and mulch in another area.
SAVE YOUR LEAVES!! SAVE YOUR GRASS CLIPPINGS!!!
Both make a better mulch.
This Fall use your mower to chop up leaves, rake them up and save them in your garage by using those tall paper yard waste bags. Work that into your garden next Spring. It Does work.

I never in my life ever thought I would miss have trees with lots of leaves we only have these huge tall White willow trees lining our property we don't really get much leaves at all. But I usually save all my grass clippings and use those where I can.

 

[flowerbug]

I ended up throwing some woodchips down for now and letting some melons grow along the top for now.
I'm hoping the woodchips help compost it down

it will take several years (depending upon how wet they get how often) to get them broken down. we use them here a lot and they are my favorite mulch for perennial gardens. i put new wood chips on top and once in a while i scrape up the wood chips that have decayed and created humus down below and put that in the worm buckets where it gets recharged with nutrients and eventually ends up in a garden for fertilzer when the worms are done doing their magic (pooing and peeing in it while digesting food and paper scraps).

 

[Manda_Rae]

it will take several years (depending upon how wet they get how often) to get them broken down. we use them here a lot and they are my favorite mulch for perennial gardens. i put new wood chips on top and once in a while i scrape up the wood chips that have decayed and created humus down below and put that in the worm buckets where it gets recharged with nutrients and eventually ends up in a garden for fertilzer when the worms are done doing their magic (pooing and peeing in it while digesting food and paper scraps).

Maybe I should just cover the area with a tarp and let the worms have fun LOL

 

[flowerbug]

Maybe I should just cover the area with a tarp and let the worms have fun LOL

cheap tarps tend to fall apart and then you have a mess to deal with. i prefer things that when they break down the worms can deal with them and i no longer have to worry about it.