Home gardens designed like agricultural operations, What?!?!?!

[jasonvivier]

I'm done in responding to a closed minded troll !!!!!!

Wow that's a pretty closed minded thing to say.

 

[jasonvivier]

[QUOTE="jasonvivier, post: 212106, Clearly you missed a chapter on mycorrhizal symbiosis at Ye Old Vegetable Crop Department... Sorry that was mean, but it was so good that I have to post it anyway.

Here is a list of scholarly articles on the topic. Read them, I did, it was interesting.

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?...a=X&ei=5_oBVYf8MPDIsQTk9YH4BQ&ved=0CBwQgQMwAA

I don't have a dog in this fight and have pretty much enjoyed the back and forth. But adding snark isn't going to change anybodies thinking Jason.[/QUOTE]


You are right, I clearly shouldn't have done that. I am also not willing to cover it up by editing it out.

 

[jasonvivier]

So back to this.

Here is an example of a productive food crop surrounded by weeds, that wasn't watered, and wasn't fertilized during the season.

 

[thistlebloom]

It's a beautiful squash plant, and I commend you on your success with your preferred gardening style.

 

[Smart Red]

Jason, that looks so much like some squash I planted one year and lost. I was ashamed of all the weeds, but enjoyed the acorn squash. Never really thought to grow it that way on purpose.

My intentions had been good, I am sure, since I also planted radish seeds around the squash in hopes of foiling squash pests.

 

[jasonvivier]

Jason, that looks so much like some squash I planted one year and lost. I was ashamed of all the weeds, but enjoyed the acorn squash. Never really thought to grow it that way on purpose.

My intentions had been good, I am sure, since I also planted radish seeds around the squash in hopes of foiling squash pests.

If it were surrounded by other squash in the same family it wouldn't work. But this plant isn't surrounded by competition, it is surrounded by cooperation and therefore it succeeds. Many gardeners don't understand that competition doesn't exist in the way they believe to be true. An example is... If I plant two plants that need high amounts of nitrogen in the same square foot, but plant one needs it months 1 through 3 and plant two needs it month 4 through 6 there isn't any competition for nitrogen, even if these two plants are in the same hole. Provided you can supply hydration and sunlight, both plants should do great.

There are other competing factors though, like root space, root structure and micronutrients. And design considerations like air flow and such, but nutrient wise, nitrogen wouldn't be an issue.

Maybe this is helpful as you work in the garden this year.

And the radish seeds are a good idea. I have found a mix or radish, mixed lettuce, and carrots make a nice ground cover for squash plants. After a few weeks I'll add the squash starts or seeds couple weeks later I add bush beans for nitrogen and will generally broadcast sow chard, kale, and other things in the same space.

The lettuce that ends up under the squash plant typically stays there; I collect seed for next year and use the lettuce blossoms it to feed the bees.

As some of the lettuce is taken out (the whole plant because I throw out so much seed.) It'll make space for the chard and kale and I'll plant cabbage and other plants in the new spaces as well. Never keeping the soil bare.

The idea is diversity because as it turns out complex natural systems are stable natural systems.

 

[Smart Red]

What happened that year was I planted about 30 different varieties of squash and melons. I wandered around my 40 acres and stuck a hill here and there along with some radish seeds, hoping the plants wouldn't cross pollinate. It was not a good year for the garden and many dried up and died, but a few must have been planted closer to the gully and actually did well even if I never got back to tend them.

 

[flowerweaver]

Red, in my opinion everyone should hope for cross pollination. Plants that have little genetic diversity are more subject to disease, and can be wiped out by a single pathogen, like the Irish potato famine. I'm among a growing number of landrace farmers that purposely plant a high diversity of varieties and encourage crossing, then select from resulting generations those plants that thrive in my locale, taste best, etc.

Some of the benefits of this approach are having a variety of shapes and sizes of vegetables that mature at different times, rather than the big ag model of having a lot of similar things all suddenly ripe at one time. It's also exciting to see what turns up! Some results are quite beautiful.

So, it sounds like you started off with a wonderful potential landrace project, and you would have only needed to save seed and replant.

Here's one of my landrace projects from last year of purposely attempting to cross 33 kinds of dent corn:

 

[jasonvivier]

What happened that year was I planted about 30 different varieties of squash and melons. I wandered around my 40 acres and stuck a hill here and there along with some radish seeds, hoping the plants wouldn't cross pollinate. It was not a good year for the garden and many dried up and died, but a few must have been planted closer to the gully and actually did well even if I never got back to tend them.

Right. So you need to take a little time and get the design right first if you aren't going back to those spots to tend that plants.
Typically the design for that bed would be a Huglekultur bed.

And really you could build a small mounded bed to meet the needs of your squash without having to do to much work. Just adapt to principles of Hulglekultur to your smaller mounds.
Design them this year so that the wood has an opportunity to get penetrated with water. Thennext year plant your squash. Go back once to each sit to surround the squash with mulch, ideally something located right next to your mount, be it woody or herbaceous.

 

[jasonvivier]

Red, in my opinion everyone should hope for cross pollination. Plants that have little genetic diversity are more subject to disease, and can be wiped out by a single pathogen, like the Irish potato famine. I'm among a growing number of landrace farmers that purposely plant a high diversity of varieties and encourage crossing, then select from resulting generations those plants that thrive in my locale, taste best, etc.

Some of the benefits of this approach are having a variety of shapes and sizes of vegetables that mature at different times, rather than the big ag model of having a lot of similar things all suddenly ripe at one time. It's also exciting to see what turns up! Some results are quite beautiful.

So, it sounds like you started off with a wonderful potential landrace project, and you would have only needed to save seed and replant.

Here's one of my landrace projects from last year of purposely attempting to cross 33 kinds of dent corn:

View attachment 6560

That is awesome.