Jeff:
>The presentation on hot beds was one i found interesting also. Basically,
>it involves growing on top of a compost pile. . . . The bed produces
>enough heat to keep plants near the surface growing well and is ideal for
>unheated greenhouses.
An old idea but one that is definitely worth revisiting and experimenting
with. It has me thinking on how to build a container in my little
greenhouse to hold the compost materials. For those who don't know, horse
manure was a favorite ingredient for hot-frames by commercial French
gardeners two centuries ago. Horse heats up really well,use it if you have
a source. I may have to use henhouse litter for winter nitrogen.
>Another speaker (Frank Morton) had a similar conclusion at one point. He
>noted that the solution to most problems is compost . . . . If we simply
>pile on the compost and grow plants the natural processes usually sort
>themselves out.
Healthy soil makes healthy plants. It is hard to say too much about compost
for small gardens. The ongoing challenge is where to find enough materials.
I mow several acres; one of the reasons is to collect the clippings for the
garden. I collect huge amounts of leaves in the fall. Beyond that, I don't
know how to get a lot of material. Growing special crops for compost often
means buying and using special tools, usually oil-powered, as is my mower,
ugh. Growing various grasses and clovers on the growing beds, then tilling
them under serves the same purpose--feeding the soil organisms, which
produce the food that the plants eat. I don't do it because I don't like
tillers, and turning such crops in with a shovel becomes less enjoyable
each year.
In my Zone 6 gardens I prefer using scanty materials for mulch rather than
compost because I feel that some nitrogen is lost during the composting
process, still some, but less if the materials are decomposing on or in the
growing bed soil. Soil organisms will eventually break materials down and
while the materials are still intact they can aerate the soil after spring
rake-chopping in, smother weeds, and moderate surface temperature while
still on the surface. Also, mulching, or composting in place, requires less
labor than composting in a remote container. Hm, I must be getting older.
