Off Grid Living: Mulching Our Organic Garden with Pine Needle (Pine Straw) Mulch
Tips, Tricks
For all steps we’ve taken so far to improve our clay soil visit this blog post: http://purelivingforlife.com/improving-clay-soil/ Enjoy our videos? Want to see more? Learn how to support our channel here: http://purelivingforlife.com/support/ In the last gardening video, we shared all the steps we’ve taken to preparing soil for gardening. To really put the cherry on top, we’ve decided to lay down a layer of much even before we get our seeds or plants in. As you’ll see addressed in the video, there are many types of materials that can be used for mulch and while we’d like to cover our garden with wood chips as supposedly they hold the most moisture, pine needs (or pine straw) is what we have laying around the property so I decided to use that. If you'd like to stay up-to-date on our gardening progress as well as the development of our off grid homestead, be sure to subscribe to our blog at http://purelivingforlife.com RELATED BLOG POSTS Out Must-Have Homesteading Tools: http://purelivingforlife.com/homestead-tools/ Our Homestead Expenses to Date: http://purelivingforlife.com/expense-reports/ How We Built a Cabin for $300: http://purelivingforlife.com/building-a-cabin-for-winter/ How We’ve Found $15k in Reclaimed Building Materials: http://purelivingforlife.com/finding-reclaimed-building-materials/ How We Make Lumber With Our Alaskan Chainsaw Mill: http://purelivingforlife.com/making-lumber-with-alaskan-chainsaw-mill/ SUPPORT US WITHOUT PAYING A DIME! It takes us 40+ hours a week to document our journey on both our blog and our YouTube channel. If you enjoy watching our videos and want to help us to produce more of them, learn how you can help us without spending a dime! http://purelivingforlife.com/support/ GET SOCIAL We post a lot of stuff to both our blog and our other social media channels that don't make it to YouTube, so be sure to follow us there for the full scoop of what we're working on! Blog: http://purelivingforlife.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/purelivingforlife Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purelivingforlife Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/purlivforlif Twitter: https://twitter.com/pureliving4life EQUIPMENT USED TO PRODUCE THIS VIDEO Camera #1: http://amzn.to/2aykTf8 Camera #2: http://amzn.to/2aCddvP Tripod: http://amzn.to/2aShOL4 Macbook Pro: http://amzn.to/2aCdGhy Editing software: http://bit.ly/1oTH5av
Comments
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WELL DONE. Great to see you using a mulch to keep the soil cover. #1 and first helpful thing to do. Then you have to GROW SOIL next. This is done by keeping a living root in the ground all the time so plants and their roots can store carbon in the ground. Like nature has done from day one.. THANK YOU
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So how did the Pine Needles work? (We call it pine straw in NC) We have so many here and straw everywhere and wondered how it decomposes.
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Hey Jesse!!! She's sneaking hard root beer!!!
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I got my wood chips from the guys that trim the trees on the road and power lines they were free 2 tons at the time
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Oh - I reckon you will get a really good yield on your beds for the first harvest. You should adopt a process of crop rotation (4 year cycle is easy) so that detrimental pathogens or root knot nematodes don't take hold. I recommend looking at Peter Cundall's "A patch from scratch" if you can find a way to get hold of it.
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In general if you use a mulch then it will affect the soil underneath. If, for example, one puts down wood chips these will eventually break down and as part of that draw nitrogen out of the soil. Just like the C:N balance when composting. Adding, say, blood n bone to wood mulch will stop the wood chips drawing nitrogen out of the soil - it will also help break down the mulch quicker too - which gives you compost.
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This is perfect. Use what you have! Any mulch is better than no mulch.
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Instead of hiking up and down the hill to fill your buckets, take a rake up the hill and rake the mulching material down to the bottom and then load your buckets at the bottom of the hill. Then you only have to walk up the hill once and gravity is on your side for most of your work.
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Analysis paralysis. Nice
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I would suggest going around your area and finding the high biomass weeds that grow the best on the side of the road or in poor soil like you're working with. Collect those seeds and start planting them every where that's not in your way. Then cut them down and use them for mulch, while also loosening the ground up and building the soil from underneath. Mullein is a good one that's probably really prominent in your area. Sunchockes are also good because they are a perennial, produce an edible tuber in abundance, do really well in poor soil, and grow really tall like sunflowers providing shade. It might seem like sunchockes and mullein will take over and be invasive, but that's because they thrive in those conditions. Once the soil conditions improve a little, other plants are able to do well and start to form an ecosystem.
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came across this image and thought about you guys; https://www.pinterest.com/pin/560135272381489546/
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Hey! I just stumbled upon your channel last week. I love what you are doing, and really would like to be doing the same thing myself. About pine needles, I believe you will be just fine. Do make sure you put enough down. About 4 inches deep or so should be enough. Now that it is fall, you want to make sure to cover your garden now so your garden will reap the benefits all winter. Two years ago, I started my own wood chip garden and it does work very well. If you have not done so, check out Paul Gautschi's garden over at L2Survive. The guy who runs that channel is a friend of Paul and posts videos of him frequently.
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I really enjoyed that you didnt try to pose as those i-know-everything "experts", you have a really lovely personality. Great video with good tips! Thank you :-)
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nature shows ... pine floors , very little grows . not many other trees can handle the ph spike, bit of a defense mech to push other species out. You can adjust the ph w lime , however i would make a separate compost
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Whist pine needles may be an abundant resource under your canopy you need to be careful. You have stated that you have been informed to watch for the increase in acidity in your soil. You can offset this with the application of lime to your mix. If you grow berries, then they love acidic soils. If the PH level is towards the high end, then the biology in the root zone is slowed down and plant growth is hampered. You can self test your soils. You should also trench mulch your scraps as this will assist in developing your soil structure. Gives the microbes something to work with and kick your soil health along.
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Use a tarp to drag the mulch, just pile all of it on it and drag. It's a ton faster!
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Buckets are great for toting stuff but try using concrete mixing tubs that are available at home depot for 6 or 13 bucks for a medium and large. They are thick plastic and very sturdy and take a lot of abuse. You can also thread a cord through the lip and pull them around like a sled. I use them for all kinds of projects here on the farm. Nicely stackable too.
Beautiful cat, btw. What breed is it? -
pine needles are only acidic when they are green, I believe. we much them and did pretty well.
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Yes pine needles are very good for your garden just like leaves. They do have some problems though. 1. They take a long time to break down. It is best to shred them first. 2. They will take nitrogen from the soil in order to break down. It is best to go to the garden shop and buy a gallon of fish fertilizer (very high in nitrogen). One cap full per gallon once a week would be great and water the garden with the solution. You are correct they do not transfer acidity to the soil as they break down. Wood ashes are also great for the garden but as Jessie says they are very alkaline but they are very high in potassium and that is very good for the garden. You just need some material to counter act the alkalinity. Peat moss for example. I have even used tiny bits of vinegar in my irrigation water with good success. Good luck and God Bless
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