Underthesun
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Hey all you fellow organic gardeners. I was skeptical about starting a new thread, but couldn't really find all the info I was looking for using the search button. I'm semi new to organic gardening and attempting to take things a step further. This year will be my first grow using all my own compost and vermicompost and I have mixed up a living soil recipe from Build-a-soil's website that gives credit to Clackamas Coots. Either way, I have heard good things about this mix from the farm here, read some of Coot's blogs and have a few questions I was hoping someone with a little more experience can help me out with or point me to some info that I haven't been able to find on my own. I'm an outdoor grower, fyi.
Mulching/Cover Cropping:
Yes I will need this, or at least mulching. But what do you all prefer and why? I have seen some of you like to just use compost/castings, others like wood chips and some like cover crops. When using cover crops do you plant in the fall, spring, whenever you want? Do you till in your crops at a certain time of year, just chop them down, let them grow all around your plants? I just have not seen any pictures of cannabis and cover crops...pics would be nice if anyone has any. Also, if using cover crops and you also want to mulch, do you just start dumping compost and/or whatever you use on top of the cover crops? That leads to another question, how do you top dress with cover crops? Maybe I just need a visual image here.
Livng soil:
I plan to use this soil year after year. I assume I'll plant some cover crops in the fall and then what is the standard practice, if there is one, when you plant your plants in the spring. How do you re-amend the soil without tilling up the cover crops...or do you till?
Vermicomposting:
I have been raising worms and harvesting vermicompost for about a year now. I want to expand and really get some high quality castings for next season, a year from now. I've just been using cardboard and and food, garden scraps. I'm sure this is excellent shiz, but maybe it could be even better. I read how Coots lets his worms eat up all his nutes, comfrey, barley straw and makes a killer compost after a year. I was thinking of doing this. Then I assume I could just top dress with this next season and have some really rad worm shiz. I was thinking of just using my cold compost as the bedding and then adding my nutes/minerals to that instead of using barley and comfrey. Any thought or advice on my vermicompost idea?
Mulching/Cover Cropping:
Yes I will need this, or at least mulching. But what do you all prefer and why? I have seen some of you like to just use compost/castings, others like wood chips and some like cover crops. When using cover crops do you plant in the fall, spring, whenever you want? Do you till in your crops at a certain time of year, just chop them down, let them grow all around your plants? I just have not seen any pictures of cannabis and cover crops...pics would be nice if anyone has any. Also, if using cover crops and you also want to mulch, do you just start dumping compost and/or whatever you use on top of the cover crops? That leads to another question, how do you top dress with cover crops? Maybe I just need a visual image here.
Livng soil:
I plan to use this soil year after year. I assume I'll plant some cover crops in the fall and then what is the standard practice, if there is one, when you plant your plants in the spring. How do you re-amend the soil without tilling up the cover crops...or do you till?
Vermicomposting:
I have been raising worms and harvesting vermicompost for about a year now. I want to expand and really get some high quality castings for next season, a year from now. I've just been using cardboard and and food, garden scraps. I'm sure this is excellent shiz, but maybe it could be even better. I read how Coots lets his worms eat up all his nutes, comfrey, barley straw and makes a killer compost after a year. I was thinking of doing this. Then I assume I could just top dress with this next season and have some really rad worm shiz. I was thinking of just using my cold compost as the bedding and then adding my nutes/minerals to that instead of using barley and comfrey. Any thought or advice on my vermicompost idea?