How to grow Living Mulch with Vegetables
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- Опубліковано 13 лис 2016
- Tired of mulching? Discover how to grow living mulch with vegetables. Grow mulch right where you need it! WATCH NEXT our video on how to grow living mulch - • Living Mulch - Grow mu...
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Get the eBook here (for less than a bale of mulch!) - www.learningfromnature.com.au...
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With the Handbook, you'll learn how to grow living mulch -
▶Prepare your site
▶Select suitable species, including ecological support plants
▶Maintain a great cover of living mulch
Produced by @LearningfromNature
#marketgardening #vegetablegardening #communitygardens
I often get asked what's the difference between cover crops and living mulch. Cover crops are short-l -- ived annual plants designed to provide a temporary ground cover rather than leaving the soil unprotected between crops. Living mulch is designed to provide a permanent ground cover.
Try growing living mulch - start with a small area first to save on mulching. We provide comprehensive instructions in our LIVING MULCH HANDBOOK - copies available here (for less cost than a bale of mulch!) - www.learningfromnature.com.au/living-mulch-handbook/
WATCH NEXT to see how both improve our soil by improving the food supply to our soil organisms - ua-cam.com/video/b_SD4RORwPw/v-deo.htmlsi=C2cjrAjf2JumkeIG
Thank you so so much. You helped me a lot.
Love from Brazil 🇧🇷
My pleasure Lutas - if you would like more resources on using our eco-logical approach to regenerative farming and gardening see here - www.learningfromnature.com.au/publications/
Good info. Building organic matter is the most important for transforming the soil, but the low lyring leaves really help the moisture to stay in the soil and is very important especially for drought affected countries or countries with inconsistent rainfall where we can't rely on rain to keep our soil alive.
Thanks for your comment - totally agree re drought-proofing. Take a look at this article on our website - www.learningfromnature.com.au/drought-proof/
Great help thank you so much
Your welcome Mark! For more information on how to grow living mulch see here - www.learningfromnature.com.au/living-mulch-benefits/
Cow peas are delivcious! We eat them green , lightly steamed, or cooked and sauted in butter with curry. They are a basic food here in Brazil...Even the leaves are edible, so you can have your cover crop and eat it too...Nice garden!
Thanks, Mariza. Glad you like my garden! I eat them too. I believe cowpeas have a very high protein content. In Africa, cowpeas are a subsistence crop. I have recently read some interesting papers demonstrating how simply interplanting cowpea with cassava improved yields.
Subscribe to our Learning from Nature emails if you would like to keep in touch (www.learningfromnature.com.au/op/index.php/subscribe-yt/)
Ha, I like that- can have your cover crop and eat it too.
Thanks for the information
No worries!
Thanks for the video
I am starting my permaculture food forest this year in Sth east qld.
Thanks for your comment. If you'd like to see more of our videos and posts you can subscribe here learningfromnature.com.au/op/index.php/subscribe/
Good luck with your food forest Wendy
Good information. I live in Uganda africa, west Nile. I have small farm which I intend to grow living mulch on to act as model farm for farmers. We have some draught tolerant peas here to add certain layer of natural farming system.
Sorry about the delay in responding! Have you had a chance to look at some of the videos on the Learning from Nature channel on 'fixing your nutrient cycling system' and 'drought-proofing' - I think you'll find the information v helpful! Contact us here if you would like some more help - www.learningfromnature.com.au/contact/
Ok, I’m intrigued. I’ve been moving more and more in the direction of no dig/no till/back to eden gardening, but I think what you’ve done here is fascinating and smart. Im curious if you feel this impacts how badly your crops are affected by pests at all?
JE thank you! I used to spend days every year just mulching!
Re pests - one of the advantages of living mulch is that we can use 'ecological support plants' in our living mulch mixtures (www.learningfromnature.com.au/op/index.php/ess-yt/). These can be plants specifically chosen to attract beneficial insects. Like farmers in the USA who are getting very sophisticated with their cover crop mixtures, we can do the same with living mulch!
As I explain in the Eco-logical Farming Handbook (www.learningfromnature.com.au/publications/), growing living plants as a ground cover is also more beneficial for our soil and we consequently grow stronger and more pest-resistant plants.
Philcoppa - a few growers are experimenting with using living mulch in vegetable production. So you will need to experiment! Put together a job description for your species - what do you want them to do? What do you not want them to do? Trial a mixture of ecological support species.
Helen Atthowe is worth looking at (see 'Reduced Tillage in Organic Vegetable Production Webinar' in the 'Tools and Templates' playlist on the Learning from Nature channel).
Your other option would be to grow cover crops - check out the videos in the Soil playlist. These are not perennials and usually are grown between cropping cycles or under main crops.
Philcoppa let me know how you go and check out our other resources and free publications on our website - learningfromnature.com.au
We live in Eastern Washington State, United States and just moved Off Grid last Spring to a high elevation, on 20 acres of Douglas fir and pine trees so I’m sure the soil is acidic. The area outside of the woods is clay and rocks. I’ll be making No Dig beds so I’m not sure about growing green manure in crops in them.
Hi Shelly Green manure, cover crops and living mulch (the permanent ground cover) will all help to increase the organic matter and provide root exudates. Mulch is good but doesn't add to the long term storage of carbon.
I would recommend getting a soil test and also map your growing conditions. Then you can grow plants that suit these conditions and find ways to improve your conditions. Can I plug the Learning from Nature GrowMap. I developed the approach to make it easier and quicker for people to get to know their growing conditions - www.learningfromnature.com.au/publications/ There are free publications there too. You'll find the ecological support species resource helpful.
Also check out - www.seppholzer.at/cms/index.php?id=69 Sepp has developed some interesting techniques for high elevation sites. Good luck and please let me know how you go Wendy
I am curious to what you do at the end of your growing season with your vegetable plants.
Do you chop them up and let down mulch on the ground there or do you do something else with them?
Hi Michael - chop and drop to feed my soil organisms!
Subscribe to our Learning from Nature emails for more information on bringing back Nature's free ecological services
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Good information. We live in eastern wa, and moved off grid onto 20 acres of high elevation woods. We have pack rats that destroyed my crops last year. Any advise on how to deal with them?
Gophers?
Thanks for responding!
How would you start a no dig system on compacted clay soil? We can't even get a spade in there - we worry that seeds will not grow in this compacted clay and are tempted to till. Any advice?
Hi Allison. Great question! Don't till. You are working with degraded soil. Compacted clay soils form when there's been insufficient plant biomass growing on the site to provide organic material to protect the soil and build topsoil.
Grow more vegetation. Choose pioneering plants which will grow well in your soil and other growing conditions (preferably a diversity of species). Even use the non-invasive weeds growing on the site. The organic matter from the plant biomass, together with the root exudates plants secrete from their roots, will give your soil organisms a better diet. They can then get on with the job they have been trained for - building soil structure and recycling plant nutrients.
You could get your soil tested and add lime, gypsum or dolomite - depending on your results. BUT don't add these minerals without testing your soil first. And be aware that a lot of the minerals will be quickly washed out of your soil without the organic material and soil biology to prevent leaching.
My soil was mostly compacted clay. In my case adding dolomite, would make the situation much worse because it contains magnesium.
In the early days, I added gypsum and lime, but it is expensive with the acreage I need to cover, and I didn't see a lot of benefits.
What's working - growing heaps of plants - food and ecological support plants, particularly deep-rooted plants. In the areas where I have made the change - my topsoil is getting deeper and now I dig into a dark organic-rich, and free draining soil full of aggregates.
Allison can I suggest that you subscribe to our emails. You'll get notified about our blog articles and video releases - many of which are on soil. Here's a link to our free soil restoration checklist where you can also subscribe - www.learningfromnature.com.au/op/index.php/soilchecklist-yt/. We also have an Ecological Farming Handbook coming out in January 2019 - with a 20% discount for our subscribers!!
@@LearningfromNature I am so amazed that you responded to my question! Thank you so much. So how do we get the cover crop seeds in the ground if we don't till? And how will the seeds thrive in this hard soil? The challenge is how we start the process of building organic matter on compacted clay.
Allison - No worries! I have been planning to write an article on this topic for my email subscribers so your question has been helpful!
I can obviously only be general as I don't know your growing conditions or climate. But the principles are the same.
* Choosing species that will do well in your growing conditions is crucial (our GrowMap is a quick and easy way to get to know your growing conditions - download from the Learning from Nature website - it is free at the moment! - www.learningfromnature.com.au/publications/).
* Use Pioneer plants and, as I mentioned, 'weeds' growing naturally on your site. If your soil is v compacted it may be easier to initially focus on using weeds. 'Weeds' are the tool Nature uses to kick-start restoring severely degraded soil. If you are worried about the weeds spreading seed - cut them back before this happens - then you will also be dropping a protective layer of mulch on your soil. Use your cover crop plants to give Nature a helping hand and fast-track restoring your soil.
* Choose cover crop plants that will grow heaps of biomass, nitrogen-fixing plants and deep-rooted. Take a look at the weeds that come up - you will probably find that they also fulfil some of these important ecological roles.
* If you can, mulch your site and/or cut/mow the weeds and cover crops to create mulch.
* Spread out your seed only when the soil is moist and will remain so for a few days to allow germination.
* What you do to increase germination depends on the size of your seed, your site, access to mulch and whether you have the equipment to help you.
When it is wet here ( we can have up to 9 months with no rain!), I direct seed onto the bare ground (especially the smaller seeds) or into mulch. With smaller seeds, I sometimes rake the soil to get more seeds established. In wet conditions, bean seeds will actually bury down through the mulch. I hope this helps - contact me if you have further questions
Let me know how you go!
How did your experiment with millet go please? Regards John Boast
Hi John - In my climate, there are two limitations to using millet 1. Doesn't produce sufficient biomass 2. As a green manure crop and cover crop issue with some plants seeding early. I plan to just use it in future as summer ground cover crop in areas I am transitioning to agroforestry. Hope this helps. Please do check out our other resources and free publications on our website - learningfromnature.com.au
weeds can also be a cover crop.
Some can be, however there are many that will suffer out your vegetable plant and or bring in unwanted pests.
Sorry to take so long to respond - yes! We need to be more open to how we can use weeds. Here's an interesting perspective - www.learningfromnature.com.au/weeds/
that would be good for large, vigorous vines like pumpkins. But what about smaller vegetables?
If you look at the end of the video, there are no peas under the pumpkin.
Phil - yes more challenging - have you thought of green manure or cover crops between your cropping cycle
question at 2:25.....is it that the cowpeas are nitrogen fixers?.....similar symbiotic relationship as "the 3 sisters method"?
Yes, Jon. See also Helen Atthowe's videos on the Learning from Nature channel. She has experimented with other living mulch species in a commercial market garden.
what about using dwarf borlotti beans?
Hi Luke - depends on your climate, growing conditions and crops. When people ask me for a species list - reply suggesting that they put together a job description! - www.learningfromnature.com.au/choose-plants/
Wonder how other crops would grow in that living mulch. Potatoes, corn, salads
Krzysztof you would need to experiment keeping in mind the height of your main crops vs living mulch plants. Trial small areas first. Learning from Nature has published a handbook for establishing living mulch - it's not expensive and you can get it here - www.learningfromnature.com.au/resources-ecological-gardening/
Where you located ?
The Learning from Nature demonstration farm - Hill Top - is in far north Queensland, Australia. Climate dry - wet tropics
👍
@@LearningfromNature What is the average annual rainfall? Thanks
Good but I'm out in the desert
Take a look at our videos on and other resources on how to drought-proof your garden and farm - www.learningfromnature.com.au/drought-proof/
Living much costs money. Stinging nettle mulch is free and packed with nutrients.
I meant living mulch costs money
Svela - just include stinging nettle in your living mulch species mix!
@@LearningfromNature I just said that
It is obvious that you don't have to worry about poisonous snakes
Hi Jeff. You are probably correct that snakes can hide out better in living mulch in comparison to mulch.
But sometimes we need to consider the overall cost-benefit of what we do.
I love the benefits I get from living mulch. Growing living mulch has saved me several days of hot, dusty work mulching every year. Heaps of money on mulch and is an excellent tool for improving our soil. Without the root exudates (sugars and proteins) from living mulch and other plants, we don't get the long-term build-up of carbon in our soil.
By the way - I do have to worry about poisonous snakes! :)
We have Taipans here!
But, from my observations and understanding of their habitat preferences, the changes I am making to the vegetation supports python populations instead. Thank you for your question. Wendy
I do appreciate what you are trying to accomplish along with the benefits but the area I live in has 3 different species of poisons snake. I would use this method with caution. A lot of poking with a stick prior to hand placement