VergePermaculture

http://www.youtube.com/user/VergePermaculture

Gardening Podcasts

My Favorites - Audio Podcast Feed

Podcasts

• The Self-Sufficient Gardener
• A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach
• You Bet Your Garden on WHYY
• The Dean of Green on WGLT
• Gardeners' Corner with Cherrie McIlwaine on BBC Radio Ulster
• Gardeners' Question Time on BBC on BBC Radio 4
• RHS Gardening Podcast
• Gardening with Tim and Joe on BBC Leeds
• Good Enough Gardening
• Nest In Style
• Wiggly Wigglers
• Backyard Wisdom

Directories

• Podbean Gardening Podcasts
• Melinda Myers - Gardening Amongst Friends

North Carolina University Online Courses for Free!

When I saw this, I couldn't believe that this was free of charge. What a huge resource, this collection of online presentations, for aspiring permaculturalists:

http://mediasite.online.ncsu.edu/online/Catalog/Full/f5a893e74b7c4b7980fd52dcd1ced71521

 

The Fungi Beneath Us

Mycorrhizal fungi can be found in some of the most naturally fertile soils on earth, symbiotically interacting with the root systems of plants to obtain sugars and carbon, and in return extending the root system of plants to increase nutrient uptake well beyond the capability of the original roots alone.

Due to the fine microscopic hair-like structure of mycorrhizae, this help to create a "soil web", or in other words soil that resists compaction, retains water, and spreads nutrients evenly where host plants are found. Additionally, mycorrhizae sequester a considerable amount of carbon back into the soil using glomalin, and together with humic acid work to reduce soil erosion and nutrient run-off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycorrhiza


I decided to use the Mykos 60 inoculant product, to introduce beneficial Mycorrhizal fungi into my garden soil. Here is the MSDS sheet and overview of Mykos.

Many natural gardeners purport the benefits of this product, because it is purely endo (in roots) mycorrhizae and because it is so easy to apply when preparing your transplant target site. I believe, when combined with the proper amount of humus, microbiological bacteria, and trace elements, Mycorrhizal fungi approximate natural conditions far beyond what a seasonal compost layer or mulch decomposition can provide. The amount of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides is reduced by healthier plant root establishments, primarily due to the inclusion of these beneficial fungi.


 

Soil, Compost, Biology

Soil Health = Plant Health

Well finished, biologically active compost is the most effective thing you can do to increase soil fertility in your garden. Healthy soil is the key to healthy plants, and good compost is the first and most important step to maintaining excellent garden soil year to year.

Compost Happens

Like many other natural biological processes, compost generally happens on its own. Without micro-managing it, some shredded newspaper, kitchen scraps, and grass clippings mixed together will produce that holy grail of gardening, the famed "black gold" soil type. Ratios and proper moisture levels may help the process happen faster, but it will still happen given enough time.

What's In There?

Amongst many nutrients, such as nitrogen, potassium, and carbon, there are also beneficial micro-organisms. These creatures are what help to break down unusable elements into forms that plant roots can uptake, and are themselves food for larger organisms such as earthworms, which help the decomposition process as well.

A Living System

Unlike modern big-agro companies would have you think, soil can become a rather self-sustaining resource. It's true that plants take nutrients from the soil, but cover crops can replenish the soil too. In fact, in undisturbed natural environments, foliar cover changes from season to season as necessary, cycling the process of decomposition and revitalization all by itself. Native micro and macro organisms contribute to this process as well, diversifying the ecology of a region and maximizing potential for all involved.



Podgardening.co.nz - short videos packed with tons of good advice about soil and compost
 

 

Need More Data

Went to lunch with a friend, a professor of horticulture. The main take-away is...data, data, data. Hard data on so-called 'natural' soil amendments and their outcomes is really lacking in the crunchy/hippie/re-mineralize movement's contributions to horticulture.

So why isn't this data out there? Or if it is, why isn't it more readily available to academic and industry experts? Here's what I found out on the intarwebs:

Rock Dust

Soil re-mineralization is all about putting back into the soil what has been removed unnaturally (by agricultural means). The idea is that, when plants grow in soils dense with trace minerals

Azomite is a rock dust product that comes from an ancient volcanic eruption in Utah. It contains over 70 trace minerals that are hard to come by in soils that have been used for human purposes over long periods of time. Amongst the list of minerals are (). Conveniently, their website has a list of application specifications, studies, and information. Very transparent, very modern, and very established (even a Wikipedia article).

Rain Barrel 2013 (ver. 2)

To remedy the host of problems with my 2012 rain barrel setup, I scaled out a bit and invested some time and energy to really automating water capture and distribution, as well as optimizing capacity and application effectiveness.

There are a number of important health and safety concerns when storing run-off water for garden use. Mainly, non-potable run-off water can harbor bacteria and contain concentrations of heavy metals from the surfaces they run off of. You should always have your water tested each season, multiple times if you change your run-off water source.

Dean of Green - Roof Water Runoff (05/04/2012)

Also, before making any grand plans, you'll want to make sure you live in a state/province that does not prohibit rainwater reclamation (as completely ridiculous as that may seem). For U.S. citizens, a map of which laws go where can be found here. The stated concern is that health and safety issues arise from private, undocumented, and unlicensed reclamation; the crunchy version of this argument usually refers to rights infringement and government over-reaching. Either way, if you don't want trouble, just verify you aren't breaking any laws or city ordinances, and you'll save yourself the worry.

Capacity

I called around and found a source for large 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels. The people at Mercury Brewing of Ipswich we friendly and very willing to give these things away. All that were missing was the caps. Some had one side, but not the other. I could live with that, since I didn't need them to hold a seal, but simply one side to be water tight.

Capture

I bought a rain barrel diverter kit, which is simply a unit that fits to existing downspouts and redirects some or all rain run-off from your roof and gutter system to the rain barrel. Easy enough, right? Well, your gutters need to be relatively debris-free, and the height of where you install the diverter needs to follow the instructions that come with the kit. With a little bit of adjustment here and there, I got it working well, reclaiming about 40 gallons with just an inch of rain overnight.

Distribution

Between professional and family duties, I knew it would be nearly impossible to remember to water every time I should. So I decided to buy a water timer and drip irrigation system (1/2" parts). Because my roof is slanted downward at about 5 degrees, the roof barrel fed the drip system with enough PSI to keep the 1 GPH emitters flowing fine. However, I failed to check the minimum PSI rating on the timer (10 psi) which I had to compensate for by re-purposing my PC water-cooling pump into a post-barrel, pre-timer addition. This I put on a digital outlet timer on a schedule equivalent to the outdoor water timer. I opted out a few containers from this setup, those containing plants that either needed less vigorous watering schedule or ones that I wanted to baby throughout the season.
(1/2" tubing recommended profusely by this guy).

Application Effectiveness

A drip system is only as effective as you make it to be, though it's way more effective than my watering can every other day. Placement of the emitters with spaghetti tube to help direct flow and control over/under dampening, where the emitters are pointing slightly downwards and the tube goes right to the plant base, seems to be the most effective use of the water. A mulch cover (such as landscaping fabric) also helps to reduce soil evaporation and control weeds, though I will still manually apply nutrients every month or so as required.

Reference:

Q: How much rain is "one inch"?
A: Approximately 5.5gal per square yard

For my 20x20ft back roof, this is approximately 45yds x 5.5gals = 247.5gals per hour
...
in a perfect world. My diverted is not 100% efficient, it is not connected to this roof, and the roof leaks from all sides, not just the one with the gutter. Also, its connected to a different roof than the one I grow veggies on.