Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

Question:

Hello,

I’m starting an organic micro-farm in northern Indiana.  The first season is going to be the spring of 2010.  I’m wanting to plant a cover crop and a friend of mine that runs a micro-farm in Colorado recommended you to me and said that I should email or give you a call.  I have two plots that I’ve tilled.  One plot is approximately 80′x40′ and the second is 36′x36′.  Both  plots do contain some clay soil.  What  do you recommend as far as a cover crop for northern Indiana?  And how much seed should I order from you?

Thank you very much for your time.

Answer:

Congratulations on your new farm!
Assuming you have very low temperatures in Indiana I would say one possibility would be our Cold Zone Soil Builder Mix.  It is made up of 85% Hairy Vetch and 15% Cereal Rye which can handle temperatures below 20 degrees fahrenheit.  It’s hardy and in combination with inoculant, will fix nitrogen that will be plant available.  The Hairy Vetch does need 55-60 degrees to germinate.  Rye can germinate down to 34F.  Red Clover is another possibility.  I’ve listed a couple pages from our catalog on the website that you can look over.

http://www.groworganic.com/item_SCM130_Cold_Zone_Soil_Builder_Mix__Raw_.html

http://www.groworganic.com/item_SCN395_Cereal_Rye_Lb.html

http://www.groworganic.com/item_SCL330_Red_Clover__Doublecut__Rhizocoat.html

The Red Clover can tolerate down to 0 degrees.  You have many choices if you wanted to plant in early spring but these three I’ve listed should be ok to plant now.  I wouldn’t wait to long to get them in the ground.

You have a total of 4,496 square feet so if you went with the Cold Zone Soil Builder you would need. 12-15 lbs.  The Red Double-cut Clover would be 5-6 lbs.

Hope this helps

Here at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply it’s raining and raining quite hard.  Hopefully any cover crop seed that’s been planted in recent weeks has some roots holding those little guys down so they don’t wash down into your neighbors drainage ditch.  Otherwise, after this storm passes it should be prime time to put in that cover crop.  The soil should still be holding above 45 degrees being warm enough for the seeds to germinate and now that the ground will be nice and moist… PERFECT!  So don’t wait to get that soil builder mix in this month and you will be pleasantly surprised how well your vegies grow and produce next year.  Not to mention loaded with nutrients provided by all the cover crop goodies left after breaking down in your soil.

Read about it here:

PVFS Customer Question with Staff Response.

Question:

Hi, I am a bit overwhelmed with cover crops. I have a raised bed garden that is 5-years old and I feel it is time to plant a cover crop for this soil. Every year I put in my compost, but have never done the cover crop thing. Can you give me any suggestions? It is 24 sq. ft. and I have had an increase in bad bugs: cabbage worms, snails and cucumber beetles to name the predominant. Also, my tomatoes that usually do really well were less than stellar this year. It could be the cooler, wet weather we had this season, but I would think the fixing of nitrogen could only help. So, please let me know what you think I should do. Thanks so much.

Answer:

Don’t be overwhelmed! It’s true that there are a lot of choices for cover cropping, but when you narrow down the focus, it becomes more clear about how to handle it. Sounds like you want a “green manure” crop; that is, you want to grow something with the intent to till it back into the soil. It will fix nitrogen, stabilize the soil, encourage microorganism activity, add organic matter, etc. Please read the Peaceful Valley literature (here) on the topic for information on planting and more.

Our most popular green manure mix is called the Soil Builder Mix. Using Inoculant will ensure that your crop produces the most amount of Nitrogen possible. A couple of suggestions for your tomato and pest problems is to be sure to clean up the garden after the season (ie-remove leaves, debris, etc.), and be sure to rotate your crops every year.

Hope that helps and thank you for growing organically!

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A PVFS Customer Email - with Staff response.

Question:

I used a 50lb bag of budget soil builder mix last year but only plan to use 1/2 that amount this year and would like to know if I can store the unused amount along with the unused amount of the innoculant for the following year if it would be ok.
The other question I have is on the mini perennial clover-grass mix (SCM750) and the low-growing clover mix (SCM700). Which one would be a better long term use with the least amount of care and how much water should I expect to give them and how tall should I let them grow before mowing them. I have pretty light sandy soil where my fruit tress are planted and I plan to use one of these produts in between my fruit trees to keep the dust down and leave the area around the trees rototilled. Thank you.

Answer:

The seed should be fine if you store it in a cool, dry place. You should purchase new inoculant next year, however.

Both the low growing clover and the mini clover-grass mix are good choices as far as low maintenance. It just depends on whether you want some grass as well as the clover. They are both perennial mixes, so you should expect to water regularly (the frequency and length of time really depends on how fast draining your sandy soil is. Keep in mind that the trees like deeper watering, you might consider sprayers for between the trees and soakers around the dripline of the trees). Once established, you can mow after about 4″. Fall would be the best time to plant.

Hope that helps and thank you for growing organically!

Emailed Question from PVFS Customer - Reply By PVFS Staff Member.

Question:

I purchased some Cowpea inoculant for some black-eyed pea cover cropping. I was wondering if I can also use that to inoculate some bean seeds (royal purple and golden wax). I know it isn’t the perfect blend of bacteria, but your bean inoculant is $18 which is way more than I need for the two seed packs I’m buying. So do you think that the cowpea inoculant will actually hurt the beans?

Thanks,

Answer:

The inoculant you have won’t hurt nor will it help your beans.  I’m including a short explanation of how it works to help you understand the two different reasons you would need the inoculant.

In fact the bacteria has a shelf life and if you have some left over at the time of the expiration date on the pk. you can simply sprinkle it into your soil for next years cowpea or other pea cover crop thus lessening the need to use inoculant next time.  However I prefer to inoculate my cover crop seed each year anyway to insure that the bacteria is sufficiently surrounding each individual root ball and forming those nitrogen nodes which stay in the soil when you till it in.  This is the whole point of the cover crop in the first place.

Bean inoculant is a different strain of the bacteria that is attracted to the beans and forms the nitrogen nodules to bean roots  thus insuring that the plant has sufficient energy to form fruit as well as grow.  Those nodes will be largely used up by the plant rather than incorporated into your soil (unlike the cover crop.)  You can use other sources of nitrogen to accomplish this if your prefer to.

Our Combination Garden legume inoculant will inoculate both peas and beans and is very reasonably priced,  A pack that covers 8 lbs of pea/beans item# ISE350 is $4.99 and the pk that covers 50 lbs is $4.99 item# ISE505.
Your cowpea inoculant should be good for your next pea cover crop if you keep it cool and use it some time close to the expiration date (generally three and sometimes up to six months after the date on the pk.)

Hope this helps.  Thank  you so much for your question, your business and for growing organic.

- Long time organic gardener and Nursery Staff @ PVFS

An email question from a PVFS customer - and answer from our staff.

Question:I have a question about one of your products. In a catalog our relatives
recently received it is called Premium Soil Builder Mix, but on your
website it is called Organic Soil Builder Mix. In the catalog, it has two
versions, “Organic” and “Raw”. My question is what is the difference?
What does “Organic” vs “Raw” mean.

We would like to order some of the Soil Builder Mix and plant it right
away but want to be sure of which product to order.

Answer:

This requires a two-part answer, as the terms “Raw” and “Organic” have little to do with each other.
“Raw” just means that a seed has not been rhizocoated, which is a method of inoculating certain types of seeds by coating them with beneficial bacteria, which helps to stimulate nitrogen production.
“Organic,” on the other hand, is merely certified organic seed. However, you will not see, at least through us, an organic cover crop seed that is rhizocoated — however, the inoculant we do sell is certified organic.

There it is.  The first tilled row of the GGP.  At the crack of 8 am (huck it up, farmers…that’s early for us city-folk!) I was out there, tilling up my back yard.  The actual tilling itself took about 3 hours.  We had to go over each row multiple times, stopping to dig up rocks and sundry other oddities.  Among the strange things found that had to be removed: 3 cigarette lighters, a 2′ x 4′, a Happy Meal toy, broken glass, an old irrigation pipe that went nowhere, and concrete support posts for what apparently used to be a deck.  The final stage was going over everything one final time, my son in my lap (he LOVES tractors!) to make sure the yard was as level as possible. (more…)

After many years of apartment dwelling, I was finally able to move my family into a house with a cozy front yard, and a (relatively) nice sized back yard for the kids to play in, and for my wife to have a nice garden.

But the problem looks like this (please forgive the mess, still in the moving-in process):

When I was a kid, I used to HATE yard work.  My parents didn’t garden at all, so our maintenance involved raking leaves, watering plants and mowing the lawn — for a kid who likes to see the fruits of his efforts, this wasn’t exactly fulfilling.  Looking out over this relative desolation, I didn’t feel dejected; quite the opposite, in fact.  I saw opportunity, in many forms.

First of all, I have been working at Peaceful Valley for going on 6 years.  When I first started here, I knew zilch about growing.  Nothing.  I’d never so much as planted a flower seed in a pot for Mother’s Day. In my time here, I have gained a vast amount of theoretical knowledge: I knew the hows and the whys, but never had the opportunity to apply what I’d learned.  Seeing this yard sent visions of sugarplums (and other fruits and veggies) dancing in my head.

What I am going to be doing over the next 5 or so months is getting this area cleaned up, put together and ready for growing.  Come Spring, I’m planting a lawn, and my wife is setting up a small vegetable garden, probably with raised beds.  As I do each step, I will be taking pictures and thoroughly documenting each phase.  The goal is not only to do my own yard, but to give a bit of direction for anyone else who wishes to do the same.

Here’s the plan:

(more…)

Making a compost pile that works is easy! Now is the time of year you want to make sure you have your compost set up right.

To make a healthy compost pile you need:

• • leaves, grass, manure, or food waste.

Raw materials:

• • at least 3 feet across and three feet tall

The space for two piles

• • to turn the pile (a fork is easier).

A shovel or a fork

• • A compost bin, with good air circulation to increase efficiency

Optional:

Water

Step 1

Gather the raw materials

40%
• Brown colored, carbon rich materials such as straw, leaves, pine needles, or saw dust

30%
• Fresh green material such as lawn clippings, or grass hay.

30%
• Nitrogen rich material such as alfalfa, animal manure, or food waste.

Step 2

Assemble the pile

Put a layer of the brown material first, then the fresh green, and finally the nitrogen-rich materials. Keep layering until the materials are used up. The pile must be at least 1 square yard to have enough biomass to work properly.

Step 3

Aerating

After the pile is assembled, get it moist all the way through (without getting it too wet), and cover it with a tarp or plastic to keep the moisture in. This is the time to employ a compost inoculant if you choose. These specially cultured bacteria, fungi and enzyme strains speed the composting process and significantly improve the quality of the finished product. Just add to water, wait for it to activate (follow the instructions) and spray it on.

Keep a close eye on the temperature. When it reaches 140 degrees F, It’s time to aerate the pile. Do this by shoveling the pile into the empty space next to the original pile, and creating a new pile with the materials all mixed up. Make sure that the new pile is moist and cover it again. It can be really handy to use a compost bin, you can simply lift it off of one pile, and slide it over your second pile. Your temperatures will rise more quickly due to their open design as well.

After a few days the temperature will again reach 140 degrees F. When it does, shovel the pile back to the original spot, moisten and cover. Every time the temperature reaches 140 degrees shovel it over into a new pile. Eventually the pile will stop reaching those high temperatures, it will be black in color, reduced in volume and smell sweet. If it smells bad, try adding more brown material, and aerating more.