October's Glory!

October’s Glory!

It’s October!!!  The BEST month of the year!  And the month that introduces real change into our region.  Leaves come off the trees, the rains come and replenish the ground moisture (thank you, three-day nor’easter!!!), the days are brisk but not frigid – and the real work of soil rehab for gardens, trees and shrubs can begin – more on that later in this newsletter…and a quote to bring this sharply to life:

A soil is not a pile of dirt. It is a transformer, a body that organizes raw materials into tissue. These are the tissues that become the mother to all organic life. Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan

Back to October and the month for changes – this will be the last newsletter that I’ll be writing for The Good Earth Farm and Garden Center.  Once the garden center/nursery component of the store is closed down for the season, I’ll be stepping back to look at other ways to get information out to people and to get conversations started on developing healthy soils, plants and animals.  There’s also no getting around the fact that being full-time + at the store for the last four years has left my sister’s and my farm in less than wonderful shape.  That needs to change too while we still have the energy to do it!!  We’re always happy to talk Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats but their fencing does need maintenance and pens do need cleaning 😊 Then there’s the greenhouse, the hugelkulture beds and the other growing areas that have been reduced to growing weeds (can’t let that keep happening – even if “weed” is only a word!). So – there is much to do and to look forward to.

No worries though!!  All of the products that help you manage and develop your gardens and landscapes will still be available and the store’s excellent staff will help you get what you need. This newsletter is going to be pretty dense with information to make sure that everyone has the work lists they need to manage the end of the season projects.  I apologize in advance for its length!!! Scan through to find the pieces of information that you most need to act on.

But – before we get to the work lists –

let’s talk about what’s at the store right now…

You’ll find a very nice curated list of bulbs (species and cultivars I know will really perform – plus some trendy tulip blends. Think Fritillarias, fall blooming crocuses, saffron crocus and more).

There’s also an EXCELLENT list of hard neck garlic bulbs from Maine Potato Lady – super clean (no nasty fungi along for the ride) with a truly exquisite range of garlic flavors.

And – we just brought in a very nice mix of starter houseplants for all kinds of growing conditions.  We take excellent care of any plant that comes in to our orbit and have all of the potting mixes and other supports needed to help them flourish.

Now, onto the information part of the newsletter…

In order of information, you’ll find material on

·       Rehabbing raised beds and high energy gardens (veggie and cut flower gardens),

·       Working with stressed trees and shrubs and

·       Winterizing roses.

Skip through until you find the section of information that you need. Those of you have been in earlier classes will see the review components in the information – but it’s still useful!!

First up:  Garden and Raised Bed soil regeneration

Fall is the BEST time to evaluate past garden performance and make changes. How did the garden do?  If the gardens produced well, no worries!!  Just mulch well or use a winter-kill cover crop and wait for the spring.

However!!!  Perhaps the gardens did NOT work the way you thought they would. Now what?!?

Now - you step in and fix the problem!  The winter is in your favor…

Compaction is the enemy

 of all aspects of soil and garden management.

EVERYTHING you do is either minimizing or developing compaction in the soil systems you manage (raised bed or in-ground). Compaction limits water, air, root width and depth – all of which limit soil health and then plant health.

Growing plants really well – any kind of plant – is the key to managing compaction because carbon stabilization and sequestration are the foundation of healthy soil.  The healthier the plant, the more diverse and chemically complex the root exudates are, the more likely you are to be feeding fungi and not just bacteria (fungi are CRITICAL to soil stability). The more diverse the plant palette grown well – the even greater the diversity of exudate and the microbial population…AND PLANTS DON’T LIE – they’re either healthy and energy positive or they’re not. 

Having said that – how do you decide what steps to take? There are two approaches…

1.     Get a soil test.  This accurately outlines exactly what’s happening in your soil system and lets you target specific deficiencies or over abundances.

2.     Use a general regenerative mix that covers most bases and supports a diverse group of micro-organisms. 

In case you’re choosing option 2 -here’s a basic mix that I’ve used for years for general garden maintenance. It hits the highlights of New England soil maintenance.

Fall soil development mix –

Used in open gardens that are coming in to production, edges of existing gardens that need refreshing or other soils that need to open up (compaction etc.)  It’s spread on the surface at the rate of about 25-lbs/100 sq ft and hand cultivated in – no rototilling to preserve fungal hyphae.  Promotes a strong bacterial reaction and feeds the worms well – they develop heavy muscles (almost blue in color) that allow them to really turn soil.  Can also be used in the spring for new beds but there MUST be a 6-week lag time.

On a large tarp, on a dry day mix

o   Gypsum (calcium sulfate)

o   Rock phosphate or bone-char

o   Leonardite, humalite or biochar – stable carbon source

o   Azomite – micro-mineral supplement and circulation enhancerLocal stone dust – to equal weight of amt. of Rock phosphate -we have basalt stone dust in bags if you can’t find it locally.

o   And then add…

o   Non-medicated chicken feed layer mash (Layer Essentials or Chick Starter if buying at the store) This gets the bacteria going

o   Alfalfa meal This is what sets the scene for the fungi 

Here’s what it looks like for an 8’x4’ raised bed:

Gypsum                                  1 lb

Rock phosphate/bone char     1 lb

Leonardite/humalite              1 lb

Azomite                                 1 lb

Local Stone dust                     1-5 lbs depending on what you can get (more if buying in bulk)

Chicken layer mash                7-10 lbs

Alfalfa meal                            10-15 lbs

I’ve also used this mix at the rate of 50 lbs/100 sq ft when there were severe issues involved.  This only works if the beds are empty and it’s done in the fall so that the surge of heat (biological and electrical) that’s generated can dissipate before new plants are added.

50 lbs Layer Mash – non-medicated (chicken food)

100 lbs Alfalfa meal

25 lbs Leonardite/humalite

20 lbs Azomite

20 lbs Bone char/rock phosphate

20 lbs Gypsum

50 lbs raw local stone dust (2/3 5-gallon pail)

You’ll notice that this mix has no immediate nitrogen available but does have protein meals in the layer mash and alfalfa meal.  Otherwise – you’re adding a lot of low “number” measurability but high microbial reactivity minerals and food supplies.  As noted, this causes a bacterial surge which can be very useful when getting a problem area started.  BUT…long term – remember that it’s the fungi that create the long-term stability in soil so limit the amount of soil turning and be sure to add high carbon residue (see highlighted list below) to the surface of your beds.

Leaves of all kinds, wood chip –especially from the line crews that tends to have a lot of tip material (ramial) in the mix along with leaves, animal manure from healthy livestock (ask questions about wormers and other medications), straw or late cut first cut mulch hay.  This is also an excellent time to go prospecting for healthy fungi in your local forests – a lot of fungi spore out in the fall and there is often an active inoculant on the woodland floor that you can capture with partially cooked rice or other grain (check out Korean Natural Farming) and add to your compost piles or lasagna composts on your beds.

Next up:  Supporting stressed trees and shrubs

It’s been a challenging three years for woody plants. Long drought periods with intermittent drowning rains when we do get rain and you get stressed trees and shrubs. Then you can add in the two key elements that make all of the weather issues so much worse…compaction and competition. 

• Compaction:  In a nutshell this means that there is limited air or water movement in the soil.  It happens due to many factors but the roots themselves can fill up the soil profile so tight that nothing can move easily – can also be caused by snow weight, vehicular traffic, flooding or a combination of all.  No air and water movement means that there’s little nutrient movement, the soil is exhausted and that salts cannot leach easily away (compounding the problem).  The soil microbes around the root system weaken and die and the tree goes with them.

• Competition:  It’s only in the human world that grasses and trees grow together – and not comfortably for either plant community.  Humans like the look of the “open parkland” but it doesn’t exist for long in natural settings.  The local ecology produces either grasses (think the prairies) or forests (think everywhere else).  There are microbes specific to each ecology and they don’t play well together.  If one group weakens (the trees for example) then the grasses will strengthen (and vice versa).  One of the best techniques is to remove whichever system is the least desired.  In this case – preserving aging sugar maples – removing the grasses is the first critical step.  These can be weed wacked to the ground and covered with a thick layer of compost – at least 4” grading to 0” at the trunk.  If you think of healthy trees in a woodlot – that’s what you’re trying to get to.  Make the circle around the tree as wide as you can manage either for time or aesthetics.

If you have a weak tree, sacrifice some of the grass and give it a wider mulch bed.  You can always plant perennials in the bed so the bed looks good. Actually – well selected herbaceous plants can actually help trees by bringing different minerals into play and increasing the carbon stored in the soil.

Now that we’ve looked at those two constant challenges,

it’s time to expand the management options.

Time of year matters – wait until the leaves have fallen from the tree/shrub – or at least have solidly changed color.  This means that the upper branches are no longer drawing on the root system.  The tree looks “dead” to our eyes when all of the leaves are gone from the branches but this is THE critical time for the colonization of expanding root systems with mycorrhizal fungi and the explosion of the fungi’s hyphae. Look into Dr. Alex Shigo’s research if you’re interested in how this information was worked out. 

Work around tree and shrub roots is best done after the leaves drop.  To repeat, this is THE time of year that the trees spend some of their stored energy in root expansion and there is no demand from the top of the plant.  I did all of my tree and shrub fertilizing from mid-October (earliest) through mid-December.  This has the added benefit of being a time of year that there’s more time for odd work – generally the growing season is done for the year – and the cooler weather makes it easier to work with mineral heavy mixes.

If you are planning on using a commercial fertilizer – please make sure that it is an organic product.  Natural and organic products have a wider variety of minerals and provide a wide array of micro-minerals.   This complexity greatly increases the stability of the soil food web that is essential to the health of the trees.  Look into brands like North Country Organics (Pro-gro -my personal favorite), Espoma (Tree-tone to be specific) etc – and read the labels!!!  Complexity is a big deal – the more complex the better for the biosystem you’re managing (usually called a tree!!!). You can always add complexity to these commercial products by adding raw stone dusts like Azomite, greensand or basalt fines.

OR…

Create your own approach using the following list - no chemical salts here!!! This is the kind of mix that I customized for years depending on the trees in question.

**Alfalfa meal acts to enhance soil biology and stimulates root production.  This is THE product to use if you’re only picking one out of this list. Check out Best of the Hardiest by John Sabuco if you want the back story. If you use wood chip as part of your mulching strategy, the alfalfa meal will speed up the wood chip break down and enhance the effectiveness of the chip.  I use alfalfa meal in every planting job – annual, perennial, tree or shrub and it is one of the most useful products you’ll ever use around plants of any kind.  It provides carbon, calcium, and slow nitrogen (from alfalfa protein) but it’s best claim to fame is that it “grows” all kinds of soil microbes including the fungi called mycorrhizae – essential to all tree health.

**Azomite is a raw mined micronized energetic clay that has a stimulating effect on soil biology and on tree circulation.  I've been using it for the last 25 years, experimenting with it and watching the results.  It has a stabilizing effect on trees.  The leaves are greener, but they don't grow extravagantly and that's a good thing for mature trees.  Very fast growth on mature trees can lead to weak tissue and weak limbs. Azomite has been known to stabilize weakened trees without any other additions – although it works much better in combination with carbon sources like composts, ground leaves and straw, and wood chip.

**Gypsum is calcium sulfate and works to minimize salt damage without changing pH– breaks the Na Cl bond and allows the sodium to leach.  Does need water for this to happen so make sure to water your street trees in a dry spring. Also provides calcium and sulfur – both needed for healthy systems.

**Greensand is potassium iron silicate and is helpful all the way around in developing healthy stems and leaves.  It’s a funny product – absorbs and holds water so helps with sandy soils but also helps to break up heavy clays and allow for water and air to move. It’s much harder to get now but is still totally worth it if you can swing it.  There’s some thoughts that it’s the silicate component that’s actually important for the health of the tree.

**Leonardite or humalite (soft, brown coals) and provides a long term humic and fulvic acid source –again critical to healthy tree and shrub roots.  Think of this as the most stable form of compost you could possibly add to your soil. You can also look to add bio-char,  an essential carbon condominium for soil microbes – a little goes a long way.

**Soft Rock Phosphate/bone char The first is ground rock high in both phosphorus and calcium – both essential for plant health. And the bone char is cooked and ground bone with calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.  Calcium is the strength of the tree’s body – just like in humans (it’s also the mineral that drives a lot of the other mineral transactions).  Phosphorus is used in rooting, bud development and is part of the essential mineral molecule ATP that’s found in both plants and animals.

What does this information look like on the ground…

 Apply gypsum, greensand, rock phosphate, leonardite/humalite, azomite and alfalfa meal in a “cat’s paw” amount around that cleaned area.  Cat’s paw means that there’s enough material to make a cat’s paw print visible –think cat’s paw snow.  You could use a broadcast spreader but I find it faster with a shovel in the tight areas around trees.  I mix a bag of each product selected for the site with 2 bags of alfalfa on a tarp and use a wheelbarrow to move it around.  Any extra can be stored in a covered bucket (don’t get it wet!!!). 

This can be a lot of material so may need to be parceled out over several years so expenses can be managed.  Use the most that you can afford in a given year up to that cat’s paw amount – any is better than none.  Scratch in to the best of your ability and that won’t be very far because of the compaction/competition issues but any solid contact with the earth is a step in the right direction.   I blend these all together on a tarp, spread with a shovel and use a potato cultivator to work it in. 

Cover the mineral mix with a layer of woody/leafy compost at least 3” and up to 4” thick for as far as you’ve cleaned back the ground. Wood chip is an excellent building block – wood feeds wood and grass feeds grass… The more broken down the compost is in this first application the better.  After this first application – apply a heavy leaf/wood layer every fall (think woods again) and get the trees to start feeding on their chosen food source – decaying wood and leaves. 

Leaves ground up with a little grass are excellent but too much grass clippings is not a good idea.

The first year after this above approach might or might not have much of an effect depending on the level of weakness in the tree itself and when the work is done.  If done in the fall then the roots will start the healing process before the next year begins and you WILL see results that first summer.  If done in the spring then the real work of healing the root system won’t happen until that coming fall so it might be the following spring before there’s a solid response from the tree.  This is all about healing and strengthening the root system – not growing more green leaves – that’s just a happy after effect J

Ongoing work after this year’s support:  Keep the leaves as the best food source but plan to rework the minerals and compost every three-five years or so for the first ten years and then the work can be stretched to every five years.  The trees themselves will tell you when they need it.  Listen to them!

And last (but not least!), water the trees from September through November.  This is a critical time for trees as they absorb and bind water into their tissue for the push next spring.  This will use a lot of water, about an inch at a time every week until leaf drop and then every other week until you can’t stand it anymore.  Think about down spout barrels or gray water if there is a water ban in effect.  We just got a huge jolt of water that will hold for at least two weeks – but keep an eye after that.  We’ve been bone dry going in to winter for the last three years – no real root work for the trees these past years…

And – for the last blast of information…ROSES!!!

Yes – ROSES!!!  So many of you bought roses this year! And now it’s time to learn how to protect them…I know –Seems weird but there you have it… 

First step is to STOP CUTTING THE ROSES BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER.  This tells the plant that it’s time to start going dormant.  Roses have a hard time settling into winter mode and the temp fluctuations can really trick them in to new growth at the totally wrong time of the year – and then you have dead roses.  Have seen it more than once…

I’ve done this next step as late as the first week in January – grumbling the entire time I did the job…

Years ago, I learned a really easy way to mulch tea roses and have rarely lost one since. I had roses on several garden sites and this has worked everywhere… The original idea came from Edmond’s Roses with some adaptations through time…and step one is why waiting is a GOOD thing!

• Wait for the ground to be frozen and night temps to be below freezing – the goal is to keep the ground frozen but not to great depth – about 1 ½” down. This means that the timing is dependent on the wider weather pattern – I’ve mulched as late as early January and as early as the first week in November. This mulching is to hold the soil lightly frozen, and that keeps the roses from starting back in to growth too early (or too late – depends on how you read the winter temps…). The goal is NOT to keep the ground from freezing – non-frozen ground means that a weird heat surge in January can start the roses up and also allows for rodents (think voles) to live nicely protected for the winter – not good!!!

• Next, take pelletized sawdust animal bedding (not wood pellet stove pellets) and make a mound right over the crown of the rose about 6” high and as wide at the base as is needed to make the cone.

• Then take chopped straw and pack it lightly around the cone and GENTLY water the mulch and straight down into the cone of pellets. I use warm water to speed up the knitting of the mulch to the pellets but cold water should work as well.

• Walk away and forget it. The night cold will freeze the two together and will last quite neatly until you take it away in April. This is also easy to clean away in the spring and makes an EXCELLENT mulch elsewhere (not under the roses in case black spot spores have infected it). I use this as mulch for tomatoes on the sites where I use it.

A word about Animal Pellet Bedding. Our farm has used pelleted animal bedding since Woody Pet came out years ago. Pellet bedding is a product that uses the same technology as the pellet stove pellets, but it’s made of pine sawdust instead – and the pellet breaks down much faster. DO NOT TRY TO BURN THESE PELLETS!!!! The name has changed through time, but the product is the same and is extremely useful. Our farm hosts ducks, goats, and a thirty-year-old Morgan mare. We use the pellets solo with the horse, mixed with mulch hay for the ducks, and mixed with shavings for the goats. All are bedded well and are very healthy. The pelleted sawdust can get dusty, so we sometimes add extra water (an easy fix that tells you how much urine it soaks up!) – but that same effect means that we have almost NO ammonia smell in our barn at any time.

And a word about Chopped Straw... “Raw” straw is the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed – and therein lies the rub. Raw straw is phenomenal for improving soil – earthworms love it, and it cushions the heavy pressure of strong rains. Having said that – if the harvest wasn’t particularly clean, then you’re going to get a bunch of wheat or oat seedlings in the straw, and that can be a pain to weed out. Enter chopped straw... the raw straw is run through choppers and rollers to reduce the size of the straw (less likely to blow and easier to break down) and to clean out seed – no unwanted wheat!! I always have a bag on hand because it’s impossible to beat it for seeding a lawn, mulching a tomato, protecting a rose – you get the point!!

And – that’s it!!

Hopefully, this gives you enough information to work with this fall – May you use the time wisely!!!