I've been tinkering with how to bring nutrients to our hillside.
So I've started some test patches. Ive done it in the past but not really documenting the progress or results. The following are two test sites I'm tinkering with.
These I have planted common buckwheat. A hardy cover crop known to increase nutrients back into the soil.
Test patch #1
Patch one is the bare loamy silt like soil that is our entire hillside. You can see after 5 days I have successful but weak germination.
Test patch #2
This patch is located directly where our chicken run was just a few weeks back. So hot raw chicken manure combined with one bag of garden soil. Obviously a hit with the buckwheat! This was also planted same time as the other test patch.
My goal is to figure out the most cost effective and beneficial way to propagate our severly desolate hillside. It was not only effected by years of pollution from our local zinc company but also a fire and the previous home owner stripped the topsoil for profit. Needless to say it's been tough getting anything to grow.
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Sounds like good thinking. Down south, we've got red clay. Somebody must've run off with the topsoil years ago, if there ever was any. So, we've been experimenting, here and there, with our dirt, too. The first time I planted tomato plants, I thought I'd prepped my garden bed pretty well. The poor little plants stayed the SAME SIZE for months! We've come a long way, still have a long way to go. Keep us posted on what works for you!
ReplyDelete~ Susie