Tilling question

[ehellis]

Hello folks,
Next week I will be tilling a bunch of compost into my soil (not really soil, more like clay w/some sand) and have straw covering most of the area now as erosion control. Do I need to remove the straw or will it till in with the compost? Not too big a deal to remove it if necessary.

Thanks,
Emil

 

[Egon]

Till it in. It will add tilth.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Till it in!! YES.

Also consider adding some Peat Moss, it adds loft and aeration.
Of course, if you are doing many acres that may not be possible.
Gypsum will also help break up the soil.

Clay + sand = concrete, for the most part.
Just keep adding organic matter, whenever you can.

 

[jbrumberg]

I agree with Egon and SkunkWerX. You should also consider adding some powdered rock fertilizers like greensand, granite dust, slag, and phosphate rock. The nice thing about rock fertilizers is that you do not have to worry about adding too much. You could also add wood ashes. Jay

 

[PA hayseed]

Till it all in.

For peat moss, the cheapest way I have to get it is by going to lowes. If a bag is damaged, they sell it to you at half price. I filled up a pickup bed of damaged topsoil bags, peat moss, and some potting soil for almost nothing.

You could get a ton of free shredded paper from any local business too. I use it in clay areas as well as gypsum wallboard, which i get for free from drywallers and lowes. I also get free manure from a dairy farm, and sometimes I get free sawdust from some sawmills. The free sawdust is getting very hard to come by, so go to smaller woodworking places.

In alot of cases it depends on what you are going to grow there next year, for my pusposes it beats the heck out of shale, clay, and rock.

 

[randy41]

if the straw pieces are long they may give you a problem by wrapping around your tiller. how big of an area we talking here?

 

[ehellis]

Thanks for the replies.
The area is around an acre and I'm planning to work lots of compost into it.
Gives me more seat time on the tractor.
I will let you all know how it goes next week.

Emil

 

[Luremaker]

I agree with Egon and SkunkWerX. You should also consider adding some powdered rock fertilizers like greensand, granite dust, slag, and phosphate rock. The nice thing about rock fertilizers is that you do not have to worry about adding too much. You could also add wood ashes. Jay

Jay, does powdered rock alter the soil's ph? Steve

 

[jbrumberg]

Steve:


Great question ! I did some quick research in the "Bible"- "How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method"- J. L. Rodale (1974) and did not find anything about the rock powders affecting pH. You can direct broadcast on plants without damaging them, but the best way to apply rock powders is through tilling. Wood ashes are another story. Wood ashes are pretty alkaline. I do not put wood ashes around germinating seeds and/or young plants when side dressing. Tha amount and type of manure you use with rock powders probably will affect ph more than the rock powders. I test my garden for pH and NPK with a Home Test kit. I put over a ton of (free) well composted cow manure in my garden this year once I could "prove" to "She Who Must Be Obeyed " how deficient the N was in the garden !. Powdered rock works real slowly and adds many necessary trace chemicals to the garden. Jay

 

[Egon]

Rock powder will the PH of the source rock. EG: powdered lime.

 

[jbrumberg]

Egon:

I know that a lot of people use powdered lime. I stayed away from the topic of lime because I have not used it and have not yet figured out how to apply it appropriately. The pH of my garden has been acceptible (slightly acidic) over the years according to my garden tests. Jay

 

[Egon]

I have used it as it is half the cost of pelleted lime.

 

[Highbeam]

Hello folks,
Next week I will be tilling a bunch of compost into my soil (not really soil, more like clay w/some sand) and have straw covering most of the area now as erosion control. Do I need to remove the straw or will it till in with the compost? Not too big a deal to remove it if necessary.

Thanks,
Emil

The funny thing is that the straw was supposed to be erosion control and here you are in the middle of September after the rains have started trying to till it up into bare soil again. Surely the straw was required by some agency that is now hassling someone else?

I agree, till it in. I grew up in Silverdale and have some property out on the Key peninsula which is sort of almost the Kitsap Peninsula.

 

[ehellis]

Yeah, I know it may be a little late for grass planting but such is my schedule.
My place is in one of those top secret rain shadows here. It can be raining pretty good 3 miles N or S of me and I get only a drizzle .
I added about 60 yards of fill and topsoil in July to level the area a bit in hopes it would make mowing a little less exciting.
Got started yesterday using my Box blade with the teeth all the way down and the box tilted way forward to break up the surface. The BX24 pulled without a problem and it went much quicker than I had planned. I'll be getting my compost and start tilling everything together later this week.
I know I have sinned by not taking pictures of the project so please forgive me folks. I'll try to make up for it.

Gotta go tractorin'

Emil

p.s. Anybody need a few potato sized rocks? Come and get 'em.

 

[SkunkWerX]

As Jay eluded to, Wood ashes are very Alkaline. They will affect Ph even faster than lime. But, last for less time, so, you get a sharp spike in alkalinity, then it tapers off pretty fast. For this reason I only add ashes to my compost pile, a little at a time, and don't use it in raw form in garden or around plants. Same reason I use pelletized lime rather than pulverized.
The pulverized lime will give you an alkaline spike, quicker, but also tapers off faster, the pelletized lime tends to release more gradually since it's compressed.

i don't hear much talk of granular lime, I haven't used it in the last 20 years, but I would think it would keep the dust down, but still give a faster reaction than pelletized? Anyone use granular lime?

 

[jbrumberg]

I agree with SkunkWerX as to the sharp alkaline "spike". Another concern about wood ashes is the potential for toxic chemicals in the wood ashes (I had been known to be very liberal with what I would burn in my wood stove in the past.) The potash in wood ashes leaches out the first time it gets rained on and/or watered. I use my wood ashes primarily on my driveway during the winter. Jay

 

[SkunkWerX]

Jay, thanks for concurring on the alkalinity of ashes.

I'm picky about what goes into the wood stove, and it's always something I have cut and split myself. Oak, cherry, and locust being the main culprits. Since i have a tight control on what the ashes are made of, I'll use it in compost, which can end up in the food supply, otherwise, I think you are right on, if the wood and/or source is in question, use it to melt snow.

My mother always sprinkled ashes around the base of maple trees, she said "they liked it". My grandfather sprinkled ashes on dog poo. It worked very well, it was his version of "turd-be-gone".