That makes sense since it is from Sudan...Hadn't thought of that... So does that mean at least 75 degrees in the night time hours, as well? I don't think our night time hours ever get that high...
Tried this last year with Rye and the Deer came and ate it down, ha. Oh well there was enough left that i could crimp it and then had free straw. thanks for the education.
I know this is old but interested in subject as a newbie. Great idea! I have Oak leaves so planning to use them in multiple ways. I miss the NJ/ NY but not the blizzatds and the extreme cold!
I just discovered your channel and am enjoying your videos and wisdom immensely. Please consider putting your general location in the about section. Thanks again for the fantastic videos and instruction!
any issues with growing sudangrass and chopping and hilling potatoes with the green sudangrass ? hopefully not seems like it work good expeically since the normal grass in the yard stops growing around june-july all summer due to the heat and typically fairly dry weather hear in pa . i have a bag of the pipper sudangrass i threw out some seed in a small patch this morning before the rain showers..
Hi, from Uk, I am watching your video and I am interested to use leaves but I already have winter broad beans on it. My question is if I can still put leaves on my raise bed, my broad bean won’t die? Thank you.
I have a small area in my backyard estimated at 2200 square feet. In my location, I have a hard time getting free wood chips to control the weeds. Using Pearl Millet & Sudangrass seed, I could technically rejuvenate the soil rather than using wood chips. What do you do after growing the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass after 1 season? You did not cover how you would then use the above technique to grow your vegetables and fruit trees after growing the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass? Instead of weeds, do I have to now deal with the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass after using the above technique? Thanks for your feedback.
Mark, thanks for all the wisdom. Need your advice: just covered my garden thickly with leaves, then the winds picked up and blew them 50 yards away. Raked them all back but this time I covered them with thick mill black plastic and the leftover spots with a couple of tarps and staked them down to keep them from being kidnapped again. Is this okay until it starts snowing or do the leaves need to be exposed to the sun and elements?
Do you plan removing the plastic before or when it snows? Do not leave the plastic on. Just a few ideas for the future. Bird netting to cover the leaves , plus stake down . Water the fall leaves every 4 inch in height then on the final top to make them stick together. They should be exposed to the sun and elements. This way the fungi can decompose them.
If the snow doesn't knock it all down, how do you terminate it so you can plant a crop? Janice P.S. As I finish this question I see a video about managing cover crops. Next for me. Thanks.
Great idea! I need something like this after I level the spot in my yard! This halling of leaves and manure is breaking my back and I got no help! Question! Can I use nettle instead?
You need to raise chickens and turkeys. The field peas you raised in other videos are perfect for turkeys and chickens could help break your insect cycle. They'll eat the adult insects then if you run them through after all the vegetables are picked they'll scratch up most of the larva. I was thinking of it during the earlier videos then I saw you growing all the millet and sudan grass and all I could think of was chickens going nuts. Just push it over or cut it down once the seed heads are mature and the chickens will pick them clean. Even if you don't want to raise chickens commercially they'll earn their keep cleaning up pests and fertilizing your crops then you at least get all the eggs you can eat and chicken for the family as you retire birds or get tired of a certain annoying rooster. I like to call aggressive rooters "Dumplings" because they make great chicken and dumplings.
+OhHowHappyGardener Thank You. The best thing is it takes CO2 out of the air and puts it back in the ground to improve soil health. Thanks for watching.
Jerri Croft I did a test on that adding fresh wood chips to soil ( 50/50 blend ) in a raise bed and all was fine no yellowing.. Please see my videos on this. THANKS
Jerri Croft. I love his channel, sad he stop. Very hard worker and geat person a couple. I was very glad he showed and shared that. THANKS for all your comments.
I was wondering if you got buried in that blizzard. Good video. Was looking into sorghum sudangrass recently to build soil. Going to experiment with that and buckwheat in different spots in the spring.
+CheckSSForm The snow was fun... You will be amazing with sudangrass. The roots and strong but fin e. Lots of roots mass. They will go into that had soil and lift it apart. I wish i had time to film it when it was growing. I never had worms in my soil. But when I plant the sudangrass and pulled a hand full of plants and pulled root mass out. There was 2-3 per root bundle. And we had no rain for 2 weeks and it was very easy to pull out.. Thanks for watching and writing...Enjoy
In India we don't hv winter rains nd snow fall in winters where I live, so concerned about decaying of sudan grass nd pearl millet..Had to weight for next 9 months for the rains to come to decaying this mass .Is it wise to cut nd thrashing nd store somewhere else to use for decaying
Very interesting video, the Buckwheat seems to be very weak if it comes to benefits against anything else despite weed cover but I guess it is cause it grow so fast. By the way I have found this book in internet really useful.
Here is the example goo.gl/UqIxtD I was considering using it in the vegetable patch to avoid bare soil in case I have crops that do not follow one another in short time.
+Raf's Kitchen Garden Yes, it is great to cover bare soil, Grows fast and Tall about 3 ft and will tip over. Flowers well, and the bees love it. The roots do a great job in lifting the soil. Enjoy
NO, I just use a large hand 3 gallon hand seeder.. them take a rotor tiller o the back of my tractor on just rake it in the top half inch..THANKS you can see it in this video: link:ruclips.net/video/gp0A4lhlXo8/видео.html .
Another thing on tall grasses as cover crops in winter: If You're in an area with heavy winds in winter and drought problems in spring time those grasses will do a good job in scavenging snow being driven by the storm and later feeding the soil with water.
+Matt Bearup Thank You, for letting me know about that. Something to think about in the future. But for right now my main reason is to let it decay into the ground and add 1% organic matter ( carbon ) to my soil so it can hold 15-20 thousands gallons of water this spring/summer per acre.
what happened with this field this year? I imagine it would reseed itself pretty well and am curious as to how you would handle that aspect if you planned to plant something else.
Thanks for asking... If does not reseed itself - the winter is to cold and the seeds die. But you have a massive amount of straw like material. Then I just throw spreed some clover seeds out in the early spring. It grows and keeps the field alive with roots and a lot of green.
The seeds are dormant. The cold does not kill the seed! The repeated wet freezing will kill many seeds. If millet and sorghum are able to produce More than 40 million seeds per acre. than 1 in 300 seed can grow that is more than is needed to choke out the next crop. The seed can germinate 5 to 10 years later so Sudan is a weed that is hard to eliminate. It can pollen with distant Johnson grass to produce shatter cane.
Is it possible to undersow this with winter rye and maybe clover a little earlier in the year to keep things going over the winter? Maybe debris will foil the geese? Or is it too shady to get rye to start? I guess birds will eat rye seed too, if you can't rake it in... Thanks so much for the video, must be hard to manage in the cold! PS For others: "Managing Cover Crops" book is available online www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version. Thanks again, Mark!
+Patrick Pittman Just to improve the soil. That 1% of organic matter (from all the dead material/biomass ) will rot and turn to carbon and feed the soil. Now if never disturb the soil the soil will come to life and hold 15 to 25 thousand gallons of water for my plants this spring,summer...Thanks
Once again, you don't follow through with the information. What do you do with the biomass in the spring? You assume we all know. I would prefer not to have to watch every one of your videos to find out. Do you do this on purpose?
You are so thorough. You inspire me to increase my knowledge and to "grow up" in my gardening approach. Thank you.
So nice of you to say. My Pleasurer to share and help. THANK YOU.
So interesting about definition of orangic, And probably verified differently in areas.
Thanks Mark,We need more people on board.
Love your whole series.I have learnt so much about soil.I was convinced there was a better way and this is it.
THANK YOU that is very nice of you to say. Plants ( grow soil ) though their roots. and nature does it better and free of charge..
Thank you for addressing the leaf source question!
+Allium Fields And THANK YOU for bringing this to my attention.
Excellent knowledge given👌👍again a big thx from APSL India
Hello to you in India.. Happy 2020
Still haven't come across a video mentioning if you shred your leaves or not. Wonderful videos, thanks. 🇦🇺
Do you have a lawn mower..?
Wow! Sorghum Sudan Grass really makes the biomass! Gotta try it on our homestead! Thanks!
THANKS, It loves summer heat. You just have to have the heat long enough to grow it that much, At least 4 months of heat above 75 up to 100 degrees.
That makes sense since it is from Sudan...Hadn't thought of that...
So does that mean at least 75 degrees in the night time hours, as well? I don't think our night time hours ever get that high...
I understand what you are doing in this field but when and how is the sequence of planting Vegges in the ground?
Tried this last year with Rye and the Deer came and ate it down, ha. Oh well there was enough left that i could crimp it and then had free straw. thanks for the education.
Those deer I think tell each other where the good food is. THANKS for sharing
@@iamorganicgardening cant u just eat the deer?
I know this is old but interested in subject as a newbie. Great idea! I have Oak leaves so planning to use them in multiple ways. I miss the NJ/ NY but not the blizzatds and the extreme cold!
I think all people feel that way..THANKS
I just discovered your channel and am enjoying your videos and wisdom immensely. Please consider putting your general location in the about section. Thanks again for the fantastic videos and instruction!
THANK YOU for your advice. I updated it in the about section. You are so correct it should be listed. Thanks again. Enjoy, Mark
Thank you.
any issues with growing sudangrass and chopping and hilling potatoes with the green sudangrass ? hopefully not seems like it work good expeically since the normal grass in the yard stops growing around june-july all summer due to the heat and typically fairly dry weather hear in pa . i have a bag of the pipper sudangrass i threw out some seed in a small patch this morning before the rain showers..
Hi, from Uk, I am watching your video and I am interested to use leaves but I already have winter broad beans on it. My question is if I can still put leaves on my raise bed, my broad bean won’t die? Thank you.
very cool thing you've got going on
+Alex Petz Thank You Sir, I thought the same thing after I cut it and it grew back again. Very Cool. Thanks for watching.
Question plz Mark. When a branch from a tree is cut and left so the leaves dry after a time, is that leaves carbon or still nitrogen?
Carbon
I have a small area in my backyard estimated at 2200 square feet. In my location, I have a hard time getting free wood chips to control the weeds.
Using Pearl Millet & Sudangrass seed, I could technically rejuvenate the soil rather than using wood chips.
What do you do after growing the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass after 1 season?
You did not cover how you would then use the above technique to grow your vegetables and fruit trees after growing the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass?
Instead of weeds, do I have to now deal with the Pearl Millet & Sudangrass after using the above technique?
Thanks for your feedback.
Mark, thanks for all the wisdom. Need your advice: just covered my garden thickly with leaves, then the winds picked up and blew them 50 yards away. Raked them all back but this time I covered them with thick mill black plastic and the leftover spots with a couple of tarps and staked them down to keep them from being kidnapped again. Is this okay until it starts snowing or do the leaves need to be exposed to the sun and elements?
Do you plan removing the plastic before or when it snows? Do not leave the plastic on. Just a few ideas for the future. Bird netting to cover the leaves , plus stake down . Water the fall leaves every 4 inch in height then on the final top to make them stick together. They should be exposed to the sun and elements. This way the fungi can decompose them.
Such great video
THANK YOU very Much...
If the snow doesn't knock it all down, how do you terminate it so you can plant a crop? Janice P.S. As I finish this question I see a video about managing cover crops. Next for me. Thanks.
OK, GREAT.. Glad to hear.
Great idea! I need something like this after I level the spot in my yard! This halling of leaves and manure is breaking my back and I got no help!
Question! Can I use nettle instead?
You need to raise chickens and turkeys. The field peas you raised in other videos are perfect for turkeys and chickens could help break your insect cycle. They'll eat the adult insects then if you run them through after all the vegetables are picked they'll scratch up most of the larva. I was thinking of it during the earlier videos then I saw you growing all the millet and sudan grass and all I could think of was chickens going nuts. Just push it over or cut it down once the seed heads are mature and the chickens will pick them clean. Even if you don't want to raise chickens commercially they'll earn their keep cleaning up pests and fertilizing your crops then you at least get all the eggs you can eat and chicken for the family as you retire birds or get tired of a certain annoying rooster. I like to call aggressive rooters "Dumplings" because they make great chicken and dumplings.
You do not need farm animals to have a great garden. I will show you why in other videos. THANK YOU.
Excellent!
+OhHowHappyGardener Thank You. The best thing is it takes CO2 out of the air and puts it back in the ground to improve soil health. Thanks for watching.
How do you plant this cover crop? Do you broadcast seed it? or drill it in?
I broadcast it. The till it in just 1/2 an inch. The tilling does not hurt the soil microbes. It is very shallow.
hello Mark , may i ask how often should you add leaves to your garden? and does it work better than wood chips ?
I just add leaves once a year in the fall.. They work about the same,, Just easier to move around. THANK YOU.
Jerri Croft I did a test on that adding fresh wood chips to soil ( 50/50 blend ) in a raise bed and all was fine no yellowing.. Please see my videos on this. THANKS
Jerri Croft. I love his channel, sad he stop. Very hard worker and geat person a couple. I was very glad he showed and shared that. THANKS for all your comments.
I was wondering if you got buried in that blizzard. Good video. Was looking into sorghum sudangrass recently to build soil. Going to experiment with that and buckwheat in different spots in the spring.
+CheckSSForm The snow was fun... You will be amazing with sudangrass. The roots and strong but fin e. Lots of roots mass. They will go into that had soil and lift it apart. I wish i had time to film it when it was growing. I never had worms in my soil. But when I plant the sudangrass and pulled a hand full of plants and pulled root mass out. There was 2-3 per root bundle. And we had no rain for 2 weeks and it was very easy to pull out.. Thanks for watching and writing...Enjoy
In India we don't hv winter rains nd snow fall in winters where I live, so concerned about decaying of sudan grass nd pearl millet..Had to weight for next 9 months for the rains to come to decaying this mass .Is it wise to cut nd thrashing nd store somewhere else to use for decaying
Yes, cut when green still and store and let dry.
Mark, very nice info, But have you tried oil seed radish for a cover crop ?.
+Joe Bucci YES, LOVE them... And they really grow very large. Did a video on them.. Thanks for writing.
Very interesting video, the Buckwheat seems to be very weak if it comes to benefits against anything else despite weed cover but I guess it is cause it grow so fast. By the way I have found this book in internet really useful.
+Raf's Kitchen Garden Hello, I am Sorry i do not understand the question. What buckwheat are we talking about... Please help...
Here is the example goo.gl/UqIxtD I was considering using it in the vegetable patch to avoid bare soil in case I have crops that do not follow one another in short time.
+Raf's Kitchen Garden Yes, it is great to cover bare soil, Grows fast and Tall about 3 ft and will tip over. Flowers well, and the bees love it. The roots do a great job in lifting the soil. Enjoy
are you tilling when you seed the first time?
NO, I just use a large hand 3 gallon hand seeder.. them take a rotor tiller o the back of my tractor on just rake it in the top half inch..THANKS you can see it in this video: link:ruclips.net/video/gp0A4lhlXo8/видео.html .
You need to write a book 📕 please
Another thing on tall grasses as cover crops in winter: If You're in an area with heavy winds in winter and drought problems in spring time those grasses will do a good job in scavenging snow being driven by the storm and later feeding the soil with water.
YES, VERY GOOD POINT...THANK YOU
the Winter Rye has a lot of dark circles too -- why do you choose the millet and Sudangrass instead of the rye? Just wondering.
ALL of the biomass...winter rye will not do that. THANKS
When will you start plant crops/vegetables? What will you plant?
The first thing I plant is sure snap peas as soon the round is not frozen. March. Potatoes , April. About 25 veg types.
Have you considered harvesting the dry material pasteurizing it and using it to grow oyster mushrooms?
+Matt Bearup Thank You, for letting me know about that. Something to think about in the future. But for right now my main reason is to let it decay into the ground and add 1% organic matter ( carbon ) to my soil so it can hold 15-20 thousands gallons of water this spring/summer per acre.
You said it's 12 degrees, where are you located and what is your growing zone. I'm in Colorado and my growing zone is 5B.
I am in zone 6B on the East coast.. THANKS.
Can I still get the biomass from the plants if I let it go to seed and collect the seed?
Yes.. You get both from top growth and also from the dieing roots too. THANKS
Good new videos of very educational appreciate it
what happened with this field this year? I imagine it would reseed itself pretty well and am curious as to how you would handle that aspect if you planned to plant something else.
Thanks for asking... If does not reseed itself - the winter is to cold and the seeds die. But you have a massive amount of straw like material. Then I just throw spreed some clover seeds out in the early spring. It grows and keeps the field alive with roots and a lot of green.
Awesome. I thought that might be the case with Sudan grass, but didn't know millet was also that temperature sensitive.
The seeds are dormant. The cold does not kill the seed! The repeated wet freezing will kill many seeds. If millet and sorghum are able to produce More than 40 million seeds per acre. than 1 in 300 seed can grow that is more than is needed to choke out the next crop. The seed can germinate 5 to 10 years later so Sudan is a weed that is hard to eliminate. It can pollen with distant Johnson grass to produce shatter cane.
Can u eat all the geese?
Sorry No.
@@iamorganicgardening is it illegal or are u vegitarian?
Can I use Nettle instead?
Yes.. THANKS for asking
@@iamorganicgardening thank you sir!
Wonder if this would choke out kudzu
Is it possible to undersow this with winter rye and maybe clover a little earlier in the year to keep things going over the winter? Maybe debris will foil the geese? Or is it too shady to get rye to start? I guess birds will eat rye seed too, if you can't rake it in... Thanks so much for the video, must be hard to manage in the cold! PS For others: "Managing Cover Crops" book is available online www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version. Thanks again, Mark!
Yes, You can plant winter rye any time of the year.. They are making mixes today of 25 different seeds at one time.
Thank you, Mark, I missed this... Have a Happy, Happy New Year!
What was your reasoning for not growing summer crops in June in that field but you instead planted the millet and sudangrass?
+Patrick Pittman Just to improve the soil. That 1% of organic matter (from all the dead material/biomass ) will rot and turn to carbon and feed the soil. Now if never disturb the soil the soil will come to life and hold 15 to 25 thousand gallons of water for my plants this spring,summer...Thanks
Once again, you don't follow through with the information. What do you do with the biomass in the spring? You assume we all know. I would prefer not to have to watch every one of your videos to find out. Do you do this on purpose?
I am Sorry you feel this way. My goal is to help only. God Bless.
@@iamorganicgardening what do you do with the biomass is the spring?