The Red Baron Project year one

[Redbaron]

I have described in various other threads my intent to develop an organic model using Permaculture principles that are scale-able to any size garden or Farm. I will be documenting my progress, successes, and failures here in this thread.

I would also ask humbly that anyone else interested in helping to try it out even in a small test plot themselves please try it and show your results here.

For my project I will be using various principles:

Principle 1: No till and/or minimal till with mulches used for weed control
Principle 2: Minimal external inputs
Principle 3: Living mulches to maintain biodiversity
Principle 4: Companion planting
Principle 6: The ability to integrate carefully controlled modern animal husbandry (optional)
Principle 5: Capability to be mechanized for large scale or low labor for smaller scale
Principle 7: As organic as possible, while maintaining flexibility to allow non-organic growers to use the methods
Principle 8: Portable and flexible enough to be used on a wide variety of crops in many areas of the world
Principle 9: Sustainable ie. beneficial to the ecology and wildlife
Principle 10: Profitable

[Redbaron]

For my first documented progress I will show the beginnings of bed preparation. To prepare it is easy as pie because there is no preparation!

All you do is lay out a paper or cardboard barrier and roll out mulch over it.

PS As you can see, I just pushed the roll of hay myself by hand. It unrolls easily. However in maintaining principle 5 "Capability to be mechanized for large scale or low labor for smaller scale", a bar could be inserted in the roll of hay and pulled behind a tractor for larger scale. I also laid down cardboard boxes by hand, but again for larger scale a commercial sized roll of cardboard or paper could be unrolled behind a tractor just in front of the hay. This would allow mechanization of the whole process. The labor is low, but it is even lower using a tractor, if you have larger acreage.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

For my first documented progress I will show the beginnings of bed preparation. To prepare it is easy as pie because there is no preparation!

All you do is lay out a paper or cardboard barrier and roll out mulch over it.

PS As you can see, I just pushed the roll of hay myself by hand. It unrolls easily. However in maintaining principle 5 "Capability to be mechanized for large scale or low labor for smaller scale", a bar could be inserted in the roll of hay and pulled behind a tractor for larger scale. I also laid down cardboard boxes by hand, but again for larger scale a commercial sized roll of cardboard or paper could be unrolled behind a tractor just in front of the hay. This would allow mechanization of the whole process. The labor is low, but it is even lower using a tractor, if you have larger acreage.

What type of hay is that you are using?

[Master_Gardener]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

For my first documented progress I will show the beginnings of bed preparation. To prepare it is easy as pie because there is no preparation!

All you do is lay out a paper or cardboard barrier and roll out mulch over it.

I just did something similar. I wanted to start a new 400 sq. ft. bed over hard clay. I pounded 12 inch stakes into the ground every 2 feet, covered with cardboard, covered the cardboard with 3 inches of compost, then covered the compost with 3 inches of wood chips, THEN planted a compost crop of inoculated legumes to get things started. I'm brewing AACT (compost tea) to really get my new garden to come to life.

I was surprised to see large earthworms after only a month. The stakes simulate roots. I got that idea from 'Edible Forest Landscapes' by Jacke.

I had a couple low places in my yard where water would stand for 3 or 4 days. After staking, it is only there for about 24-30 hours. This is after 3 months. I've made more progress with standing water in 90 days than in the last 11 years at this location by using this technique.

I'm a no-till gardener. If you till, I would NOT recommend using the stakes as it will wreck your tiller.

[Crandrew]

Keep it coming!

[Doug9345]

Very worthy project.

[Redbaron]

Just an interesting vid I found today. Seems there is a groundswell of people finally understanding. This only addresses one of the principles in my project, but it is an important one when my project reaches larger scale in future years. Right now I am focusing on the small scale. But I believe once this gets past this preliminary stage, this principle will help it all work. Principle 6: The ability to integrate carefully controlled modern animal husbandry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI

[Sun City Linda]

Intersting video Scott, although the speaker had a hard time keeping my attention.

[Redbaron]

In this case the hay is from Texas. It is almost all grass and isn't my first choice. But in Oklahoma after years of drought and lots of hungry horses and cattle, it is all that is available.

In my vision of how this will progress in future years I see making my own hay with plenty of other things in it like alfalfa instead of just coastal grass.

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

In this case the hay is from Texas. It is almost all grass and isn't my first choice. But in Oklahoma after years of drought and lots of hungry horses and cattle, it is all that is available.

In my vision of how this will progress in future years I see making my own hay with plenty of other things in it like alfalfa instead of just coastal grass.

I've thought about attempting to make a small plot of alfalfa to use in compost and mulching. How much land are you thinking of devoting to the hay?

Glenn

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by COMPOSTER

I've thought about attempting to make a small plot of alfalfa to use in compost and mulching. How much land are you thinking of devoting to the hay?

Glenn

Devoting? I wouldn't personally be "devoting" anything to just hay. Multi-purpose "including" hay? That for sure can be either grown between rows or in the staging areas between plots if you were going to try and make a high % alfalfa type hay. Or in a grazing paddock between rotations for grass hay.

On the other hand once the rotation is in place. You certainly could include alfalfa in the rotation as part of the crops. It wouldn't be hard. Just use a no till seed drill in later years after the sod has been killed back by the mulch from previous years.

Something like this might be useful. Dew Drop Drill

PS I am not sure if you are 100% organic or just mostly organic. I have already posted a couple vids you might be able to pull some ideas from though, if it helps.

Living Mulch Part 1 1:45 Helen either lets the "hay" decompose between rows as it gets mowed, or when needed to add to compost, grows it right beside the compost pile.

Innovative No-Till: Using Multi-Species Cover Crops to Improve Soil Health The farmers in this vid are both integrating animals and/or growing hay too. All as part of a rotation. Most are not completely organic, but are integrating organic methods into their farming. I talked to one of the farmers of this vid on the phone. He is almost completely 100% organic in the fields he started integrating these methods, and newer fields he is still gradually weaning outside chemical inputs. He grows his hay in between his other crops ie.. after one is harvested, but before the next is planted. He is also the only guy I ever saw, met, or read about, who already uses the technique of using a large cylindrical bale of hay and unrolling it for a thick mulch. He does it for potatoes. He simply puts the seed potatoes directly on top of the ground and rolls the hay bales over them. Finished till harvest.

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Devoting? I wouldn't personally be "devoting" anything to just hay. Multi-purpose "including" hay? That for sure can be either grown between rows or in the staging areas between plots if you were going to try and make a high % alfalfa type hay. Or in a grazing paddock between rotations for grass hay.

On the other hand once the rotation is in place. You certainly could include alfalfa in the rotation as part of the crops. It wouldn't be hard. Just use a no till seed drill in later years after the sod has been killed back by the mulch from previous years.

Something like this might be useful. Dew Drop Drill

PS I am not sure if you are 100% organic or just mostly organic. I have already posted a couple vids you might be able to pull some ideas from though, if it helps.

Living Mulch Part 1 1:45 Helen either lets the "hay" decompose between rows as it gets mowed, or when needed to add to compost, grows it right beside the compost pile.

Innovative No-Till: Using Multi-Species Cover Crops to Improve Soil Health The farmers in this vid are both integrating animals and/or growing hay too. All as part of a rotation. Most are not completely organic, but are integrating organic methods into their farming. I talked to one of the farmers of this vid on the phone. He is almost completely 100% organic in the fields he started integrating these methods, and newer fields he is still gradually weaning outside chemical inputs. He grows his hay in between his other crops ie.. after one is harvested, but before the next is planted. He is also the only guy I ever saw, met, or read about, who already uses the technique of using a large cylindrical bale of hay and unrolling it for a thick mulch. He does it for potatoes. He simply puts the seed potatoes directly on top of the ground and rolls the hay bales over them. Finished till harvest.

Thanks for the videos I will check them out.

I am 100% organic in as much as I have full control over. I do not use any herbacides, pesticides or fungicides on any of my property. Haven't for 7 years. I do use 1 bagged OMRI listed fertilizer, basalt dust and lime. The thing that I use that I am not in control of the organic content of is sheep manure mixed with straw bedding from a local farmer. That would be the only input that may potentially contain some type of drugs or chemicals.

Glenn

[SIP Gro-Tubs]

Originally Posted by COMPOSTER

Thanks for the videos I will check them out.

I am 100% organic in as much as I have full control over. I do not use any herbacides, pesticides or fungicides on any of my property. Haven't for 7 years. I do use 1 bagged OMRI listed fertilizer, basalt dust and lime. The thing that I use that I am not in control of the organic content of is sheep manure mixed with straw bedding from a local farmer. That would be the only input that may potentially contain some type of drugs or chemicals.

Glenn

Glenn

Well get a sheet of paper, before you watch that video and everytime you hear the words "Herbicide" and "Commercial Fertilizer" in the video, you can keep score.

Innovative No-Till: Using Multi-Species Cover Crops to Improve Soil Health

So you are probably more Organic than they are.

Terry

[Redbaron]

Update. Unfortunately I don't have pics yet, but so far I have made 6 rows (That's the easy part) and I have tried cardboard, burlap, Landscaping felt, and paper as my barrier layers. I also have planted so far cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, Kohlrabi, and started on my tomatoes and peppers. I have 3 row widths 4', 3', 2'.

It looks like I won't be incorporating any chickens this year. The lawn mower broke down and I had to buy a new one. There goes the budget!

But at least I still have the research I did for integration. Maybe next year.

PS as a side note: I wrote a wikipedia article from all the research I had done for incorporating animals in this project. You all are welcome to go look and see.

Holistic management

[peppero]

Scott you have a worthwhile vision and I wish you the best in your endeavor. keep us posted.

jon