Sheet mulching continued

In continuing my work on this crab bed, I carefully removed plants to free up space in the middle of the bed.



This area gets full sun all day, so it will be the perfect location for those sun loving vegetables, maybe some corn, beans, tomatoes. Will have to figure out what will go where over the winter. As I worked on freeing up space I needed to think about how to position paths through the bed so that I would be able to easily reach all plants.




Also I realized that once a frost hit I would not know what space the plants I was going to be leaving would take up. And then it occurred to me that they would all not be up first thing in the spring when I would be starting to need to plant vegetables. So that meant I needed to have a way to see where I would be able to be planting in the spring.
See, at my age, I just can't make a mental note, as that will be gone as soon as I leave the area. Also, if I put it on paper I probably won't have a clue that I did it, let alone be able to find it when needed next year. Thus I decided to utilize my portable fencing that would have been getting stored away for the winter. And for $1 a foot at Lowe's I picked up 10 ft for additional use.

As I started to lace this fencing at the edges of where existing plants would be coming up, I got a clearer picture of the space available as well as the boundaries for my mulching. This is a wire fencing that I got which can be adjusted to any size. You just attach each successive piece to the prior one and can set it into any shape. It worked great around the strawberries this season, keeping the rabbits at bay. Unfortunately the birds still had free access, but we did get lots of berries.



This is the fencing I got at Lowe's, in 2 foot sections.




Now the area has been cleared and I have started to set up the path. I made it into a cross to be able to maximize the plants to be reached. I used fabric 12 inches wide, then put newspaper on it and wood chips. I tried mulch first and then realized that wood chips would be more appropriate.




The wood chips will be about 4 inches deep when I am finished.




The fencing serves another great purpose. It will be the barrier for the mulch, so as to not suffocate the existing plants. And as it is about 12 inches high, it will let me know when I have put down enough mulch to achieve my 12 inch depth.



When the surrounding perennials come up next spring they will completely mask the path.
Before starting the process I tested the soil and found that I needed to improve the Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash. I guess my plants just looked like they had all the nutrients they needed. In the Permaculture process I will be adding specific plants in the area that will supply the nutrients on an ongoing basis, so that these will be the only additives I will be needing.

For the Nitrogen I used Dried Blood, for the Potash, Greensand and then Phosphorous. Locally I found that Lowe's did not carry any soil additives. Agway in Franklin has a great supply of anything you could need. I let these soak in for a few days before beginning the mulching.

For the actual planting area the sheet mulching is a specific process. First you need to have the whole area thoroughly soaked before even beginning the mulching. Then you need an inch layer of green mulch to attract the worms up from the ground to begin the whole process. I used clippings from the gardens and grass that I had dug up from an area that we are setting in a new path and ground cover instead of lawn.



Initially I thought I would have to purchase hay for this mulch, but as I started to get into it I realized that I have alot of mulching resources all around me.


The work on this has taken a couple of weeks to get through as it is quite physical and needs to be spread out or done with help.