It seems pretty simple: put a seed in the ground, and watch it grow. Frustration in the garden sets in, however, after so much time spent cultivating, seeding, and weeding does not yield the harvest anticipated. This article covers a simple method of mulching that both simplifies the garden process and adds fertility to soil. This allows gardener to enjoy the garden with less work.
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I was told once by my mom that I was one to look for the easiest way to get something done.
In the garden, it is frustrating to read about all the complicated things one must do to produce those lovely flowers and plentiful harvest. To achieve that lovely, loamy soil, we are recommended so many additives, fertilizers, bug killers, and told to purchase x,y, and z cultivators.
Yet, when one looks outside and notices all the vibrant wildlife, one might ask-- why is this gardening thing so complicated and expensive? Well, it doesn't have to be that way. What I have found is that mulch is a one-step simple solution to garden fertility, weed management, and plant vigor.
Now, don't misunderstand-- of course mulching will not solve every problem in your garden! However, it is a robust foundation any gardener can consistently rely on for a healthy, vigorous garden. So how does this method play out, exactly?
The Ruth Stout Method
Recently I finished reading a fantastically fun gardening book, Gardening Without Work, by a home-gardener from the previous century, Ruth Stout. She had developed a simple mulch system for gardening which she used for over forty years, and it is this method that I would like to share with you today, along with my own garden observations.
She recommended placing a full 8" of mulch over the garden year-round, using rotted hay, which is not expensive and can be generally procured.
This amounts to about one 50-pound bale per 100 ft², or, she would say, "twice as much as you would think." She required this amount to decisively smother weeds.
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| "You need more hay than you think." |
Unlike straw, Stout recommended hay since it includes the seed and has more nutrient value to feed the soil.
Now there is no free lunch. Either you have to purchase your mulch or procure it manually. Hay can be purchased from local farm supply stores. See my article on finding free sources of mulch.
For my garden, my kids and I rake up the grass from the nearby field, and lay that over top our garden. I also rake leaves each fall into my garden.
Stout recommended to start small, because the amount of hay required is quite large. However, this system produces a soil that is able to yield a plentiful garden by the square foot, so you actually need less space to garden.
Realistically, I get about 4"-6" of dried grass to cover my 3200 ft² vegetable plot.
Weeds
Mulch suppresses weeds by blocking sunlight to newly germinated seeds.
Stout spent about 3 minutes picking out weeds a week. Truth be told, I spend more time weeding: I would estimate I spend about 15 minutes per week per 200 ft². I think that is pretty good. Mel Bartholomew in his book, Square Foot Gardening, claims a conventional 100 ft² garden requires 2 hours of maintenance!
This July--in prime weed season-- I left the garden for two 2-week periods without encountering a weed jungle upon return.
Yes, there are some weeds, but I think the work is quite manageable, despite not getting as much mulch as Stout recommended. Weeds also gradually thin out each year as the beds become established in no-till beds.
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| The weeds in my garden after returning from travels of two weeks this summer. |
In fact, the difference in time spent weeding is drastic. Not only are weed seedlings kept at bay, but the mulch keeps the soil beneath it loose and friable, so larger weeds generally pull out easily. There is no need to spend money on tillers, hoes, or other equipment for weeding. See my equipment article to view tools that are valuable for no-till systems.
Soil Fertility
This compost-in-place system also greatly simplifies fertility. Basically, fertility is created through vermicomposting of the mulch. The mulch is not tilled into the ground. Rather it stays over top of the soil line. Worms and other creepers eat this mulch, and then tunnel below the soil line to their homes, leaving their waste in the soil as fertilizer.
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| Compost in place with a year-around mulching system. |
Importantly, Stout also added a nitrogen source to her garden each year as the only other fertilizer. Each fall, she applied 5 pounds of cottonseed meal per 100 ft² of garden. In the United States, cottonseed meal is often contaminated with pesticides due to destruction of the cotton plant caused by the cotton boll weevil. However, there are a number of organic sources of nitrogen, including the following:
Nitrogen Source Application Rate Amazon Link
Cottonseed Meal 5 pounds/100 ft² Espoma
Soybean Meal 5 pounds/100 ft² Walt's Organic
Feather Meal 2.5 pounds/100 ft² Mindful Farmer
Blood Meal 2.5 pounds/100 ft² Earth Science
Alfalfa Meal 10 pounds/100 ft² E. B. Stone Naturals
Keep in mind that, while cottonseed meal and feather meal are slow release fertilizers and should be applied in the fall, blood meal, soybean meal, and alfalfa meal are fast acting and should be applied before planting and monthly throughout the growing season.
Cottonseed meal will acidify the soil, and should be used with care in soils that already have low pH. It can also be used on plants that need acidic soil, such as blueberries and rhododendrons.
Bear in mind that many critters find animal-based fertilizers attractive as well.
Alfalfa meal and other natural fertilizers can be sourced fairly cheaply at local farm and garden shops, however certified organic products are more expensive. I have found that buying in bulk online is a more affordable option for organic fertilizers.
Stout refused to add anything else to her soil for fertility, even when gifted other fertilizers, because she wanted to show that her method was truly simple. However, she did add that each gardener should test and amend his own soil as appropriate.
Water Conservation
Ground cover is very effective at preventing water evaporation from the soil, and year-round mulching is an excellent way to conserve local water sources.
I have read in many places that the ground should be well watered before applying mulch, since water will not always penetrate mulched soil after a rain.
I do not think this is the case with year round mulching in climates similar to Missouri. So much water penetrates the soil in winter and spring that the water table remains very high at that time of the year. Even if the snow did not melt through the mulch to the soil beneath, which I do not think is true, there would still be plenty of water beneath the mulch to conserve.
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| The ground is still cool and wet under the mulch, despite hot temperatures. |
In fact, this spring I placed black plastic over a portion of my garden to terminate a cover crop. Despite the plastic preventing all the rain from seeping through to the soil beneath, the topsoil remained consistently wet under the plastic through out the six week occlusion period.
Even now, as we are currently experiencing a dry period, the ground beneath my mulched garden beds remain cool and slightly damp.
This was certainly Ruth Stout's experience. Even in drought, she did not water her garden. She was confident with her method, and noted that she always maintained good crops in times of drought.
Insects
Stout also encouraged her method as a way to naturally defend against pests. Her experience was that, while she still encountered various pest problems each year, her garden was largely the same or better than that of those neighbors who used pesticides.
Other organic farmers, such Eliot Coleman, argue that organic systems naturally encourage pest predators and competitors which eventually form a balanced ecology, preventing an overload of pests. Organic gardeners also argue that healthy soil promotes stronger plants which, in turn, are less appetizing for insects to devour.
However, all organic famers seem to agree that occasional use of natural pesticides are warranted when all else fails. Stout would apply only very mild chemicals, such as salt water for cabbage moths and wood ash for squash bugs.
I have not beheld drastic reductions of insect damage. Perhaps this is because the ecology has not yet been firmly established, but I think insect infestations are a problem for all.
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| Insect damage to Okra planted in June. |