Reply To: No-Dig-Garden-Compost-Start?

[Unknown]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Any particular book of the ones available you think would be the best place to start judging by my questions?

Re: 100mm thick compost, plant carrots into that… and its ok if carrots go through the compost and try to grow into the hard clay rubbish underneath?

Cardboard should exceed the size of the plot? Does that mean the external bits will be naked cardboard or would you put the would chips over the edges like a boarder/path to walk around so noncardboard left visible?

Pathway you suggest I make the 2 beds with compost and instead of wasting compost inbetween the beds, to put wood chips which are cheaper instead to walk on? So it will look like rows black (compost) brown (wood chips) black brown etc.?

I wondered about that because charles garden from the videos is all black 🙂

And with the carrots you mentioned, 50mm appart double rows… So you would habe the outer row and one row behind it 50mm appart and you would make a hole every 50mm in the row and plant 3-4 seeds in each hole and i guess if 2 or 3 germinate the carrots will push themselves appart initially (thats why 50mm of space between each hole) so that i wont have to touch them?

If i got cardboard on the ground and the carrot gets to the carboard as the compost is only 100mm thick… is the carrot going to break through the
cardboard to get to the rubbish clay underneath? I guess that cardboard will eventually disintegrate…

Would it be ok just to stick the compost on that existing straw like grass… when the grass grows up above the compost dig the grass out and just keep doing that until it eventually stops growing (thus no cardboard needed)?

And last thing I thought of back to the carrot if i got cardboard on grass and 100mm thick, how will the carrot grow down through the grass?

Wouldn’t I be better off using a spade or hoe just to dig out the lawn where i plan the garden to be to avoid all of the above and then place the compost on top of dirt with no concern about grass or cardboard etc being there?

And heres an off topic question:

Seeds – I will get a batch of organic heirloom seeds and other seeds are only available as un-treated.

Untreated is not certified organic but the seed itself has not been chemically treated. Having said that though the vegetables/plants those seeds came out from would of been done under regular farming practices, fertilisers of all kinds sprays etc etc but ofcoirse the actual seed has not been chemically treated.

Organic seeds on other hand come out of vegetables/plants that have certified organic practices.

Is there actually a difference?

Vegetables like onions etc (pretty much all vegetables – not capsicums tomato etc) grow seed on the outside of the plant. If the seeds are untreated but the farming method is not organic… are not the seeds by default then “sprayed” and therefor do have chemicals on them even though they say untreated? If the seeds are untreated in the fullest sense of word wouldn’t that make them organic then? Curious.