wildseed2u
May 11th, 2005, 05:14 PM
I am a strong believer in adding large amounts of compost and mulch to the garden, but where do you get large amounts at that you know are not full of weed seeds or other unwanted material. One of the best ways is to grow your own material, but what types of plants make good compost or mulch. There are many plants that you can chose from Amaranth and Quinoa are two good plants that grow fast and produce a lot of plant fiber. One very good thing about Amaranth and Quinoa is that they both produce large amounts of tasty leaves that can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as a green vegetable like spinach, and at the end of their season they produce seeds that are very high in protein are gluten free. these grains can be cooked like cereal, popped like pop corn toasted and added to soups or ground and used like flower.
Some other plants that are very usefull, although hard to find at times are Hibiscus Cannabinus, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Abelmoschus manihot all three belong to the same family as Okra, Cotton and Hibiscus. Hibiscus cannabinus is used mainly in the paper pulp industry as it has a large amount of fine plant fiber and grows very fast. The leaves can be cooked and eaten as a cooked green simular to Sorrel the same goes for Hibiscus sabdariffa and too the flowers and calyxes are used to make a nice flavored Tea or used to make a citrus flavored jelly. Abelmoschus manihot is a very close cousin to Okra and besides producing small okra like pods the Leaves are cooked and eaten like spinach or added to soups. The Seeds from these plants can be roasted and used as a Coffee Sub. The stocks from Okra can also be used as a good compost material. Millet or Sorghum are very usefull and make good compost all of these plants and more can be grown as very attractive Border plants that can be chopped and added to the garden. you can use a compost or Manure Tea and spray over the chopped plant material to help them break down. this year I will be growing and using many of these plants to produce food and to add as plant fiber for compost. Also don't forget about your yard , lawn clippings and other plant waste, Old straw and Hay bales will quickly compost and add a lot of very good mulch or compost that can be added to the garden soil. One more thing you don't need to have a compost pile to turn your plant material into compost just chop it up some and put on your garden and Mother nature will take care of the rest. you can also plant various cover crops and inter plant your crops to conserve on water use and to act as a living mulch and Green Manure. The whole Idea is to try and get a way from having to till your soil all the time as this not only disturbs the plant roots, but kills your earthworms and allows pest and Viruses to get a foot hold in your garden and when it rains it washes out all the nutrients that the soil needs.
George W. Zone 5 Missouri
Some other plants that are very usefull, although hard to find at times are Hibiscus Cannabinus, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Abelmoschus manihot all three belong to the same family as Okra, Cotton and Hibiscus. Hibiscus cannabinus is used mainly in the paper pulp industry as it has a large amount of fine plant fiber and grows very fast. The leaves can be cooked and eaten as a cooked green simular to Sorrel the same goes for Hibiscus sabdariffa and too the flowers and calyxes are used to make a nice flavored Tea or used to make a citrus flavored jelly. Abelmoschus manihot is a very close cousin to Okra and besides producing small okra like pods the Leaves are cooked and eaten like spinach or added to soups. The Seeds from these plants can be roasted and used as a Coffee Sub. The stocks from Okra can also be used as a good compost material. Millet or Sorghum are very usefull and make good compost all of these plants and more can be grown as very attractive Border plants that can be chopped and added to the garden. you can use a compost or Manure Tea and spray over the chopped plant material to help them break down. this year I will be growing and using many of these plants to produce food and to add as plant fiber for compost. Also don't forget about your yard , lawn clippings and other plant waste, Old straw and Hay bales will quickly compost and add a lot of very good mulch or compost that can be added to the garden soil. One more thing you don't need to have a compost pile to turn your plant material into compost just chop it up some and put on your garden and Mother nature will take care of the rest. you can also plant various cover crops and inter plant your crops to conserve on water use and to act as a living mulch and Green Manure. The whole Idea is to try and get a way from having to till your soil all the time as this not only disturbs the plant roots, but kills your earthworms and allows pest and Viruses to get a foot hold in your garden and when it rains it washes out all the nutrients that the soil needs.
George W. Zone 5 Missouri