I hope that someday I will plant vegetables instead of vegetables on my plot ornamental plants and I will beautiful paths, but for today the main thing for me is to create optimal conditions vegetable plants. I don't think I'm alone in this endeavor. Based on my priorities, I chose for myself the option of maintaining paths, somewhat unusual among gardeners - under mulch.
On my site, the entire area is divided into beds and passages of approximately the same width - a bed plus a passage - 1 meter.
Such a permanent marking allows you to include in the crop rotation (bed rotation) all crops grown on the site, including potatoes.
In defense of such a scheme, I will give a simple example. For two years in a row, he counted beans on bushes of bush beans planted in meter-wide beds. Beans were planted in 5 rows. On the bushes growing along the edges of the beds, an average of 10 beans (each), but on the rows that were in the center - an average of 3 beans. It can be seen that the difference is huge.
On half-meter beds I plant beans in 3 rows, and the harvest on all rows is approximately the same - all the same 10 beans from a bush.
With such a layout of the garden, the roots of the vast majority of cultivated plants use the entire area of the passages for food. Especially strong - the extreme rows.
Creating conditions for the roots conducive better provision moisture and nutrition.
As far as possible, I try to close all the paths with various organic matter: straw, foliage, bedding from the forest, weeds, mowed grass. Of course, it sounds very strange - to fertilize or mulch the paths, and, nevertheless, it makes sense.
In the spring, while the neighbors are waiting for when it will be possible to enter the garden and not fall through, I calmly walk along my paths sent by organic matter, and without boots - there is no dirt. There was a very striking effect this year. Groundwater rose abnormally high, and it was impossible to step in the gardens - you would fail. The sowing company in my garden, thanks to permanent sheltered paths, began in April, at the neighbors - at the end of May-June.
To quickly warm the beds with a gentle spring sun, you need to open them from the mulch. But at the same time, the soil loses the most important spring moisture. Of course, you can cover the beds with a film, but if the area is large, then it is a little expensive, and bare passages evaporate water very much.
In my case, the passages, on the contrary, are reservoirs of spring moisture and rainwater.
Even with prolonged drought, the soil under the paths is always wet, the roots of cultivated plants are comfortable there.
The question may arise how the tender roots of cultivated plants will penetrate the years-trodden ground of the paths. The answer is easy! And there is nothing strange here. Under the cover of mulch, worms abound even in the paths. Through their efforts, the trampled, dense earth becomes permeated with passages through which water enters the earth. atmospheric air, and the roots of vegetables pass easily.
Such moisture reservoirs allow you to manage with a minimum amount of watering, or without them at all. It is very important for me. On my site, irrigation water (from a well), according to chemical composition far from ideal - too hard. I try to use it to a minimum so as not to salt the soil. Therefore, I grow most crops using non-irrigated technology, even if the yield is somewhat reduced compared to irrigated beds.
July 2007 Compost paths + mulched beds - the plants feel great. It is hard to believe that these beds have never been watered.
In addition to storing moisture, my paths play another important role - organic matter decomposes on them.
In a constantly moist, well-aerated layer of organic matter, beneficial microorganisms multiply rapidly. Souring does not occur due to the moves of the worms - they play the role of drainage.
In this sense, the passages become like compost containers. At first glance, it seems that the volume of these containers is negligible, but let's calculate. The area of the paths in my garden is 50 square meters per hundred. If the organic layer is 10 cm, then the volume of composted material on 5 acres is 25 cubic meters in! And it does not require a special place at all.
The organic layer on the tracks is preferably thicker.
Supporters organic fertilizers one is often overlooked important point: when composting organic matter in compost heaps, carbon dioxide is wasted, which is released by bacteria during respiration. But it is very important for the development of plants. There is a direct relationship - the more carbon dioxide, the greater the yield. Every student who carefully read a biology textbook knows this.
When composting on paths, carbon dioxide is released in close proximity to plants, which increases the yield of vegetables.
Unlike compost heap worms constantly live in the paths.
All processes here proceed without temperature increase. This process is closer to vermicomposting, which produces higher quality humus.
In our case, there is no need to start special technological worms (California reds or "Prospectors"). All processes happen by themselves. Worms only need to create suitable conditions, and they will gather on your site independently and in great numbers. How they find a comfortable place to live is completely incomprehensible to me. But the fact remains that there are a lot of them from somewhere.
Ideally, the paths only need to be layered with new portions of organics annually. This is what happens in nature. Under these conditions, an ideal community of fungi, microbes, worms and other soil inhabitants is created. Each representative of the "waste-processing" soil brethren is located in his own organic horizon, the most favorable for him, and does his job.
It is impossible to create such ideal (natural) conditions in the garden - when planting, harvesting, the structure of the natural “layer cake” is necessarily violated. But on the tracks - please.
One problem - you need a lot of organic matter.
For small plot you can solve this issue, but what about the big one? We have to look for some tricks that contribute to the accumulation of mulch. For example, straw decomposes much faster than leaf litter or needles from the forest. Therefore, I try to prepare more of these materials. Sawdust overheats even longer. I do not use them for a simple reason - in our area it is an expensive pleasure.
Pine bedding
along with small twigs
and cones - a good mulch.
Mulch can and should be grown on your site - use green manure crops.
Often in conversations with the owners of 6 acres, one can hear lamentation: "I would plant green manure, and even so there is not enough space." And who forbade growing green fertilizers in places not occupied by vegetables - in the aisles? Moreover, this can be done simultaneously with the cultivation of cultivated plants.
He sowed crops, and scattered the seeds of green manure along the paths. Crops are growing, green manure is growing. On the initial stage development of vegetables, while they are still small, grown siderates are beneficial - they serve as a kind of backstage, create a favorable microclimate.
The main thing here is not to run green fertilizers so that the crops do not shade and become coarse. Cutting green manure at the right time in the loose substrate of the tracks is not difficult - plants are often not even cut with a flat cutter, but pulled out with roots. Those who had to weed a compost heap will understand what the conversation is about - the roots of plants in such conditions are superficial, poorly developed - there is enough food.
There is no need to remove the cut green manure anywhere, let them remain in place. Tops will build up a layer of mulch, albeit slightly. The roots will be digested very quickly by the soil inhabitants and will become food for both microbes and fungi, and our plants. If possible better greens do not cut off on the paths, but simply sprinkle with a layer of coarse organic matter.
Phacelia blooms.
Do not be afraid that the plants will break when you walk between the beds, most green manure is not afraid of this. The exception is phacelia, it has fragile stems. But that's not a problem for me either.
For movement, I use paths through one: I walk along one, phacelia grows on the next one. The beds are narrow (50 cm) and in any operation you can easily reach the opposite (from the path) edge of the bed. From one track I process two adjacent beds. That's all wisdom.
Sowing the next batch of green manure does not require additional time and effort. Before pruning grown plants, simply scatter the seeds. During pruning, the seeds are embedded in the mulch, they germinate there.
Maintaining green manure crops on paths has a drawback - siderates have to be cut off more often so as not to interfere with crops in the beds, and accordingly, you need a lot of seeds, you need to buy them or allocate a place for growing.
Use of weeds on paths.
Let us recall the experience of V. V. Fokin (the inventor of the flat cutter of the same name) - to use the seeds of annual weeds. According to studies, when 90% of all weeds are removed from the site, the yield of their seeds is reduced by only 10%.
From such numbers, a neat gardener simply drops his hands. It turns out that it is impossible to reduce the number of weed seeds. Even if you do not allow a single weed to be seeded on your territory, seeds will fly in abundance from a neighboring plot or wastelands. They fly in, but on the paths they only make me happy - a source of mulch and fertilizer.
Everything that is said about green manure on the paths can also be attributed to weeds, except for the drawback - there are no problems in the seeds and they do not need to be planted. But not everything is smooth here either. Unfortunately, the composition of self-propagating weed seeds cannot be controlled.
It is desirable that weeds appear at the most early dates as soon as the snow melts. So before everyone else in our area, colza, chamomile, and spurge sprout. These plants germinate 2-3 weeks earlier than spring green manure. It takes time to collect the seeds of these earliest weeds, and not to miss them so that they do not scatter. The solution is simple.
Flowering weeds in wastelands are mowed and laid out on the paths.
Believe me, the seeds will ripen on cut plants. In early spring, the seeds germinate at several times. In June, amaranth generously appears. At each specific site, you can pick up your own set of cultural and "non-cultural" green manure. It is only important to prevent malicious perennial weeds - rhizomatous and root shoots - from entering the paths. For example, I use only one type of euphorbia, an annual one that reproduces only by seeds.
There is rye on the ridges - it is too early to plant seedlings.
In the aisles "uncultivated green manure" - weeds.
Surely, some plants on the paths will be incompatible with crops growing on the beds. The issue of compatibility has not been thoroughly studied. You will have to observe and draw your own conclusions. There's nothing you can do about it, crop production is a creative process.
In any area there are hard-to-decompose, coarse organic remains: stems of Jerusalem artichoke, sunflower, raspberry, etc.
All this stuff can also be used in compost paths. Just keep in mind that if you just throw the stems on the paths, you will have problems - they greatly interfere with cutting weeds.
If it is not possible to grind this valuable material, you can use my method.
I just lay everything in a thick layer between the fenced beds, add some finer material on top. A thick dense layer does not allow weeds to germinate - the light does not pass. During the summer, all this wealth is trampled into crumbs, scorching. Grinding takes place without spending our time and effort.
The hassle of creating mulch on the paths will probably seem superfluous to many. Well, that's everyone's business.
But the fertility of the earth is restored and grows when we return as much organic matter to the earth as we took from it.
It would be better if we add more. There are many examples of this.
Experiencer from Krasnoyarsk Territory I.P. Zamyatkin receives up to two tons of potato tubers per hundred square meters (up to 8 kg per bush) without applying any organic or mineral fertilizers. A member of the Omsk Club of Potato Growers, R. M. Chintsov, receives 400 kg of early ripening potatoes from one hundred square meters at the end of June (!) And by autumn, from the same weave, he takes another 200 kg of tubers.
For those who decide to keep paths under mulch, advice: if organic matter is not enough, then it’s better to make one " compost path» with a mulch thickness of 10 cm than 10 tracks with a thickness of 1 cm of organic matter. A very thin layer of mulch will not give an effect.
If the organics this moment very little, then you can apply the "walking heaps method".
It consists in the following. From the cut weeds I form heaps 10-15 cm high and leave them on the path. Weeds are growing on the rest of the path. When they grow to a critical size, I trample down some of them and move piles on them. In the place where there was a bunch, there is a spot clean from weeds. I cut the remaining weeds that are not covered and increase the heaps due to them. Then everything repeats.
Ideal for this method, when the piles cover half the area of the tracks. Then the grown plants are completely covered with heaps and quickly decompose under them. In clean areas left after moving the piles, weeds sprout again. In this case, you do not need to cut anything, just move the heaps. At the same time, the overheating of organic matter (and, accordingly, the release of carbon dioxide, which is important for us) takes place, and the sun's energy is used to accumulate mulch and weed control is minimized.
Part of the ground near the rhubarb bushes is covered with a layer of potato tops as mulch, weeds grow on the rest. Nothing should be thrown away. potato tops useful in the "lazy corner" - in a plot with perennials.
Kucha moved to weeds. Where there was a pile - a clean place and the ability to grow weeds or green manure, accumulating organic matter.
But weeded weeds and trimmed green manure cannot be dispensed with, you will still have to add organics “aged”. The fact is that young plants decompose very quickly, and, when dried, they lose their volume very much.
For example: he closed the garden bed with a continuous layer of phacelia (cut off at a height of 15 cm) 10 cm thick, and after 2 weeks, miserable blades of grass remained from this layer, unable to cover the ground at least a little. The same layer of mulch, but consisting of rye stalks at the beginning of earing, decreased only by half. But the forest litter decreased in volume by about 20%, and even then only due to compaction.
It should be noted that it makes sense to use "walking heaps" only as a compromise. In the future, you need to find a way to mulch the entire surface.
Sincerely, Oleg Telepov,
Omsk club of potato growers
In order to create favorable conditions for the normal development of plants in the garden and in the garden, you need to constantly ennoble the earth and try not to deplete it for organic and mineral fertilizers. Often, inexperienced gardeners cleanly clean all weeds, all "supposedly" unnecessary organic matter from beds and paths. But this cannot be done. As a last resort, if the vegetation is infected with diseases or pests, then, of course, you need to get rid of it.
Making compost right on the beds is the fastest and most convenient way saturate the soil beneficial substances. It can be seen that in nature no one ever removes vegetation, and a kind of bedding of fallen leaves, dried grass, twigs creates the most necessary microclimate on the soil surface for the growth of new plants.
If you do not remove the vegetation on garden beds, in the garden, then in such a litter a symbiosis is formed - a community of beneficial microbes, fungi, worms, which help the green mass decompose faster, and that, in turn, creates an optimal moisture regime and saturates cultivated plants with nutrients.
For the preparation of compost, all plant residues from the garden (weeds before the ripening of inflorescences) are suitable, and you can also use mowed grass, sawdust, straw, leaves, bedding from the forest. All these plant residues are scattered along the paths and between the rows where cultivated plants are planted. In this way, the covered ground always remains wet, since there is no direct hit sun rays. Such mulch retains moisture for a long time, especially after rains or watering.
In the spring, when it's time to sow all kinds of plant seeds, then green manure can also be sown in the aisles. Thus, the preparation of compost will take place directly on the beds. Young plants - green manure will serve as a backstage for protecting cultivated plants from the hot sun, weathering moisture from the soil. When the green manure grows up, they need to be cut or uprooted and laid in the aisles and on the paths. Or, if you have coarse organic matter, for example, chopped corn trunks, Jerusalem artichoke, twigs, then we lay them out directly on green manure. After a period of row spacing and paths with such a layer, you trample down a little, and rotting processes will begin to occur there. 
When preparing compost directly on the beds, the following green manures are used:
Legumes - clover, chickpeas, wicca, sainfoin, peas, annual lupins, beans, beans, soybeans, alfalfa, sweet clover, lentils, goat's rue, chinna, saradella, field peas, cowpeas (cowpeas).
Cereals - fescue, timothy grass, ryegrass, bent grass, non-spreading gray couch grass, chumiza, cocksfoot, wheat, triticale, rye, Sudanese grass, peiza, sugar and bread sorghum, spring oats and barley.
Cruciferous - winter colza, winter and spring rape, white mustard, gray mustard and oil radish.
Other families are buckwheat, amaranth, phacelia, mallow.
If you have sown row-spacings and paths with green manure, then you can safely walk along them without fear of breaking, except for phacelia, since it has brittle stems. During the spring and summer, green manure can be sown several times. This does not require a lot of effort, just sow on top of the beds with already growing green manure.
But you should not limit yourself to siderates alone, since they lose mass when dried. Then, if possible, be sure to throw straw, forest litter, sawdust on the beds, and rye stalks cut at the beginning of earing are especially good.
Making compost right on the beds is also good because you don’t need to carry it and scatter it - everything is already here and ready for “use”. And carbon dioxide, which is released in the compost, is immediately absorbed by the leaves of cultivated plants, which increases their productivity.
In large piles of compost, the temperature constantly rises, which is not liked. earthworms. In our case, where there can be a 5-10 cm layer of compost on the beds, worms live normally and process the soil so that the humus is even better than with Californian worms, which you need to buy.
If you do not want to grow green manure for compost, as they require repeated overseeding, then when they grow, you need to cut them so as not to interfere with other plants, then it is easier to use common weeds, which grow in every garden, if it is not weeded out every day. Then leave the weeds on the paths and aisles. And when they grow up to the moment when they will soon release seeds, then they can be uprooted and laid there.
If you think that making compost right on the beds requires a lot of work and time, then you are mistaken.) It is much easier to maintain the fertility of the earth "on the job" - right on the beds. And to get good harvest, we must bring more into the earth than we took from it - such is the law of nature. If you stick to it, then you will always have an excellent, rich harvest, some of which you can even sell.
Composting video:
Experienced summer residents are well aware of the deceitfulness of spring weather. Even the beginning of summer can be fraught with unpleasant surprises in the form of low temperatures. Therefore, a warm bed for cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and other heat-loving crops - great way for growing an early harvest even in unfavorable climatic conditions. Device different types warm beds are similar - in fact, these are improved compost heaps.
Scheme of the device of a warm bed in the country
When organic matter rots, heat is released, which is so necessary for plants for rapid development. Therefore, in the spring, seedlings can be planted on "compost" beds earlier.
Filling the compost bed
The main feature of a warm bed is an organic filling, which, decomposing, provides not only heat, but also useful substances necessary for rapid growth and a bountiful harvest.
The process of filling the compost bed
The filling of the bed may differ depending on the possibilities and the organic materials at hand, but the basic principles are the same for any type of warm beds:
Varieties of warm beds
Warm beds in the country can be the following types:
High warm beds
For compost raised or a box is built from suitable materials. Layers of warm "pie" are stacked in this framework. In the country, where groundwater is high, and moisture stagnation is not uncommon in spring, this is the best option.
High beds can be made from boards, bricks, ready-made, etc.
Dimensions of warm raised beds
For warm compost beds, the height of the sides should be from 50 cm. Such beds make it possible to significantly facilitate seasonal work in the country. No need to bend over when planting and weeding plants, convenient to harvest. The height of the curb can be made larger if this does not make it difficult to process the beds.
Drawing with the dimensions of a warm raised bed
The optimal width of the beds is 90 - 120 cm, the main thing is to easily reach its middle. If the bed is installed against the wall of the greenhouse or near the fence and there is only one approach, the width is made no more than 50 - 60 cm. The length of the beds is chosen arbitrarily and is limited only by the size of the plot.
Raised bed device
Traditionally, wooden boxes are used for beds. The reasons for this are as follows:
- wood is inexpensive;
- making and repairing beds is not difficult;
- simple tools are needed for installation;
- wood is a natural eco-friendly material.
To serve longer, it is better to make them from larch boards. This type of wood does not need additional processing, due to the special composition of the resin and high density structures. Larch is resistant to fungi, mold and insects.
To make a high warm bed with your own hands, you need to perform the following steps:
Raised bed manufacturing instructions
- Training. It is necessary to determine the dimensions of the beds and mark the territory. Garbage is removed from the site, the sod is removed, the earth is dug up for better water permeability.
- A bed box is being assembled. Boards sawn to the right size are collected in boxes. Often from the inside, a wooden bed is sheathed with a film or any polymeric material, the film will retain heat and moisture in the ground. Attached to the bottom of the frame metal grid, which will protect the crop from rodents and moles.
- Filling the garden. The box is filled in layers with organic matter and garden soil. If the bed is being prepared in the spring, it must be well shed with water and covered with a film in order to start the processes of biological decomposition faster. For the winter, the compost bed is covered with a dark film so that weeds do not germinate.
Warm bed-hill
Option high unformed beds. Layers from organic raw materials and fertile land are formed directly on the ground without a box, making the process of arranging the beds less laborious.
Step-by-step instructions for making a warm hill-type bed
Outwardly, such a bed resembles an embankment, the middle of which is raised above the ground by about 80 - 100 cm, and the edges gradually decrease to ground level. Inside the hill there is the same filling as in the high warm bed.
The device of the hill-bed is as follows:
Thanks to its design effective area the mounded bed is larger than the horizontal one, and the wooden base provides excellent ventilation of the lower layers.
buried bed
To make such a warm bed, a ditch is dug into which organic material is laid. Top part beds can be slightly raised or located on the same level with the ground.
Creating a deep garden
Combined warm beds
The combined option combines two types of beds. The lower layers of the beds are in a dug trench, the upper ones remain above the ground. The depth of the ditch can be two times less than the buried beds, and a box with low sides is installed on top.
The principles of the arrangement of warm beds
Having understood the principles and features of arranging warm beds, it is not necessary to follow strict instructions. You can improvise, adhering to the main rule - the decay of organic matter must occur correctly. So that pathogenic microorganisms do not multiply, mold does not occur unpleasant odors important to ensure good air exchange and keep the bed moist.
The design and arrangement of a warm bed
For effective work beds should follow the following rules:
- To ensure drainage and air access, long-decomposing waste is laid at the bottom of the bed: thick stems, boards, branches, tree roots. The layer should be loose, about 45 cm thick.
- Each layer must be well shed with water and not allowed to dry out in the hot season.
- Only leftovers are used as filler for the beds. healthy plants and weeds should be seedless.
- It is important that the layers do not stick together, so the air exchange will be disturbed. Raw raw materials should be layered with straw, thin eyelids, dry plants, leaves.
- For the winter, the finished garden bed needs to be covered from weed seeds, which will instantly germinate on fertile soil.
Previously, we were not fond of farming, the plot was depleted, there were no crops, and therefore we had no interest in this occupation. But one day we learned that it is possible to build such beds on which all heat-loving plants grow by leaps and bounds, and even sing on the bushes. And they are called warm. We carefully studied how to build such beds and immediately set to work. They dug a trench, filled it with organic matter according to the principle of composting. Layers of organic matter were thoroughly sprinkled with Radiance-3. The bed was spilled with water and covered.
A few days later we made holes, filled them with 10 liters of nutrient soil and planted tomato seedlings.
Plants and, however, grew very well on a warm bed, the harvest was excellent.
We had never seen green tomatoes before, but here red ones, and even in clusters. From that moment on, we decided that we would always make warm beds, because they can’t be compared with ordinary ones.
In the spring, our warm beds gave us another surprise. In order to re-lay them, we began to free the trenches from the contents from last year. How much we were surprised when huge heaps of well-rotted organic matter grew in the middle of the site.
Blimey! We have never had so much compost. And what does that mean? Can I plant all the plants in all the beds in compost? Here we parted: in all the holes, in all the grooves, in all the beds we laid out ready compost.
All trees and shrubs were mulched. Enough for everything, never regretted. The plants were very happy with this feeding. And we somehow rejoiced at the first full-fledged harvests.
Now we plant warm beds every year, as they are a real compost factory, they feed not only the plants that grow on them, but the whole garden.
Highly good time to create warm beds the end of summer - the beginning of autumn. At this time, there is a lot of organic matter. Grass has grown, entire mountains have harvested tops, trees have shed their leaves.
And in the spring, for warm beds, we use hay and food waste accumulated over the winter. So, creating such a factory is not at all difficult and accessible to everyone.
