Critique my organic rescue plan please

12 years ago

Hi there All.

My first post here, so please excuse me if decorum is not followed or if I have missed something...

Some background: My family and I moved into a new house a year ago. The garden (among other things) was / is in a terrible state. Not one blade of grass, far to many trees and the soil, if not turned regularly is as hard as a rock.

I have not done a soil test (not sure that this can be done in SA), not even a jar test, as I am not entirely sure how.

I have read a fair amount of the posts here, especially on the organic lawn thread, so this has inspired me to improve soil quality et al.

The whole of last year (winter and summer) was spent trying to establish lawn (kikuyu, a type of creeper lawn, very nice when kept short, but can also be kept "relatively" long) and making hot compost. The idea at the time was to till in the compost in order to improve the soil, as there appears to be no OM in the soil (to the naked eye).

After reading the posts on this forum, I have put together the following plan:

1) Put down the compost on both the beddings and the lawn.
2) Make use of Lucerne (alfalfa) pellets (ours is different to yours I think in that it also has molasses, cracked corn, grass in)
3) Make use of corn meal ( The grass planted last year tended to get dry, brown spots, almost like those sods were of a poor quality, so I use the corn meal just in case there is a fungal overload)
4) Make use of compost tea, once a month to ensure that the OM that I put down once a month (not the compost, only the pellets and meal) would be available to the plants. I will use the recipe available here on this site.
5) Make use of baby shampoo, once a month in order to ensure that the soil is soft enough to allow for root growth and to improve performance in dry weather conditions.
6) All applications of the above is at the rate as recommended here on this site.
7) And then wait it out to see if there is any improvement...

There is also a grass harvester termite problem, but I attend to that as I see them come out to harvest, using a stomach poison in pellet form that they carry down the nest. Not ideal I know, but they do wreak havoc and grass is expensive!

Is there anything that I have missed? Can anyone else make recommendations to help me improve the soil condition, and to improve it quickly (perhaps within this season?)?

I realise that without a soil test that I have to take a "shotgun" approach, but I am hoping that going the organic route, I will not cause any harm but only improvements.

Is my once a year application of hot compost sufficient, is my monthly application of organic fertilisers, teas and baby shampoo enoug / too much?

Any advice and recommendations / opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks from an almost sunny South Africa... :)

Hannes

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Comments (3)

Kimmsr
12 years ago
A quick and cursory web search for "soil testing in South Africa" produced a large list, many of which may not be what you want. A quick and cursory search for "Agricultural schools in South Africa" produced this "Formal agricultural training is available at five different levels, i.e. at primary schools, secondary schools, colleges of agriculture, technikons and universities." as well as a fairly long list of such schools. Some places to start to find out about the soil pH and nutrient levels. These simple soil tests,
1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drainsÃ¢ÂÂ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
may also help.
nandina
12 years ago
Welcome, Hannes. Many of the procedures you are currently using have been introduced into the organic forums by dchall and myself over the many years we have been posting on GW. Your question is interesting. Below are listed some thoughts/suggestions to consider as they come to mind.

1. Hopefully you are near a good library with an archive of African gardening books going back to the 1600-1700's. How your ancestors did it. Also, how during British occupation they grew food. I have never met a Brit who could not conquer any ecosystem.

2. You will find searching "understanding African soils" very helpful, answering many questions.

3. Cutting to the chase. Do a search for "keyhole gardens in Africa". A successful technique developed over the centuries which is now being used in other areas around the world with difficult soil conditions.
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pnbrown
12 years ago
Is "conquering an ecosystem" a good thing?