The advantages of mulch on a vegetable garden.

[Johnboy]

Hi Tony,
Moles are not my favourite animal at present they have got into my bean bed and from 160 plants they have been reduce to 25. They undermined the beans and in the process tore the roots from the plants. They started to wither then last week we had a really violent rain storm and this left most of the damaged beans dangling having collapsed the mole runs underneath.
To Clay; Before I moved here I was some 30 odd years ago I lived in Hertfordshire (which is almost as famous for clay as Bedfordshire) for 16 years and was faced with really heavy clay. I double dug and incorporated as much manure as I could get hold of and also used many cubic yards of sharp sand which used often enough tends to prevent the clay reforming. When that has been done the clay starts to break down and when I moved here that soil was beautifully friable and exceedingly fertile.
In the intervening years I grew Carrots and Parsnips by putting a four pronged garden fork into the ground and as you go do a circular movement and really elaborating the movement until the fork is right home into the soil and doing this down the complete row that you wish to grow.. I then used to fill the holes with multi-purpose compost (Peat) and used a broom handle to push the compost in. I then, ever being the optimist I used to sow just one seed. I used to water thoroughly before sowing the seed and the MP would drop then put the seed in top and add more MP and water again. I did the same with Carrots and Parsnips and had some really spectacular results. Carrots and Parsnips certainly as long as the fork tyne and some a lot longer.
Now this sounds like a lot of faffing about but certainly it takes a little time, but not that much, and the end results justify the means.
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Tony, it's amazing what nature can achieve unaided. What you need is a predator of moles, like my cats, it saddens me when they catch one but over several years they only caught two, moles soon learn
Hey Johnboy, you are way off subject here, this thread is about the advantages of mulch on a vegetable garden, if you wish to extol your own methods of double diggimng, or discuss your dislike of moles, may I respectfully suggest you start your own thread please

It may be coincidence but I have never had a mole dig in a mulched bed, only where the ground is uncovered.

[Tony Hague]

The full story on the mole is that what I eventually did was dig a narrow trench and put the remains of the heap of spent compost into it, then sow the carrots on top. A bit like Johnboy's fork holes. The problem with the trench is that it makes a line of easier digging for the mole to run up and down - right along the carrot row ! I was wondering about interrupting the run with some kind of barrier sunk in every few feet next time to avoid it happening again - though Johnboy's method might be an option too.

[Johnboy]

Hi Tony,
This has happened with the Moles before but never as bad. My bean bed is permanent and has slates 18" long buried vertical all round the bed.
He? Simply walked on to the bed and got on with what Moles do!
I don't think there is much more that I can do.
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Until the recent rains here in the south our soils were officially drier than egypt. For us mulching makes sense to conserve any rain that falls, and is what helped my plants through the recent drought, we have also had dry periods in winter. Digging and bare soil would simply allow for further drying
Johnboy,so again I respectfully ask if we can return to topic please.

[alan refail]

Until the recent rains here in the south our soils were officially drier than egypt.

Official source?

[Nature's Babe]

Alan, can't find original source, but we fall in the bottom right hand corner of the red in this map which was classed as severe drought. We are very grateful for the recent rains.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... ht-warning

I know other areas have had rain and scotland had a very wet period but it was very dry here and as you can see from the map quite a large area suffered severe drought

[Tony Hague]

For us mulching makes sense to conserve any rain that falls, and is what helped my plants through the recent drought, we have also had dry periods in winter. Digging and bare soil would simply allow for further drying

While we are talking about mulches and conserving moisture, if you have nothing to mulch with in a dry period, get your hoe out. Not only is it the most effective conditions for controlling weeds, but by breaking the hydraulic connection to the top layer of soil you create a "dust mulch" reducing evaporation from the soil below.

[Nature's Babe]

True Tony, useful if you can't mulch, also hoeing exposes slug eggs & adults to predators & dehydration .