currently reading: Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

  • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.org
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    8 days ago

    Not sure if you have the budget, but landscape fabric is wonderful for separating raised beds from the surrounding environment.

    • LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org
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      8 days ago

      If you mean agricultural felt, carry on. Other than that, most woven landscape fabrics are plastics and will not only break down and get into the soil but also make removing plants which grow through it harder to manage or remove

      • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.org
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        8 days ago

        will not only break down and get into the soil but also make removing plants which grow through it harder to manage or remove

        I was just trying to grow chile.

        • LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org
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          7 days ago

          It’s not so much the crop you’re growing, but the weedy species around the growing space which will try to get to that space and will entangle themselves in the plastic interweave. Trying to remove them by pulling will just rip some of the material apart, which means bits of plastic left behind and greater opportunities for even more weeds to make it through.

    • SteevyT@beehaw.org
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      8 days ago

      Landscape fabric would probably work, although I have the litter bags on hand already. The soil under the beds is pretty decent (used to be farm land) so letting stuff shoot roots down should be fine. I’m just trying to do just enough to keep soil from spilling out between boards when it rains.

      Also, turns out my city has a partnership with a place that sells compost from the yard waste the city collects so it isn’t completely insane to fill the beds with compost. I’ll probably do some more poking around to see if I can find anything else though.