June 9, 2016
Recently a friend and fellow vendor at the market suggested
that I watch the You Tube video of Ruth Stouts Garden. This lady is a real
pioneer in gardening and has forged her own path. It is really amazing to see
how she has adapted to her own environment. Her techniques are quite in sync
with her climate in Kansas. She extensively uses hay mulch.
Deb and I once tried a fully hay mulched garden bed for an
extended period. The theory is very good but what we discovered here in west
Texas, less fluffy mulches work better for us. I suspect that the loose hay
acted as a wick to draw the moisture away. Like a towel on a hot day draped
over the side of a 5 gallon bucket filled with water. The water is soon wicked
off.
It would be interesting to try her methods with finer
textured mulch such as the wood shavings / chicken manure. Like what I use to incorporate
into my beds and then to mulch the surface. I feel it would need to be thicker
than what I normally use to be fully effective.
With our limited water during the year there would be no
way to not water. Natural water is not that dependable. The prospect of pulling
back mulch and planting seeds or plants is intriguing. There is the potential I
will try this on a small scale. I think that I would do this in the summer and
not in the winter. The mulch would keep winter garden soils too cool.
It would be interesting to see how long a fallow bed would
retain moisture and then see how long it would be to rehydrate the bed once it
was to be replanted. I have found bone dry mulch to repel moisture.
Ruth is an independent sort and follows the beat of her own
drum. She is not one to tell anyone else what to do but is more than glad to
share what works very well for her.
Like with all gardening each garden is a little different
from everyone else’s and gardening techniques must be adapted for your
conditions. This is a fun video to watch and I encourage all to watch it. It
just might give you food for thought!!
Here is the link
.
She was quite progressed in age when this video was taken
but I am sure she is smiling on all of us gardeners, like her, doing what we
really like to do, garden!!
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