Good Morning John, A couple weeks back you mentioned a permaculture friend. His input might be of value. I know that the weeds seam like the enemy. I believe that there is a weed that would assist in providing nutrients to the hops. one that would take over the other weeds. Then possibly trimmed like a cut and drop method. a living mulch. perhaps a clover or comfrey.
Hey Adam I was just going to make the same suggestion. I'd probably try seeding the area with clover, and then mow between the rows to keep the taller weeds at bay. Like you said this will help add nutrients to the soil and would also shad the soil to help maintain moisture and promote soil biodiversity.
Thanks for the advice. I think clover might be a good option as it is nitrogen fixing and doesn't grow to be huge. Comfrey takes over and while it's beneficial it might share out early hops. I'm going to experiment planting some clover and see how it goes. I'll keep you guys in the loop through the videos.
put down sheets of cardboard with wood chips / leaves / hay / any kind of mulch on top... hit the local lawnmower and refrigerator shops... huge sheets of cardboard, fast coverage... brings in worms and hold down weeds like a champ! Come to think of it... I'll do a video on it.
How many people do the manual hand weeding? Do you get volunteers or students to help with your yard work? You have so much going on, I imagine it's hard to do it all with just you and your wife and partner. I just wonder how many people can run a farm as large as yours? ~Smile
Kate and I are hand weeding with three friends. Jess and Tim did a lot of the work and David was in there as well ripping and tearing. A total of 5 of us did an acre in about a weeks time all said and told. A lot of work but we're already seeing great returns for out efforts.
@@farmmarketing hey John it's been 4 years now and I was curious what you ve found to work on the weeds as of to date . I have a two year old hop yard and the manual pulling of weeds is getting old was just curious , now that some time has past if you had any new information or results
Definitely look at Comfrey it produces exactly what hops needs to grow. comfrey roots A perennial herb, a member of the borage family, its deep tap roots mine the soil of nutrients, filling its leaves with minerals such as the holy trinity of plant food, nitrogen, and phosphorous and potassium, along with calcium and iron.
if you use wood mulch it ammends the soil. plastic does keep the weeds out but you have to remove it to retill. Just my opinion. I have a 60 x 40 garden and the dirt was terrible. I put wood mulch on it for years and now it has the best black dirt. if you can find a local saw mill it is very affordable. 10 bucks a pickup load. really enjoy your videos and what you are doing.
Paper mulch is an option, we have a 1 acre Organic hops farm. Steps I am doing this year, 1. Burn back weeds until hops are trainable 2. Train hops, and burn back the weeds again. 3. When the weeds start to grow back, cover them with the paper mulch down the rows. Just going to try experimenting with what would work. Plan is to do the same thing the next year, paper mulch would just burn the next year if it makes it that long or through winter. This way the latent weed seed will germinate and eventually the weed pressure will come down. Also been looking at rotating 9X250' poly weed barrier that I would rotate down each isle. I would have to build a huge spool that would roll each up and move to the next row, but it can be done. This would do the same to the weed pressure down the middle of the rows. So I have 15 rows, I would buy 7 of these mats and rotate from one row back to the other every 2 weeks. In a few years, the weeds and there seeds would almost be non existent, this is the hope. A little bit more work, but not as much as hand weeding. Keep up the good work on the videos.
Thanks for bringing us along on your adventure.
How did your application of the Avengers herbicide work I hear mixed reviews? Curious how it worked in a hops operation because it is so pricey.
Awesome:')looking forward to see those videos.......
Is the herbicide avenger available on the market? Who is the manufacture of it?
www.avengerorganics.com/
@@farmmarketing oh neat, its basically goo gone
Maybe try waterfowl for the weeds?
Good Morning John,
A couple weeks back you mentioned a permaculture friend. His input might be of value. I know that the weeds seam like the enemy. I believe that there is a weed that would assist in providing nutrients to the hops. one that would take over the other weeds. Then possibly trimmed like a cut and drop method. a living mulch. perhaps a clover or comfrey.
Hey Adam I was just going to make the same suggestion. I'd probably try seeding the area with clover, and then mow between the rows to keep the taller weeds at bay. Like you said this will help add nutrients to the soil and would also shad the soil to help maintain moisture and promote soil biodiversity.
Clover seems like a good choice. You may find some good ideas on veganic permaculture.com
Thanks for the advice. I think clover might be a good option as it is nitrogen fixing and doesn't grow to be huge. Comfrey takes over and while it's beneficial it might share out early hops. I'm going to experiment planting some clover and see how it goes. I'll keep you guys in the loop through the videos.
+John Suscovich Will be watching for a future update. Thanks for the great work.
another good vid!
Thanks Joe
put down sheets of cardboard with wood chips / leaves / hay / any kind of mulch on top... hit the local lawnmower and refrigerator shops... huge sheets of cardboard, fast coverage... brings in worms and hold down weeds like a champ! Come to think of it... I'll do a video on it.
How many people do the manual hand weeding? Do you get volunteers or students to help with your yard work? You have so much going on, I imagine it's hard to do it all with just you and your wife and partner. I just wonder how many people can run a farm as large as yours? ~Smile
Kate and I are hand weeding with three friends. Jess and Tim did a lot of the work and David was in there as well ripping and tearing. A total of 5 of us did an acre in about a weeks time all said and told. A lot of work but we're already seeing great returns for out efforts.
@@farmmarketing hey John it's been 4 years now and I was curious what you ve found to work on the weeds as of to date . I have a two year old hop yard and the manual pulling of weeds is getting old was just curious , now that some time has past if you had any new information or results
Definitely look at Comfrey it produces exactly what hops needs to grow. comfrey roots
A perennial herb, a member of the borage family, its deep tap roots mine the soil of nutrients, filling its leaves with minerals such as the holy trinity of plant food, nitrogen, and phosphorous and potassium, along with calcium and iron.
I have been splitting my existing plants and spreading it around farm actually. Thanks for the tip.
say no to plastic mulch
No Jack Mack? What are my other options?
if you use wood mulch it ammends the soil. plastic does keep the weeds out but you have to remove it to retill. Just my opinion. I have a 60 x 40 garden and the dirt was terrible. I put wood mulch on it for years and now it has the best black dirt. if you can find a local saw mill it is very affordable. 10 bucks a pickup load.
really enjoy your videos and what you are doing.
Paper mulch is an option, we have a 1 acre Organic hops farm. Steps I am doing this year, 1. Burn back weeds until hops are trainable 2. Train hops, and burn back the weeds again. 3. When the weeds start to grow back, cover them with the paper mulch down the rows. Just going to try experimenting with what would work. Plan is to do the same thing the next year, paper mulch would just burn the next year if it makes it that long or through winter. This way the latent weed seed will germinate and eventually the weed pressure will come down. Also been looking at rotating 9X250' poly weed barrier that I would rotate down each isle. I would have to build a huge spool that would roll each up and move to the next row, but it can be done. This would do the same to the weed pressure down the middle of the rows. So I have 15 rows, I would buy 7 of these mats and rotate from one row back to the other every 2 weeks. In a few years, the weeds and there seeds would almost be non existent, this is the hope. A little bit more work, but not as much as hand weeding. Keep up the good work on the videos.