>In my view, a geotextile weed barrier would make a nice >ground cloth as an alternative to plastic mulch; thus, another >use for super low-maintenance weed barriers in agriculture.
Steve - Do you have a brand name and source for a good geotextile weed barrier fabric? ================================================== We use the DeWitt Sunbelt Weed Barrier. Dan Wofford was the guy who really got this going as a geotextile mulch in small-scale vegetable and berry production. For perennial crops like tree plantings, a windbreak, and in organic orcharding and vineyarding, it can make all the difference in the world in terms of non-chemical weed control that does not take up all your time cultivating and tilling, or re-applying organic mulches. Wofford helped over 130 small farmers in the OK, KS, MO region get into a 4,500 sq. foot production bed using a 15' x 300' roll. Cost is about $275 to $300. Two good web links: HydroSource Polymer & Research Library http://www.hydrosource.com/serv01.htm A collection of online articles from Dan Wofford's field trials, with photos and text. An excellent introduction to this system. Guaranteed to expand your mind!! Fyi, the HydroSource hydrogel was Wofford's big thing; his company; but its use with the weed barrier is optional; it is mainly something I'd talk to people about if they are planting -- like myself -- roadside flower beds, or on remote sites where irrigation is not available. IPM-Based Landscape Design: Landscape Fabric and Mulch http://www.efn.org/~ipmpa/fabric.html This website is geared to woody landscape plantings, but the background information on geotextile mulches and how they function as a weed barrier is really helpful. Here is your answer, Allan. Sunbelt Weed Barrier is made by the DeWitt Company. Dewitt Company 905 S. Kingshighway Sikeston, Missouri 63801 573-472-0048 573-471-6715 Fax 800-888-9669 Toll Free http://www.dewittcompany.com/product.html http://www.dewittcompany.com/products/sunbelt.html As an aside, not to go off on the synthetic deep end. I am also a proponent of organic mulches and the many ways you can work with straw, leaves, Ramial wood chip mulch, and no-till cover crop mulches -- and here are two items I'm working on to support these approaches. Mulching Systems for Organic Market Gardening http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/mulching-systems.doc No-Till Vegetable Production: Non-Chemical Methods of Cover Crop Suppression and Weed Control http://ncatark.uark.edu/~steved/no-till-veggie.html I know two different farms here in the Ozarks that bought leaf sucking machines to collect leaves from the woods, to obtain sufficient leaf mulch to cover market garden production beds. Another farmer nearby purchased one of those specialized wood chipping/shredding machines to make Ramial wood chip mulch from on-farm brushwood. Emilia Hazelip put on a workshop here in 1995, or thereabouts, and several farmers adopted the permanent deep mulch method she refers to as Synergistic Gardening. Here is Elixir Farm's story about soil preparation, leaf mulch, BD preps, etc, to prepare a new production bed on sloping land. Also, back up and look at the pictures on this web page to enjoy scenes from this beautiful, vibrant BD farm. http://www.elixirfarm.com/pforest.htm Best, Steve Diver
