Plastic culture......aka plastic mulch.....aka weed barrier......aka that damn hard material to work with! It must be applied to be tight to the soil. Usually takes two workers......some sort of application device such as a tractor with a attachment....and cuss words. Between the wind flopping ....the applicator's constant adjustments.....and an host of other issues that will drive anyone nutz.
Equipment and labor digs deep into the pocket. Small farms and the backyard farmer......cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars. So.....I did this without the previous mentioned......and here's how:
Unravel the plastic roll 6 feet. Place a cinder block on the end. We use 1.25 thick plastic. Not the bio gradable stuff...we want the plastic in place for 4 to 5 years
Now take a PVC pipe, run it through the tube as displayed. Run a heavy rope through the PVC pipe. Tie as displayed. Now simply walk..... towing with the rope. Stop at every 25 - 50 feet.
Using a spade shovel......dig into the soil as displayed. Slide out the shovel with the dirt...otherwise the plastic will push off the soil. I got these holes at every 6 feet.
Important step here. Take the flat of your shoe as displayed. Gently pull back the plastic over that hole you just created. Now dump your shovel contents up top of the plastic...where the hole is.
Take your foot .....compact that dirt you just threw in. Oh....lovely legs I have....you agree?
Go back to the block....remove it....fold back the plastic several times...cover with soil. No need to cover the entire length of the covered roll edges!
The drip tape is under the plastic. In fact....I bury my drip tape into the row....thus prevent "snaking" during the temperature fluctuations. This plastic.....the rows....the drip tape.....will last about 4 to 5 years.
Each row here is 200 feet. It takes 35 minutes to do each row 100% ! Now I have extra time with the labor savings here .....to do more farm work :-(
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