Wood Chips Gardening

[Iron Head]

Anyone use strictly wood chips for growing veggies?
I have an arborist friend with unlimited wood chips so I have been building a very large 2ft deep gardening bed of nothing but wood chips. This wood chip bed is innoculated with an edible mushroom spores to help with the decomposition and also yield mushroom crops. Before I start planting, I'm going down to a local river to pick up some fine vocanic sand and sprinkle some around each plant to give them the minerals. I think it's going to work great. Just wondering if anyone had tried this method and willing to share some pictures.

 

[DavdH]

http://backtoedenfilm.com
[video]http://backtoedenfilm.com/#movie[/video]

 

[NOMOREGEARS]

It is my understanding that wood chips will take nitrogen to break down thus creating a low nitrogen situation for the veggies. I have noticed that you can increase the ph with various woodchips for plants like Blue berries. I make compost with moist wood chips and bagged lawn trimming. The combination makes GREAT compost. I have had piles get very hot with the typical 25 carbon -1 nitrogen, wood being the carbon and the greens being the nitrogen.

 

[Iron Head]

I got a nice bed of maple, fir, cedar, and alder chips, twigs, and needle about 3ft deep, 50ft long and 50ft wide.
I innoculated the bed with Garden Giant mushroom spores a month ago.
This week I'm going to start sowing my seeds and apply a thin layer of glacial rock dust over them for the essential minerals.
I got a feeling it's going to produce a ton of high quality organics this summer.
If it's nice out I'm going to try and post some pictures and keep a journal on this thread.
I'm hoping to get these edible mushrooms sprouting with my veggies.

 

[blades]

I had an acquaintance till a mess of sawdust and such into garden area, it was around 3 years before any green stuff would grow decent. Sucked all the nitrogen out of the ground. Mushrooms might do well but the green stuff won't till the chips are pretty much broken down. Same thing with horse apples and cowpies, needs to rot awhile before adding to a garden. Mix green and brown plant parts when it turns black its about ready.

 

[Iron Head]

My wood chip bed is 40 x 40 and I just sowed in a bunch of seeds last saturday.
This bed is this year's fresh chips. All I got in them is some mushroom spores, Garden Giants, AKA Wine Caps.
They should help speed up the decomposition.
But I am sure the seeds will sprout in a few days. Once they come up I'm going to sprinkle some rock dust around each one to give them the needed minerals. Pictures are coming and I'll try to keep a journal of progress on this thread.