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  • From: Pumpkin Lady <pumpkingal@clearwire.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Mulch + overwinter questions
  • Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:23:22 -0600

Amrita Chaudhury wrote:


Did you try making briquettes out of the hay/grass clippings?

Since I plant most stuff 2-6 inches apart in the ground...what would this gain me? Even with tomatoes, I plant them 2 ft apart, but I put other stuff in around them. I mean, it's an interesting concept and all, but...

Basically, when I need mulch, I put the bag on the mulching mower and make sure I'm mowing stuff that doesn't have a lot of seeds (not all that much of an issue early in the season), then I just dump it out of the bag and onto the beds as deep or as shallow as I need. If the beds are planted, I sift it by hand/brush it off so that the plants don't get covered up. Over plants I don't make it very deep, and it dries out within a day or two, then I add another thin layer until I get whatever depth I want. Even a very thin layer really cuts down on weeds as long as it is finely chopped stuff.

That's going to change this year because I got goats, and their bedding will be perfectly good mulch I think. The question there is - how long do "goat berries" need to cool compost so they don't burn the plants? Don't talk to me about hot compost, turning a pile is beyond my patience/strength. I've tried it several times over the years and I don't intend to even try to play with it any more.

Can I just take the goat droppings and bedding and put them on the empty beds for the winter and have them have decomposed enough not to burn plants when I plant in spring?

I do intend to play with a few beds this winter, but most of them will just be mulched and set aside for spring planting. Cold and I don't get along, and I am thinking the goats are going to get most of my "outside time" this winter.

Morgan







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