Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Mulch + overwinter questions

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Pete Vukovich <pvukovic1@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Mulch + overwinter questions
  • Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 10:11:46 -0800 (PST)


As for mulch decomp times it varies with just about everything, thickness, time of year, humidity you name it. A friend of ours collects the goat droppings and partially dissolves them in buckets of water then dumps the resulting sludge on her garden.
Seems to work well for her. But thats more fertilizer than mulch.

As for using bedding directly, it depends on your operation and your feed formula, I think if you let it compact before changing (building a bedding) it seems to be a fine mulch. If you're diligently mucking their pens you might want to wait to let the nitrogen (eg ammonia) break down some. I think this is not so for other rhuminators, I've got the impression from some alpaca owners that their droppings can go straight on without risking any burn.

I'm no expert here, just what I've seen other people do.




--- On Thu, 11/6/08, Pumpkin Lady <pumpkingal@clearwire.net> wrote:
From: Pumpkin Lady <pumpkingal@clearwire.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Mulch + overwinter questions
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Thursday, November 6, 2008, 7:23 AM

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



_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page