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market-farming - Re: Help with irrigation and mulch

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  • From: SCook21809 AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Help with irrigation and mulch
  • Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 16:49:34 EST


<< Straw goes for about $1.50 a bale around here, oat or wheat. What are folks
paying for quantities to mulch a large garden with. (I realize that you are
post-straw, I'm hoping someone else will share what they pay for straw! :-)
>>

Allan,
Straw in Western Washington is almost prohibitavely expensive because it
has to be trucked over the mountains from eastern WA. In Bob's and my
situation, add a ferry tarrif to each bale get to the farm. If a person
drives over to eastern WA themselves they can pick up a truck load for $0.25\
bale. Delivered it costs between $3.50 and $4.50\ bale depending how long it
has been in dry storage.
The way I get around this expense is as a post consumer waste remediation
service. Every stable that will agree to use straw as bedding for their
horses gets free hauling of their wastes. This means once a week pick ups
all year long. I have made arrangements with other local organic farmers to
take turns collecting the manured straw. It has to be managed and composted
which makes a superior mulch. Management includes adding water in the summer
months as it's piled and covering it in the winter.
It's free except for the labor and local trucking. It encourages stable
owners to be a little more eco-conscious. A cost analysis demonstrates that
the added cost of straw bedding for stables is made up by free disposal of
wastes. In addition, the community benefits by the support the stable owners
provide to local growers. The wastes are handled in a much more responsible
manner than stables who just pile up manured wood chips and allow seasonal
rains to wash the nitrates into the ground water. Little wonder that salmon
are on the endangered species list here.
Collaborative agreements between agrarian businesses in a community is a
vital part of Community Supported Agriculture.

Art Biggert
Ocean Sky Farm
Bainbridge Island, WA




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