Market Farming

[pam AT twinoaks.org]

> Have any of you ever used paper -- newsprint -- for mulch. I've never
> mulched at all so I'm in unfamiliar territory here.  Just discovered
> that we kept all the unprinted newspaper used by the movers to pack
> our goods -- lots of it. 
Yes, we often use newspaper for mulch. We take out the pages 
with colored ink, and just use the black and white ones. I 
understand black ink is not toxic...... Mostly what we do is use a 
double layer of newsprint and then cover with spoiled hay, which 
we get free. The newspaper can halve the thickness of hay 
needed. also, it's very easy to get a good close fit around plants: 
make a 3" rip in the center of one edge of each pair of pages, then 
overlap two pairs of pages with the rips around the stem of the 
plant. Hold the paper down with rocks until you get the hay on, or 
else damp the paper, to stop it blowing away.
Pam Dawling, Twin Oaks Community, Virginia