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  • From: "mmaysen" <mmaysen AT alltel.net>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] speaking of mulch
  • Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 15:27:43 -0500

Thank you to everyone who replied. And I appreciate Steve taking the
time to give me some specific instructions. I am eager to make use of
these oak leaves.
Thanks again,
MeLani

-------Original Message-----
--MeLani -
--
--Oak leaves make an excellent mulch.
--
--Practically any leaf-based mulch works well
--to conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and
--provide habitat for worms and microbes
--with an end result in soil improvements.
--
--The leaf corral is a great way to gather leaves
--for mulch and to make leaf mould.
--
--You can also turn leaves into leaf-based
--compost by following a recipe that matches
--carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, C:N.
--
--Don Boekelheide, home compost coordinator
--for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, figured
--out that you need one 50-lb. bag of alfalfa pellets
--(rabbit pellets) per 3'x3'x3' leaf bin to arrive at a
--proper C:N ratio.
--
--Either way, you can speed decomposition of tree
--leaves into various stages of leaf mould or compost
--by shredding, adding nitrogen, and maintaining
--moisture.
--
--A pile of leaves will tend to dry out in the middle.
--When moisture is absent, decomposition and
--biological transformation slows down to a crawl.
--
--Since you are raising 1/2- to 3/4-acre of herb
--beds, I suggest that you also look into quantities
--of straw bale mulch to quickly cover all those herb
--beds to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
--
--Steve Diver
--
--
-- >Thanks for the response. Yes, my herb garden area that I
--need to mulch
-- >is only about 1/2 to 3/4 acre in size.
-- >You mention leaves. For future planning ... most are oak
--leaves (pin,
-- >burr) with some maple. (The rest of the trees are
-- >evergreens/coniferous.) I had thought the oak leaves might be too
-- >'strong', for lack of a better term, to use as mulch. Do
--you think they
-- >can be used after being in a bin for a year, or two, or ?
--They don't
-- >seem to break down much in that period of time.
-- >thanks again,
-- >MeLani





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