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- From: Home Grown Kansas! <hgkansas AT sbcglobal.net>
- To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Municipal Mulch
- Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 07:32:35 -0800 (PST)
TxBeeFarmer,
Our farm, is an urban farm. We have used wood mulch for 16 years. I would not recommend putting it into a garden that you intend to plant immediately - the wood pieces are too large and can be uncomfortable to work in - planting, etc. Nor do we mulch the garden with them.
I have tree trimmers dump a row of mulch piled up - perhaps 100' in length. I will then let it set for a year or two. At that point I start leveling out the piles of mulch - using a box blade or chisel tooth - leaving them thick - 2' deep for example. Using a chisel tooth plow/subsoiler, I start working the chips into the soil - be patient. I have heavy soil so the wood chips do an excellent job of conditioning the soil. A wonderful planting bed is the result. I also have low areas along the river that I have used
the mulch to fill holes, make trails, etc.
I have become rather particular on who's mulch I take. I look for tree trimmers who change the knives on their chippers regularly - once a week is great. The chips are smaller, not stringy and much easier to work with. I also look for trimmers that are polite, courteous and respectful of where I live and of my family - I have had to ask several not to come back. Also, they must not put large pieces of limbs, branches in the mulch - it happens, but not too often.
Our home is heated with a wood furnace. I request that the tree trimmers bring me some "hard" wood firewood on occasion. The trimmers have to pay big money to dump at the local dump, so a little firewood is not a burden on them. They also bring me stump grindings, which I put in a
separate pile for use as a decorative mulch around the house.
I take leafs that are picked up by "Grass Mowers" in the fall. They dump a pile right down the middle of the planting area - 6'-8' in ht., which I spread out and start working into the ground.
It is my belief that using the mulch from tree trimmers and leafs from the grass people is a sustainable practice.
Good luck,
Elize Randleas
Home Grown Kansas!
Wichita, Kansas
TxBeeFarmer <TxBeeFarmer AT HotPop.com> wrote:
Speaking of mulch, has anyone used the mulch from the local town or city.
Our town has mountains of mulch.
Thanks
TxBeeFarmer
West Texas Zone 7b
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[Market-farming] Local Food Summit Press Release,
Joyce Paski, 12/04/2006
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[Market-farming] Municipal Mulch,
TxBeeFarmer, 12/06/2006
- Re: [Market-farming] Municipal Mulch, Home Grown Kansas!, 12/06/2006
- Re: [Market-farming] Municipal Mulch, Shawnee Flowerfarmer, 12/06/2006
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[Market-farming] Municipal Mulch,
TxBeeFarmer, 12/06/2006
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