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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Municipal Mulch

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  • From: "Shawnee Flowerfarmer" <farmingflowers AT hotmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Municipal Mulch
  • Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:00:26 -0600

A couple of years ago, I won the mulch lottery...a town in the Chicago area was looking for a place to dump an entire year's worth of EPA approved municipal compost.  They were going to be charged to put it a landfill and offered to truck the compost to the farm...200 yards of it.  It was beautiful stuff...like chocolate cake crumbs-the perfect soil amendment to the heavy clay soil in Lake County.

For a few seconds I felt bad for the taxpayers who had paid and then not used their compost, but they were also being saved from the further expense to dispose of a product that they didn't want either.

Eventually, we connected with a leaf collecting service who brought leaves in 80 yard loads to the farm and then a business that collected horse manure from race tracks. 

There is never enough compost though.  Miraculous stuff...breaks up heavy clay or holds moisture in sandy soil.  Now, at a historical garden, I get grass clippings from the golf course behind us and leaf mold from our Forest Preserve.  The clippings from the greens look like grass pesto...they're so finely chopped. (I do let those heat up for a couple of weeks to break down the lawn chemicals even though our Forest Preserve is fairly sensitive to chemical issues and uses the minimum possible.)

I also use wood chips that are available free for the labor to load them...very coarse, but they break down quickly when composted. (What a luxury to have someone bring them on site.) 

-Shawnee, zone 5


From:  "TxBeeFarmer" <TxBeeFarmer AT HotPop.com>
Reply-To:  Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
To:  "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject:  [Market-farming] Municipal Mulch
Date:  Wed, 6 Dec 2006 06:01:45 -0600
>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 mailing list
>Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>


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