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  • From: "Mary Embleton" <mary AT oz.net>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Bio degradable mulch
  • Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2010 15:32:19 -0700

List members,

"Biodegradable mulches for specialty crops produced under protective covers"
is a three-year collaborative research project between Washington State
University, Western Washington University, The University of Tennessee,
Texas Tech and Texas A & M. The project is funded by USDA CSREES. The
first focus group with producers looking at the initial trials was today.
Many of the questions about biodegradability, cost/economics, environmental
impacts, etc will be addressed during this study. The first two working
group meetings were extremely productive. If you have questions about the
project and how it advances, please contact Dr. Carol Miles, Project
Director, milesc AT wsu.edu or 360.848.6150.

In community,

Mary Embleton
Executive Director
Cascade Harvest Coalition
www.cascadeharvest.org
206-632-0606

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Road's End
Farm
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 1:52 PM
To: rob AT songberry.ca; Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Bio degradable mulch


On Jul 8, 2010, at 3:57 PM, Rob Wallbridge wrote:

> 1) It's best to lay it in cool weather (early mornings work well).

I suppost most of the time we could pull that off if we tried hard.
Sometimes the best way to fit the job into the rest of the week is to
do it in the afternoon during a hot spell, though.

> 2) Plant it soon after laying it to maximize lifespan.

I like to lay all the plastic while the soil moisture conditions are
good if possible. If it's too dry, we can run irrigation under the
plastic before planting, though in a dry year it's good to save the
moisture by laying plastic while there's some moisture there to save;
but we often have long stretches of weather during the spring when our
fields are too wet to work with equipment, but if the plastic's
already down we can plant just fine. We plant by hand, and our
planting is often interrupted by other work; also we plant in plastic
some crops intended to go out sooner than others; so plastic can
sometimes be down two or three weeks before it's planted. To plant it
all right after laying it, we'd have to lay only a couple of rows at a
time; which means that we'd have to keep mounting and un-mounting the
mulch layer; and which also means that planting would often be further
delayed because weather prevented us laying the plastic right before
we wanted to plant.

> 3) The bed needs to be relatively firm and smooth to prevent tearing
> and
> holes.

So we'd need to get rid of the rocks, and also need to buy a proper
bedformer, and probably level the field in some areas before even
using that.

> 4) Aggressive perennials like milkweed and quackgrass will push
> through.

Oh, we've definitely got those. Also Canada thistle.

> 5) If drip tape is in contact with the plastic, it will disintegrate
> and
> tear where the tape is touching it.

Drip tape generally winds up in contact with the plastic all the way
down the middle of the row. So I suppose we'd have to get a different
mulch layer (possibly to go with the bed former), in order to bury the
tape deeper; or else all our rows would split down the middle soon
after planting, at which point the wind will pick the plastic up and
land it on top of the small new transplants, probably doing
considerable damage. (I had that happen once, years ago, when I was
experimenting with an old version of supposedly biodegradable mulch.)

> 6) How well it holds up depends a lot on the weather (it breaks down
> noticeably quicker in hot, wet weather).

Which is just when the weeds want to grow the fastest. And which here
is sometimes followed by hot, dry weather; during which we want the
water saving effect of the plastic mulch.

So I don't think we'll be using this stuff anytime soon. Maybe someday
somebody will come up with a biodegradable mulch that a) is actually
biodegradable, and doesn't leave the soil full of tiny bits of plastic
for years with unknown effects on soil life and b) will nevertheless
hold up long enough to last at least most of the season, without
requiring near-perfect conditions in the field to do so. Doesn't sound
like they've done it yet, though.

We mimimize the crops we use it on; but I think we're stuck with the
old plastic mulch for a while.

-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale



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