Why is it so hard to find straw? What's a good mulch for veggies?
silent88
11 years ago
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gjcore
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Straw for mulch... pros and cons....
Comments (29)I have very heavy clay soil,well not any more... After a few years of compost,mulches and cover crops, there is really no need to fertilizer, very rich soil.... Water use cuts down dramatically. "farmers till 2-3 passes" - the same farmers uses genetically modified crops and spray/fertilize with deadly poisons... With record yields - these famers are producing the most unhealthy vegetables/fruits to this date.. Personally, I would rather have quality over quantity... And if you mimic nature and improve your soil like she does, you would have much better yield than this crap your getting fed today.. When you have a healthy foodweb - both on top and below the soil, nature is in harmony. The "good" fight the bad" and nature has it's . Personally, I would rather have a hole in a few leafs than eating the crap they spray on it.. As far as this weed free straw, I am talking about may-June harvest rye, before the seeds set.. Record production? - the farm lands these "farmers" cultivate is going to be uncapable of producing anything in a few decades... It might be all peachy glory know. But what's you digest that GMO corns, and your grand kids are drinking the run off from these "record producing lands" you'll think twice about this method". Maybe a few plants that the bugs ate is better than these poisons, aye? Farmers are realizing this and are transitioning to the no-till method.. With the nitrogen depletion from tilling in carbon, its common sense... Nothing will rot without the proper nitrogen/carbon balance, everyone knows that. So when you till in dry matter, you think it's really going to sit there and improve the soil stricture without damaging this delicate balance of nature... I'll tell you what buy a few bales of straw and till it up real nice a little patch innyour garden, you aren't growing too much without all the fertilizer "farmers" so desperately need.. Yea youcould till in the "straw" when it has the right balance of "nitrogen/carbon" but with critical stress to the soil... Break the tradition, look to nature, obviously somethings wrong with how they go about "farming" today.. If you want to use your chemical fertilizer, and all that great stuff, good for you. Just make sure you think about what you are doing in the long run... Anyone can grow a plant, but can you grow it in a sustainable manner? I know it's a lot to grasp and my "methods" seem a little "cavemen". But look in nature, she has the truth. Happy growing, Joe...See MorePine straw mulch newbie
Comments (5)We have used pine straw mulch before and have been pleased with the results. We used it to mulch a steep area (the slope is steeper than 45 degrees). Wood mulch just rolls downhill, especially if it rains hard. The long strands of the pine straw weave together a bit and hold in place much better. So I don't think that it would blows around very much either. The color of the pine straw mulch isn't very strong, so I haven't seen that it fades noticeably. There are spray-on mulch colorants, but I haven't tried those. Pine straw isn't readily available here, so I had to find the closest horticultural place that had it (one state over) and have two pallet-loads sent over by freight! I feel your troubles with the HOA. I could never tolerate living under such conditions. So we live out in a small town on a road with corn fields and sheep and commute. Give the pine straw a try. It's quite a bit different from shredded hardwood bark mulch, but several of those differences are advantages. You'll not know whether you like the differences between them until you use it....See More? re: straw mulch
Comments (5)Why not just lkeave it there! Pull it back, add your compost iver the surface, and pull back the straw. Over the Winter it will slowly decompose, adding additional organic matter. It the spring, pull the straw away, and plant. The soil will be soft, moist and good to go. If you need to add any soil ammendments like blood meal or bone meal, just scatter it on the surface in early Spring. The earth worms, rain and other soil life will migrate it down to root level in a few weeks. There is no need to till the soil every year! That is a myth! Ron The Garden Guy http://www.TheGardenGuy.org Visit me!!...See Morestraw mulch for raised beds
Comments (16)probably less chemical spray on what is grown as fodder hay, maybe none at all, that hay once spoilt and no good for fodder purposes makes a good nutritional mulch for the garden. even better the slashed grass we are raking closely resembles hay has no spray on it at all comes from vacant properties. surely gardeners in the US must have similar opportunities to rake and gather this sort of grass? for ornamental gardens natural wood chip bought from blokes who are tree loppers, keep it clear of the stems/trunks by about 4"s it does great. len...See Moredigdirt2
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