Dandy, Sorry, I don't know how to link, but this is a copy of a post on this forum about 'gorilla hair'. Posted by jeff_zephyr Sunset 7 CA (My Page) on Wed, May 5, 10 at 12:17 I decided to try gorilla hair mulch around my roses last year. It was highly recommended by the garden center. After a year of observation, I am really disappointed. The biggest problem is that this mulch forms a waterproof barrier. Water gets trapped in the gorilla hair instead of percolating into the ground. This is a big problem for a dry climate like mine. Numerous times after it rained, I would lift the gorilla hair mulch only to see how dry the earth underneath was. Weed actually grows on the gorilla hair! Weeding was actually challenging this year, because the unwanted grass and weeds actually root into the gorilla hair. As a result, I ended up throwing away quite a bit of mulch along with the weed. Last, in our windy and dry environment, the gorilla hair actually gets blown away. I have to buy more mulch to replace the sections that disappeared. Conclusion: I'll never buy this product again because it is a waste of money and time. Jeff BACK TO ANDREARK AGAIN: I don't mind work, but I don't want to do what I don't have to do. The compost I use is from Navlet's. As I said before, it discourages weeds and 'MELTS' , eventually, into the soil. I do more 'talking to my babies' than working on them. This will be the first spring flush that I've really paid attention to. Lady Emma and Falstaff have already bloomed several times. And Molineux will open any moment, , , maybe tomorrow. I do sourdough baking, and I make cheeses, but this is the most exciting thing I do. Have a great spring!! andreark (SFO East Bay - Delta area)

The original question was whether the percentage could be increased and still allow the pile to heat. It's a high nitrogen green, so if you add more the pile will get hotter. Don't overdo or it may get too hot, which can affect the microbial population and lower the quality of your product. Or it can go anaerobic like a pile of grass clippings and start to lose N as ammonia. You'll know if you've crossed that line. Seawater is about 3.5% by weight dissolved salts. 80% of that sea salt is sodium chloride. Nice graphic illustration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sea_salt-e-dp_hg.svg I have not composted seaweed nor have I heard anything for or against it beyond what is in this thread, so I'm just reporting. I would not put a lot of sea salt on my garden as a fertilizer, since I have clay. But a little that comes along with wet seaweed, no big deal. Certainly not worse than salty cow manure compost.

TO: ubro FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com SUBJECT: Living Mulches for Orchards DATE: PM 6:15 Thursday 4 February 2016 TEXT: I recommend multiple species cover crops for both orchards and vineyards. Wide biodiversity is necessary to control insect pests. When I was a child, we sowed our apple orchards with buckwheat, turnips, and hairy vetch = winter vetch. This provided many flowers that supported beneficial predators and parasites. Translation: The good bugs ate the bad bugs. Rule: Plant small flowers to encourage beneficial insects. The good bugs have small mouth parts so planting big flowers does not work. Any plant in the Carrot Family = Dill, Fennel, Caraway, Coriander is a good choice. Lacy phacelia, mustard, tansy, feverfew, and clovers also produce abundant pollen and nectar that are easy for beneficial insects to reach. I like to include 1 / 16th part = 6.25% by weight of assorted perennial wildflowers in my cover crop mixtures. Annuals also work if they reseed freely = abundantly. Wildflowers encourage large populations of beneficial insects. As an added benefit, wildflowers also attract customers. Don't forget to include weeds in your orchard. Weeds provide food, shelter, and alternate hosts for beneficial insects. The idea is to keep a resident population of good bugs waiting for the bad bugs to arrive. Growing fruit trees in weeds can nearly eliminate many insect pests. Mow the orchard once yearly or only when trees are ready for harvest. I recommend planting fully dwarf fruit trees. Short trees are much easier to care for and harvest. Note: Do not fertilize dwarf fruit trees. Do not use any soil amendments. Just dig a hole in whatever soil you have and stick the tree in. (Make sure that the graft line is well above the soil surface). Good soil will make dwarf trees grow much taller which is a waste of money. As long as the trees grow 6 to 8 inches yearly, they are getting enough nutrients from the soil. Don't try to help them along or you will be sorry. Over-fertilized trees attract insect pests. Remember to water and mulch your trees. Apply mulch from the trunk to the drip line = the tip of the farthest branch. Use leaves, straw, hay, weeds, wood chips, hedge trimmings, grass clippings, any kind of organic matter will do. Apply mulch not less than 8 inches thick. If you don't have any mulch or if mulch is too expensive, plant mixed cover crops under the trees. Water is more important than fertilizer. As long as you have water, you can grow all the fertilizer you need. (This is why you should include a mixture of legumes in your cover crops). Note: If you space your trees widely, then you can plant row or hay crops between the trees. This will provide income while your trees are growing. We like to plant about 40 different species of trees, shrubs, and vines per acre. Broad genetic diversity greatly reduces insect pests and economic risk of crop failures. Don't plant anything you can't sell. Biodiversity does not pay unless every plant produces a cash crop. We run chickens in our orchards to control insect pests. Chickens are housed in mobile chicken coops on wheels. Move the coops 200 feet every night so chickens have fresh pasture each morning. Chickens on good pasture will get most of their food from bugs, worms, seeds, and leaves. Pasturing chickens greatly reduces feed costs: Portion only 1 to 2 Tablespoons = approximately 1/2 to 1 scale ounce of rolled grain daily per chicken. Keep moving chicken coops all year long. 30-day rotations (1 day grazing followed by 30 days rest) are best. Pastures need about 1 month to re-grow before they are grazed again. Long rotation periods are also necessary to control chicken parasites. Remember: Your best investment is an irrigation system. I would not start any commercial agricultural operation without a reliable water supply. Dwarf fruit trees are expensive. Water is cheap. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Water your trees and cover crops. I hope this information will help get you off to a good start. For more information on old-fashioned biological agriculture, visit: www.agriculturesolutions.wordpress.com -- or -- www.worldagriculturesolutions.wordpress.com -- or -- send your questions to: Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, 15108 USA -- or -- send an e-mail to: erickoperek@gmail.com end comment.

I agree with mulching. I worry about extending my garden beds due to the wild violets. We managed to pull the bulk out of the front bed, but it took an entire summer. My in-laws were visiting and bored during the day so would go out and dig down to the roots. They are persistent buggers! I have followed up this year by putting a second layer of thick mulch and taking any foliage off in order to starve the roots. Beside the stray leaf and weeding a lot before the mulch was put down, I have barely needed to weed. Whatever does grow through is weakened by having to push through the mulch. My lawn is almost 100% weeds dispite reseeding every Spring and Fall. I am planning on reseeding the lawn soon for the fall and then placing the feed pellets as an organic preemergent in the Spring. Might help with the garden, too if the lawn stops being one huge weed.... :)