You won't hurt the soil by over-applying :-) It is totally organic and will breakdown like any other type of organic matter and feed the soil. CGM is actually a decent organic source of nitrogen (NPK 9-0-0), so the only drawback to over-applying is that your plants may produce more lush, leafy growth, including any weeds that were not removed prior to application. What you are smelling is the natural process of the meal decomposing in somewhat anaerobic conditions because of the mulch cover - water and warmth will encourage and speed up this process but exposing the meal to air should dissipate the smell rapidly. Maybe rake off the mulch, leave the CGM exposed for a few days, then recover with the mulch.

I remember reading years ago that the average cubic yard of soil in SoCal contains over thirty-thousand weed seeds naturally. Some require a fire to germinate. Some require as little light as that which would be received should you pull up a weed on a full moonlit night. Many require virtually no water to germinate. I've also read where man made, hybrid Bermuda grass seed has been collected from the Jet Stream over the Pacific. Not naturally occurring Bermuda seed, but man created hybrid seed. They blow in on the wind; drop in via bird poop; are dropped by visiting wildlife; come in on the fur of visiting animals and your clothes as well as falling off the bottoms of your shoes after you've visited somewhere else where they grew. If you have a lawn service, they haul in thousands of weed and grass seeds on their shoes, equipment and the bottoms of their mowers. Here, the only way to stay on top of them is to bury them under thick, frequently replenished mulch. I grind and shred every limb I cut of everything (other than the few remaining oleanders, the peppers and Ca. Black Walnut). Fortunately, I have the world's supply of bougainvillea and a nice stand of Golden Bamboo, both of which make great mulch. I've just about finished removing decades of Banksiae out front which had grown up over the garage roof. Per the recent interaction with the LAFD, next year that Banksiae on the roof will be outlawed, so I got a jump on it. Banksiae also shreds nicely, making a wonderful, lasting mulch due to how woody the canes are. Kim

I wish I wasn't so in love with my reseeders. I'd use the corn gluten. I do use corn meal to give the gardens that UMPH! the plants sometimes need. Great stuff. Alfalfa pellets too, and like you said, all from the feed store for cheap!

Hi Jake. I used it one year in my veggie garden, as I try to be chemical free in there, at least. I found it was only good short term. (Like real short term. A couple of weeks at best) and I had to keep re-applying. For my strawberries I just weed the bed real good in spring and immediately put down a nice thick layer of mulch. If you want to skip the weeding part,.few layers thick of newspaper and mulch on top of that works, too. Dawn