I should mention, also, that I tried to mulch with straw this past summer, which is closer to what Ruth Stout did with her hay. However, the hay and straw are at a premium in Iowa, even old, moldy bales, and so it is cost prohibitive. I could only afford one big, round bale, which covered about 1/5 of my garden. Then my sister lent me the Back to Eden video, which made me decide to go the route of free wood chips from the tree trimming company. I have been reading your posts about using wood chips, and it seems they are fairly mixed about whether using fresh chips are a good idea or not. If I spread the chips on in the fall, will they be "safe" by spring?

I've used Murphy Products, they're pretty reasonable. They have several different types of compost to choose from. I've linked their website at the bottom. If you want something for free, you can pick up composted horse manure which is just as good IMO at several stables around town. There is one at NE 63rd and Sooner, I believe, called Bridlewood Equestrian. You just have to call ahead of time. It's free if you load it, or $10 if she loads it with her tractor. Her tractor seems to broken down quite often though, so I'd bring a shovel just in case. Their website is www.bridlewoodok.com -Matt Here is a link that might be useful: Murphy Products

Think of the mulch as if it were plastic, it retains moisture and keeps weeds down. I use chips for most larger crops: tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, and the like. for large transplants I'll lay a bed about 3-4" deep along the row, scrape a 6" diam. hole at the planting site and dig the soil for the rootball. I leave the chips scraped away from the stems of the plants to make a well. for direct seed crops like beans I lay a bed maybe 2-3" deep and either plant into holes in the mulch or hoe a strip down the middle clear to soil and plant just barely into the soil, covering with a layer of chips. The method works well for me because there is very little tilling at the beginning of the season, when spring rains (we have had 3" this week) really wreck a tilling schedule. Less tilling makes for less weed seeds turned up, and those that are get smothered by the chips. As the season progresses, the chips do a tremendous job of holding in moisture to reduce irrigating. I find that with well ground chips, as fall comes around and even overwinter, they have broken down very well. There will allways be a few random larger wood pieces that didn't break down, which I will either rake into the path and rebury, or just till in. I largely do only fall tilling to incorporate soil amendments. My garden is on the small side, but I try to use larger scale production methods as they afford the best return on my time investment. I do all rows, raised slightly, irrigation hoses, and mulch rather than plastic. The mulch works great if its available. I have not noticed a problem with tying up soil nutrients, possibly because the chips are on the soil surface and not incorporated until they are much more decomposed. I haven't had my plants tested, but i figure if they are green, vigorous and productive, they are doing what I hired them to do.

Here's what I do, and you can glean out of it what you find relevant. I grow mostly hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, minifloras, and minis. Except for the newer Kordes ADR roses and my minis, which are just about tip hardy without any protection, all the others would essentially die to the ground over winter without protection. In a matter of going through two consecutive winters without protection they would be dead. Around Thanksgiving, when the roses have had about a month of off and on freezes, I place a large shovelful of uncomposted pigeon manure (just about the same as chicken manure....very strong and concentrated), around each large rose. Less manure is used, according to bush size, down to about a quart of manure per mini. I scratch this into the soil lightly which already has a nice layer of older mulch on it. The mulch is just fluffed up so the manure is worked through and below it. The mulch breaks down from Thanksgiving on, all winter. The roses make few to no false, warm spell starts during winter. When they do, the false starts are at the cane tips which will be pruned away anyway, come spring pruning in early April. My roses grow like gang busters. Come July and on, after the benefits of the manure fertilization have waned, I apply biweekly liquid feedings of bloom booster type fertilizer until the end of September. •••••••••••••••••••••• I believe applying fresh manure LATE enough, after a full month of freezes, will turn out with excellent results, and do nothing but good. Moses