From April through September 2011 I participated as a blogger in a Home Farming Project sponsored by Nabisco / Triscuit Company at the Gather.com site. Some of my gardening articles survived the cut when Gather was sold, some did not. I am trying to save all the ones that did survive so will be sharing through this blog.
Easy Free Mulch
Filed in Gather Home & Garden Essentialby Sonia Martinezon June 2, 2011
Why spend money at a garden supply store on bags of mulch when it's so easy to make your own!
Most of us have trees in our yards that shed leaves not only in the fall when most trees get rid of their leaves to prepare for their dormant period, but also through the summer. All these leaves are usually raked and disposed off or blown off with a leaf blower. We also clip overgrown bushes and trim limbs and dispose of them.
These are precious resources which are usually wasted by being bagged and set on the side of the curb for the city or county to come and pick up.
Here is a much better idea! Regardless of how many or how little an amount of leaves and clippings your yard yields, you can rake them all to a corner of the back yard, cover them with tarp, leaving a bit of breathing space here and there, and let them 'cook' under there for a few months.
The result will be rich, leafy mulch that is decomposed and ready to spread around your plants or worked into the soil in a new garden bed.
Photo: Moluccan / Dawn Dewa 'spinach' growing in a bed covered with homemade mulch.
Or you can save the same large black plastic bags which you used to fill with leaves but instead of putting them out by the curb to be hauled away, put them to work for you. Tie up the top, poke a few holes on the sides and let them sit several months in a back corner behind your garage or anywhere they aren't visible from the street or house.
We don't buy these plastic bags any longer, but from time to time have received one or two when I was given items through our local Freecycle. I put them to good use instead of just disposing of them. Other large bags such as 25 or 50 pound dog feed bags, bags that contained planting soil or compost can also be put to use to store and 'cook' your mulch.
To read the previous posts on this same topic, please click on the following links:
The Home Farming Project - Edible Landscapes
The Home Farming Project - Victory Gardens
The Home Farming Project - The Recycled Garden
The Home Farming Project - Lasagna Gardening
The Home Farming Project - Growing your own small garden bounty
The Home Farming Project - Share the Harvest
The Home Farming Project - Growing Herbs in Your Garden
The Home Farming Project - Straw Bale Gardening
The Home Farming Project - More on Organic Gardening
The Home Farming Project - 'Potager' Gardens
The Home Farming Project - How to keep birds from eating your seeds!!
