Hey guys, as most of you Know i dont use mulch and i am thinking about mulching garden beds not sure which ones to mulch at the Moment.
whats the best stuff to use out of Old Hay, Straw Or wood shavings or goat poo? and should u Mulch and Onion Bed?

any straw is good.
by applying 100mm of mulch to every crop you greatly increase the amount of humus in the soil. it takes years, but the straw becomes humus, and then worm food, and then a dark biomass in your soil. this is really at the heart of gardening because its not just your plants and worms using your soil as a food source. there thousand of other living creatures – some microscopic, some visible, that feed, burrow, reproduce and die in your soil. they all leave tiny amounts of nutrients in your soil and thus your soil fertility is based on soil life.
use your goat manure in conjunction with the straw because straw need nitrogen to decompose.

i forgot to say don’t mulch the onions. they will rot – particularly in the wet.

pepe is correct in that all soil quality is determined by the worm presence and that all mulching of any kind will increase the worm presence.

I used to have my mates dropping in wanting to dig up my yard for worms to go fishing with until I said to them.. “here take this old wheat bag and toss it down on your back yard and keep it moist.. grow your own worms and leave mine where they are.”

It is also true that the breaking down processes do use NPK and in many cases can actually cause a lock-up off these important elements or other trace elements. The chemistry of our soil is something each gardener needs to learn in situ .. on their site. I often deny having a green thumb.. I usually say.. “nah.. look my thumbs are brown.. not green.”

A mulch solely composed of rice husks for example, will indeed cause such a scenario. The Ph of the soil or the mulch is an important consideration. It is basically impossible to alter extreme Ph situations for very long. As indeed we can only affect the top or the surface of the soil, for brief periods of time. However, altering the soil surface with mulch can and does create a more complex soil biology which in turn affects the balance in soil chemistry.

Manures are fertilisers or soil conditioners depending on how you use them. All fertilisers can alter the soil chemistry either briefly or for longer periods.

Soil chemistry is important to be kept in balance with the needs of the soil biology. It is far better to aim at a healthy soil biology than to fertilise a plant growing in that soil. Fertilisers(many of them) can kill the microbiology in your soil which in turn can create a chemical imbalance.

It is important to become familiar with such things if you want to garden organically.. or indeed farm this earth at all.

pepe said:

i forgot to say don’t mulch the onions. they will rot – particularly in the wet.

ok then, i will try and Organise few cheap Bales.

whats the best stuff to use out of Old Hay, Straw Or wood shavings or goat poo? and should u Mulch and Onion Bed?
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I’d reckon if you have all of these, you should compost them and use the compost as a mulch.Maybe with a sprinkle of one of them over the top when you apply it.
I mulch my onions but only a very light dusting of semi decomposed straw. Enough to keep the weeds down but not rot the onions.

Longy said:

whats the best stuff to use out of Old Hay, Straw Or wood shavings or goat poo? and should u Mulch and Onion Bed?
++++++++++++++++
I’d reckon if you have all of these, you should compost them and use the compost as a mulch.Maybe with a sprinkle of one of them over the top when you apply it.
I mulch my onions but only a very light dusting of semi decomposed straw. Enough to keep the weeds down but not rot the onions.

i have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?

veg gardener said:

Longy said:

whats the best stuff to use out of Old Hay, Straw Or wood shavings or goat poo? and should u Mulch and Onion Bed?
++++++++++++++++
I’d reckon if you have all of these, you should compost them and use the compost as a mulch.Maybe with a sprinkle of one of them over the top when you apply it.
I mulch my onions but only a very light dusting of semi decomposed straw. Enough to keep the weeds down but not rot the onions.

i have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?

in the words of Neil Douglas .. ti is twice as hot when it is half finished..

or something to hat effect..

um use it when you need it.. and if you need more .. make more.. is a general rule. but it all depends on what you want to use compost for.. you can make it in ten days or you can make it over several months it depends a lot on materials and some on science.

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

Longy said:

whats the best stuff to use out of Old Hay, Straw Or wood shavings or goat poo? and should u Mulch and Onion Bed?
++++++++++++++++
I’d reckon if you have all of these, you should compost them and use the compost as a mulch.Maybe with a sprinkle of one of them over the top when you apply it.
I mulch my onions but only a very light dusting of semi decomposed straw. Enough to keep the weeds down but not rot the onions.

i have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?

in the words of Neil Douglas .. ti is twice as hot when it is half finished..

or something to hat effect..

um use it when you need it.. and if you need more .. make more.. is a general rule. but it all depends on what you want to use compost for.. you can make it in ten days or you can make it over several months it depends a lot on materials and some on science.

what i compost is what we have around the farm from leafs, grass clippings, straw, wood shavings and Animal dung. and stuff from the gardens.

veg gardener said:

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

i have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?

in the words of Neil Douglas .. ti is twice as hot when it is half finished..

or something to hat effect..

um use it when you need it.. and if you need more .. make more.. is a general rule. but it all depends on what you want to use compost for.. you can make it in ten days or you can make it over several months it depends a lot on materials and some on science.

what i compost is what we have around the farm from leafs, grass clippings, straw, wood shavings and Animal dung. and stuff from the gardens.

All that can be turned into a fine earthy tilth in ten days if you are prepared to turn it every day..

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

roughbarked said:

in the words of Neil Douglas .. ti is twice as hot when it is half finished..

or something to hat effect..

um use it when you need it.. and if you need more .. make more.. is a general rule. but it all depends on what you want to use compost for.. you can make it in ten days or you can make it over several months it depends a lot on materials and some on science.

what i compost is what we have around the farm from leafs, grass clippings, straw, wood shavings and Animal dung. and stuff from the gardens.

All that can be turned into a fine earthy tilth in ten days if you are prepared to turn it every day..

thats the hard bit turning every day, i use the skidsteer its to wet in the paddocks at the momment to turn it.

veg gardener said:

what i compost is what we have around the farm wood shavings and Animal dung.

About wood shavings ..

There are various sizes and types that could fall into this category but by far the best stuff to rot it down with is horse stabele stuff.. which is why if you are going to use wood shavings.. you first use it under the horse.. getting drift?

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

what i compost is what we have around the farm wood shavings and Animal dung.

About wood shavings ..

There are various sizes and types that could fall into this category but by far the best stuff to rot it down with is horse stabele stuff.. which is why if you are going to use wood shavings.. you first use it under the horse.. getting drift?

the woodshavings are in the Stables and we use straw in there as well same as in the chook pen.

veg gardener said:

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

what i compost is what we have around the farm from leafs, grass clippings, straw, wood shavings and Animal dung. and stuff from the gardens.

All that can be turned into a fine earthy tilth in ten days if you are prepared to turn it every day..

thats the hard bit turning every day, i use the skidsteer its to wet in the paddocks at the momment to turn it.

That’s where the bit about what do you want to use it for comes in..

If you need it for a few garden beds.. go and rescue some by hand and rework it on dry land.

If it is too wet to get in there.. allow it to fertilise the land it is on.

veg gardener said:

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

what i compost is what we have around the farm wood shavings and Animal dung.

About wood shavings ..

There are various sizes and types that could fall into this category but by far the best stuff to rot it down with is horse stabele stuff.. which is why if you are going to use wood shavings.. you first use it under the horse.. getting drift?

the woodshavings are in the Stables and we use straw in there as well same as in the chook pen.

sounds perfectly functional.. can I come and collect a fw truckloads?

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

roughbarked said:

About wood shavings ..

There are various sizes and types that could fall into this category but by far the best stuff to rot it down with is horse stabele stuff.. which is why if you are going to use wood shavings.. you first use it under the horse.. getting drift?

the woodshavings are in the Stables and we use straw in there as well same as in the chook pen.

sounds perfectly functional.. can I come and collect a fw truckloads?

dont have a few truck loads sorry but if u want to bring me all the waste you can your welcome.

have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?
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Wait till the heat has gone out of it VG. Turn it again and if the heat isn’t there, it’s a good mulch. Bit of a shortcut but as you’re using it as mulch, it won’t be used thickly enough to generate heat. Basically, as long as the “green” is gone out of the manure it’ll be OK. Bearing in mind that sheep and goat poo ain’t that hot anyway.

veg gardener said:

roughbarked said:

veg gardener said:

the woodshavings are in the Stables and we use straw in there as well same as in the chook pen.

sounds perfectly functional.. can I come and collect a fw truckloads?

dont have a few truck loads sorry but if u want to bring me all the waste you can your welcome.

I keep everything here too ;)

Longy said:

have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?
+++++++++++++++
Wait till the heat has gone out of it VG. Turn it again and if the heat isn’t there, it’s a good mulch. Bit of a shortcut but as you’re using it as mulch, it won’t be used thickly enough to generate heat. Basically, as long as the “green” is gone out of the manure it’ll be OK. Bearing in mind that sheep and goat poo ain’t that hot anyway.

it does add up to you learning.. about what is the process or processes asscociated with the materials to hand.

Longy said:

have it all composting do i use it when its composted or half way into it?
+++++++++++++++
Wait till the heat has gone out of it VG. Turn it again and if the heat isn’t there, it’s a good mulch. Bit of a shortcut but as you’re using it as mulch, it won’t be used thickly enough to generate heat. Basically, as long as the “green” is gone out of the manure it’ll be OK. Bearing in mind that sheep and goat poo ain’t that hot anyway.

yeah, when we clean the stables and chook pen out we get a fair bit and at the end of Each Season.