My easier, better soil, no fuss, less work, composting

Thanks to everyone who answered questions now I am off to my compost pile!

what about freshly pulled weeds? can I throw those on the beds for compost? or will they reseed and grow weeds in my beds?

Might be best to bag freshly pulled weeds because they certainly can come back to haunt you. Just toss them out with your regular garbage. We burn them around here, just not anything like Poison Ivy or Wild Parsnip. Those vaporize and you don't want any of that in your lungs or on your body because of drift.

I have used this to some extent and say I love it. I put the newspaper under my mulch everytime I remulch and it really does do a great job of holding the weeds down. Best part is that my friend at work brings me her newspapers, so I don't even have to pay for those and I get to recycle them. I also save coffee grounds and pour the excess coffee from the pot onto my roses.

Of course, I get some strange looks and have to go through and explain to people why I am dumping all the coffee grounds into a bag or have 6 months worth of newspapers in my office. Who knows, maybe I will convert a couple of people in the process.

Seeds will only sprout if they are on top of the soil and see light and get moisture. If they are down under and will never see the light of day, they will never sprout. I have stopped burning for two reasons...1. I almost blew myself up after impatiently learning firsthand about the creeping properties of gas fumes and 2. I can't stand the smoke when I burn or working outside when others do... So whatever wont decompose goes into the yard waste refuse bags for my trash company or for a big amount I use the county green waste dump.

I found a variation on the same concept in the Spring 2008 Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest publications, "Perennials" page 77- "Lessons Learned", "They began by piling mounds of composting leaves over the bed areas to kill the grass. Then they tilled the dead grass and leaves into the beds. Afterward, they brought in a truckload of commercial garden soil to further improve the mix."

Shuggins.. you keep collecting!

:)

Susan

This message was edited Feb 24, 2008 5:32 AM

ok susan--got my beds with maybe 8 inches of still decomposing compost--not crumbly yet but getting there--i turn it all over each weekend bringing up the wet rotting stuff to the top and burrying the dry top stuff underneath --it will be planting time not to long from now and i do not think it will be completed compost but i will cover it with mulch and plant in it while it continues to do its work--so i think this is what you advocate and that i am doing it right --

I have 4 big yard bags full of weeds, I think I will try using them in the bed I am building (its a raised bed) and just bury them under several inches of other composting stuff. Seems a waste to just throw them out, they are still green-not dry yet, so I dont think that they have gone to seed yet.

I have another really dumb question. Last fall, to keep the weeds out of my beds, I put about a 2 inch layer of bark mulch on the beds. It worked, as I dont have any weeds in the beds. Now, I want to plant seeds in those beds. What do I do with the mulch? do I have to remove it completely? I cant put it back on the beds once I sow them, (seeds wont get any light). Or can I just till the bark into the soil? I have heavy clay soil and added a bunch of compost to these beds last year, but the soil there still isnt great. I want to add more compost, but I think the big bark pieces might be too big? what do you think?
I suppose I could just bag the stuff up and store it in my shed until I need it again, but now that I've read this thread... I think in the future I would be better off putting many layers of leaves and newspaper on the beds instead. I just dont want to waste all that commercial bark I bought last year :)

Not my place to give advice from Alaska, but if I were you I would bag up the bark mulch and whatever weeds that edged their way in there and let them rot over summer and use it for top dressing in the Fall, as it is a really fine top dressing that really could be tilled in after this seaon. I would'nt want those large bark chips in my nice fine fall mulch. And I would seal that bag of weeds, leave it out in the sjn allllll summer, just to be sure all the weeds and their seed were completely out of business. Are you selling your compost yet? When I finally got the hang of it, I had plenty left over and nice clean chicken feed sacks, so I screened some compost, filled each feed sack and sold each one for $10! I said to myself: "Nice little circle of life,with a dollar sign at the end" , and moved accordingly with the flow. hehehehehehe
Carol

LOl! No not selling it yet, I need more of it! I have an entire yard full of clay soil... Nothing has been done to correct it yet, except in the flower bed I put in last year and the raised veggie garden. The rest of the yard needs LOTS of compost. At least I now have worms this year, 2 years ago, there were NO worms in site! LOL!

My neighbors are all bringing me their yard waste ~ I give them my leftover bulbs and seeds in return :) so hopefully I will soon have soil that I can at least work with this year.

I think I will bag up the bark and stick it in the shed, see what happens with it over the summer. Will it break down while in a bag?

Well, back in the bag and in a dry warm shed, I think it would be somewhat as you bought it.
Carol

Stupid question - we don't get the paper (too depressing) but we get tons of junk mail we send off to recycling. Is colored newsprint ok to use for lasagna beds or whatever? Glossy colored flyers? Junk mail without clear plastic return envelopes? It doesn't seem like it would be as nice to use - not uniform heavy layers, just a hodgepodge of this and that, a Burpee catalog mixed in with "please be sure return address is showing through plastic window". On the other hand, I could just borrow my mother's paper for a few weeks.

x, Carrie

Hi Carrie:

Plastic and glossy paper will not process in a raised bed. Newspaper with colored ink is probably soybean based ink and it will work if its not glossy.


If you have some office shears you can cut the plastic windows out of the junk mail.

I use a shredder to shred up junk mail. News paper does not need to be shredded.

I use no-dig raised beds like the one's soulgardenlove describes in this thread.

I layer the paper with bunny poop and used hay.

gloria

Carrie, in Alaska, newspaper lasts for years, even one layer at times, just too cold. It works in a hot fast mix, but you waste time (we only have 3 months of ground unfrozen) and don't get the benifit up here as you would in the 'real' world, so, I'm not your answer guru for that one.
Carol

I think I'd better let the town take away my gallons of junk mail for free and borrow my mother's used newspaper! Carol, I'll bet your newspaper lasts for years, hmmm. Then again, we have to buy ice most of the year. :>) Gloria, that's kinda sorta what I thought someone was going to say. If only I had a bunny for the bunny poop, lol! (Both my kids get severe asthma from anything fuzzy like that. Hay, too, would probably be an allergen.) Kids - gotta love 'em. Also, DH is against all pets. (Cruel and humiliating? Please don't ask me to defend his point of view - I don't get it myself.)

x, Carrie

Cruel and humiliating to the human or the pet?
kids need to have pets so that they learn empathy -- that other people and animals have feelings and get hurt the same way they do.

There was a lady here who had goats because she was allergic to everything. She milked the goats because she was not allergic to goats milk. She also had her husband build her a brand new house that had plaster instead of drywall, because the plaster is less of an allergen than drywall.

I happen to agree with you, but I'm not going to argue with him via you, or you on his behalf, or whatever. If I were ablebodied and could do it myself when they didn't, I would, but as it is, DH must. Plus, as I said, they are allergic to everything with fur, so our only pet choices are lizards, snakes, etc. And they are often away visiting biodad, which leaves even more responsibility with you're-not-my-real-father.

I think he thinks it's cruel and humiliating to the pet, and I think it has to do with years of servitude of taking care of his ex-wife's dogs, but it's sort of irrelevant because we don't have a household set up for a pet.

xx, Carrie

Yes Linda.. your doing it, but the breaking down process does take some time. 8 inches is wonderful :) If the soil you have underneath your leaves it really tough stuff.. like pure red clay, you might want to make a judgement call about whether you would like to add some ready made compost or other soil amendment to your mix, as the biggest gardeners regret is not having made sure the soil was as great as possible before planting... The soil makes all the difference! Also, you could take a pitchfork and mix in the soil with the leaves before planting. I prefer the easier method of making sure the soil for my particular hole is really good and mixed in and I let the other unplanted areas of the bed take their time as the process happens naturally. Just remember that if you plant directly into the decomposing compost/leaves.. that if they have much more to go, they will settle and break down more leaving your root systems "up" out of the ground.. That's why this takes a good look at what you have and making good judgement calls!

One, that is exactly where I am right now.. I have some limited front walkway beds with the bark as there is no way I can do that all over and I'm about to direct sow in there. So yes, you clean up the bark and rake it to the side and put it wherever you want it. I tried to "save" it in a tarp and gave it too much time as the heat broke it down lots, so I wont do that again, but your right.. your seeds wont come up through it. I will just rake it to cover my evergreens in the bed, then I will spread my compost... I just got a huge truckload of municipal compost delivered... and I will spread that and then I will direct sow my seeds on it and keep moist till I get germination :) And of course if you do keep your mulch in a protected place, give your plants time to put on some healthy stems before reapplying bark mulch or you'll hurt them!.... worms are good and yes, it will break down in a bag! Organic material that is no longer living is in a constant state of decay.

Carol, your the smart one.. I too have a circle of life going on here, but I insist on putting any potential profit back into the ground! :)

My husband didn't want any more animals for all the ones he dealt with growing up. I couldn't have animals growing up, but it was part of the vision I'd mapped out for myself as an adult. We went back and forth about it before marriage and after.... and one day eight years ago he came home and Chloe was here! :) He did like her and ironically, after I rescued her from the pound, she cries for him at the door and window if she can't be with him outside, and it makes her day when he comes home from work. Too bad I can't go out and get a little girl as easily and have him come home and meet his new daughter! :) I would!!

:)

Susan

Say Gloria, you're 100% correct but you left out something...
Pets are really great for seniors too! Have you read any of the research on that? I know of one nursing home around here that has a resident pygmy goat that is allowed to wander the halls visiting rooms of residents. They have one community room that has many birds in it and a Bearded Dragon. They've got very friendly rabbits in their enclosed courtyard and another community room for visiting cats and dogs. The public is encouraged to bring vetted pets in that have purrrrrrrrrrsonality for visits.

Hey Carol! Looks as if you're up and at em again! Good to see you posting! Nice photos at your website. Love em! Love em! Love em!

Hi All, I don't know how to start a new page, and this one is getting way ttoooooo long for my dial-up.

Thanks Equil, as you can see I still have that basic need to care for and make more dirt for the 'precious' ones to grow on... not quite done, yet, am I. I may even do some gardening this summer... Carol

Got the garden/seed/ looking ahead/ fever as the days get longer...

Ruth, here we go to part 2! :)
Please come on over folks. Ruth can't wait all day to see what were talking about!
:)

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/816993/

Susan