Mulch OK?

I am growing my first veggie garden and have not used any mulch; consequently I am getting alot more weed action than my flower beds where I use cedar mulch liberally. Can I put mulch on my veggies? What kind? How much? Thanks

Sure you can use mulch around your veggies. I use leaves and compost.

Just avoid any of those dyed "super red" or "super black" mulch. They aren't good for vegetable plants.

What about rubber mulch?

I would use something that will rot and add to the soil, like leaves, grass, straw, or wood chips. I avoid hay because it can be seedy and start growing in places you don't want it to. I use plastic on my containers and in some areas of my garen. They say using red plastic mulch under tomatoes makes them grow better.

The rubber mulch may be OK in flower beds, but I wouldn't want to put it in my veggie garden, as it would get tilled in each year. I use straw (not hay!), leaves, grass clippings, and occasionally the landscape fabric. It really does cut down on the weeding tremendously. I haven't been as good about mulching as usual this year (my source for straw no longer sells it), and I can really tell the difference! My neighbor lays down newspaper and flattened cardboard boxes, cut to fit between the rows, and then covers it with grass clippings. I think I'll try that next year, as NOTHING gets through the cardboard, very little through the newspaper, and it will decompose into the soil. Or if you have a compost bin, you can toss the damp cardboard into that in the fall.

If you use leaves, just avoid walnut, as it has a chemical in it that hinders the growth of other plants.

Angie

Regarding the newspaper, my expert adviser at the local nursery had told me that newspaper was a great mulch AS LONG AS they're printed with soy-based ink and you keep out the multi-color inserts. I have no idea: (a) what risk is posed by non-soy ink, (b) how you find out what type of ink your local paper prints with, nor (c) if this is really based in any truth or reality whatsoever but I do know she assured me that the Los Angeles Times was safe. Thought I'd pass the comment along just in case.

I've been using brown paper grocery bags in my vermicompost.

I have cedar chips in my garden walkways, it really helped the moisture, (lots of rain) I'm considering adding some more cedar chips around the plants.

I am such a duh. What's vermicompost?

Worm composting http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/wrigglers/all/