Carbon Carbon Carbon!!!
It grows all around us in the form of trees and plants. We need not waste such a useful resource.
Its so useful that occasionally when we do not have enough we even buy it!
What do we use Mulch for?
Mulch! Its simply a layer of cover over the soil to protect it – mainly made of carbon materials like dried leaves etc. as explained below.
What does mulch do? It is:
- A layer of cover for the soil – cloths for the soil.
- A layer to protect the soil from heavy rains.
- A layer to protect the soil from the blazing hot sun.
- A layer to absorb much needed moisture.
- A whole world for the ecosystem that builds itself within it.
Here is what we recently purchased since we have been rebuilding a lot of raised beds at our site and needed the extra help to cover up our farm well. To keep it cozy.
Now all we need is a few people to get a meaningful workout and spread the mulch all over the farm with forks & wheelbarrows!
Types of Mulch
The mulch above is from tree branches which have been shredded. But there are many other types of much too. As long as its something small that can be spread well on top of the soil and is mainly composed of carbon then that can work well.
Below we share a few more types of mulch that we commonly use at our urban farm – trying our best to source locally available materials which usually go to waste.
Coconut Fiber
This is a common source of mulch typically used on top of pots and decorative purposes.
It can last long and does a good job a keeping a cover on top of the soil.
Premium Mulch (Finely Shredded Trees)
Some types of tress just look better and when shredded they can be easily applied on top of any soil.
Again this type can be used on pots but will compost faster than the coconut fiber.
Dried Grass
This is a simple one – or maybe not.
Well we can all dry grass and use it to cover the soil. So yes it is simple.
But we must make sure it does not have seeds. Else we will just be spreading the weeds in our beds. In that case we must compost them using hot composting methods.
Shredded Paper
Again this is something easy to get. A lot of packaging use this or even many companies constantly shred their documents to throw.
Typically it is better to use papers with black and white since some colors use toxic chemicals.
But more and more coloring use soya bean based colors which can easily be composted.
Dried Leaves
Dried Leaves can be an easy to access material around most communities.
Check with your municipality or the collection company before taking any bags on road sides.
Also collect from areas where few people walk else you many find plastic waste within the bags as well.
Old Carpets
Some people also use old canvas or carpets to cover up the soil especially to stop the weeds from growing.
But as you can see in the second picture, the weeds eventually still grow over the carpets and make it difficult to take out the carpets.
In any case if using carpets, we should only use compostable material.
How to use Mulch?
The simplest method is to spread it over the soil AFTER you have already mixed up the compost and other additional items like biochar etc. to your soil mix.
How much Mulch is enough?
When you think its enough, just add another layer.!
Eventually the mulch will compost and become more goodness for the soil so generally it is pretty safe to have more rather than less.
Hope you start to cover up your bare soil with some much needed Mulch and allow the ecosystem within to thrive and produce the best nutrients for your plants.
Drop by to our farm on Sunday mornings to our market from 9am – 12pm. We sometimes have a little extra mulch to sell for those interested.