frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
I have always used hay as a thick mulch throughout my garden. It's always worked out well by keeping the ground moist, keeping the weeds at a more tolerable level and adding nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. But, about 3 years ago I was a victim of 'murderous mulch'.
Garden had a great start even though I was late getting my mulch down. Tomatoes were big and beautiful. When the temps were starting to get really hot I gathered lots of leftover bales of hay and started mulching heavily. A couple weeks later my garden was dying.
Fast forward to the next spring and I started my garden in a different location. Got my mulch down early that year. Garden just never took off. I blamed the weather, the rain, poor seed quality, lousy transplants...
While doing some research trying to find any information as to why I was having so much trouble when before I'd always had bountiful gardens that I couldn't kill if I tried. That was the first time I heard/read about killer compost and murderous mulch. Made perfect sense then.
Didn't really have a garden last year - even in raised beds the weather was just too cranky. It rained for months.
This year will be different! I've got 15 big empty mineral/protein tubs used for cattle supplements. I'm picking up 15 more today. I know it'll cost a small fortune to purchase soil to fill them - but I am determined. But, I'm also concerned about purchasing compost/manure. Who's to say it wasn't made with manure/compost that has herbicide residue in it? I'm also afraid to use the manure from my own animals because I know the hay that I purchased for them this year was sprayed.
I'm thinking about posting a craigslist ad in search of "natural" hay that had no herbicide applied. I looked for unsprayed hay last fall, but was so anxious to get hay that I took what I could get.
I've had the pigs in the area that had the worst damage and they've turned the soil and added their own fertilizer to it. After they're gone I may try a small test spot in there to see if anything grows.
Anybody else dealt with these problems?
Garden had a great start even though I was late getting my mulch down. Tomatoes were big and beautiful. When the temps were starting to get really hot I gathered lots of leftover bales of hay and started mulching heavily. A couple weeks later my garden was dying.
Fast forward to the next spring and I started my garden in a different location. Got my mulch down early that year. Garden just never took off. I blamed the weather, the rain, poor seed quality, lousy transplants...
While doing some research trying to find any information as to why I was having so much trouble when before I'd always had bountiful gardens that I couldn't kill if I tried. That was the first time I heard/read about killer compost and murderous mulch. Made perfect sense then.
Didn't really have a garden last year - even in raised beds the weather was just too cranky. It rained for months.
This year will be different! I've got 15 big empty mineral/protein tubs used for cattle supplements. I'm picking up 15 more today. I know it'll cost a small fortune to purchase soil to fill them - but I am determined. But, I'm also concerned about purchasing compost/manure. Who's to say it wasn't made with manure/compost that has herbicide residue in it? I'm also afraid to use the manure from my own animals because I know the hay that I purchased for them this year was sprayed.
I'm thinking about posting a craigslist ad in search of "natural" hay that had no herbicide applied. I looked for unsprayed hay last fall, but was so anxious to get hay that I took what I could get.
I've had the pigs in the area that had the worst damage and they've turned the soil and added their own fertilizer to it. After they're gone I may try a small test spot in there to see if anything grows.
Anybody else dealt with these problems?
