If you’ve been following Project TWH and implementing the suggestions on your own homestead, you most likely have a nice summer garden planted. And, if you have your summer garden planted, you’ve probably experienced weeding which is one of the downsides of a garden. Fortunately, we have the solution to your weed problems – mulch! Not only will mulch reduce or eliminate the weeding that you have to do, but it will also improve your soil over time. Double bonus! Let’s get into it:

Pros and Cons of Mulch

Mulch provides many benefits to your garden including:

1. Blocks light to soil; greatly reducing weed germination
2. Holds moisture that would otherwise evaporate
3. Filters water from heavy rains; reduces soil run off
4. Slowly breaks down into compost – increases organic matter and lightly fertilize soil
5. Moisture holding keeps worms, salamanders and the like in the moisture during hot, sunny summer months

Despite these benefits, there are some detractors from adding mulch to your garden:

1. Moisture holding increases the presence of pests such as snails, slugs and burrowing critters like moles and voles.
2. Cost – sourcing good organic mulch can be difficult

I’ve never had major problems with pests but you might want to think twice about using mulch if you are already fighting these critters without the presence of mulch. In terms of cost, you might be able to skirt that issue if you grow your own mulch.

Grow Your Own Mulch

The key to this approach is cover crops. Cover crops can be defined as a crop grown for the protection and enrichment of the soil. The general approach is that a crop such as buckwheat, autumn seed oats, oil seed radishes and the like is planted. They grow quickly and either are ‘chopped and dropped’ or winter kill in place, providing mulch for the area. Sometimes legumes are used as they pull nitrogen from the air and it can be added to the earth. There is a free publication Manager Cover Crops Profitably that I would recommend for further reading on this topic.

Mulch C:N Ratio

C:N is a ratio of carbon to nitrogen. This ratio is expressed as a function of weight, so when talking about the C:N ratio of mulch, we’re talking about the pounds of carbon in the mulch material divided by the pounds of nitrogen in the material. A C:N above 1 means that the mulch has more carbon; a C:N below 1 means that the mulch is heavier in nitrogen. In The Weekend Homesteader, Anna Hess explains that “nitrogen provides quick meals for plants and bacteria, while the energy in carbon can only be accessed slowly, often by fungi. Knowing the C:N ratio of a material helps you decide whether to use that organic matter as compost, mulch, or neither.”

Common C:N Ratios

• Humus: Humus is a stable form of organic matter and has a C:N ratio of 10:1.
• Compost: Well built compost will weigh in around 30:1 which allows micro-organisms to thrive and quickly turn organic matter into humus. A C:N ratio of 30:1 is too low for mulching due to the fact that it will cause the organic material to ‘melt’ into the soil and will need to be replaced sooner than later.
• Mulch: Mulch will typically have a C:N ratio greater than 30:1. This ratio makes it difficult for micro-organisms to survive and, as such, don’t pull the nitrogen out of the soil.

Types of Mulch

With the basic chemistry and biology of mulch explained, we can step into the different kinds of mulch available to you:

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Straw

The preferred choice of garden mulch on the Suburban Steader Homestead. The C:N ratio of straw comes in at a healthy 50:1 and, moreover, it sticks around for about 6-8 months. Cost is usually a sticking point for us but we use such little of it (1 bale takes care of both gardens) that it doesn’t pose that big of a problem. On Long Island, I can get straw for about $7-$8/bale. It’s important to understand the difference between straw and hay. Straw is sterile and is nothing but stalks from which the grain (seed) has been harvested. Hay consists of the entire harvested grass plant and is full of grass and weed seed. It is NOT a suitable mulch because, in effect, you are seeding your garden with a grass crop.

Rotten Wood Chips

Fresh wood chips range in the 200:1 (softwoods) to 600:1 (hardwoods) range and are too high in carbon for a mulch. If you let these chips sit for two years or so, they’ll decompose about halfway and be ready for use. Most people use this type of mulch around fruit trees with great success. Be careful with this kind of mulch as you can’t be sure of what’s in it if you don’t do the chipping yourself.

Municipal Waste Mulch

Many municipalities (including mine) collect grass clippings, leaves, branches and other organic material. They then grind it down and compost it into a mulch. It is often very reasonably priced – in my area, it is free to home owners assuming you can carry it from the processing area (they even bag it for you). The problem with this kind of mulch is the contents. You have no idea what is in there. Have people treated their grass with chemicals? Is there pesticides on the tree branches? Are there a bunch of ground up weeds with Round-Up in there? Think long and hard about whether you want to put that kind of thing on the soil that is growing food you want to eat.

Grass Clippings

The C:N ratio of this kind of mulch is about 20:1. Not ideal, but it will work for a short duration. The main positive of grass clippings is its availability. If you cut your own grass, you have almost a limitless supply for this kind of mulch. Likewise, if you live in the suburbs, it’s likely that your neighbors also cut their grass giving you a large supply of mulch. But not so fast. Do you or your neighbors use herbicides or pesticides on your grass? If so, skip this step. Also, you don’t want to use grass that is going to seed. It essentially defeats the purpose of mulch. If you don’t use anything on your grass and it’s not going to seed, then by all means use it as mulch. Just be prepared to replace it more often. The low C:N ratio means that the grass will ‘melt’ into the soil and need to be replaced sooner than later.

Comfrey Leaves

Much like grass, they work great assuming there is nothing added to them from the herbicide or pesticide family. You can grow a few plants in an out-of-the-way area and cut the leaves back every few weeks for mulch. I have no personal experience with this approach to mulching.

Autumn Tree Leaves

Everyone who has trees has wondered what to do with all those leaves. Well, there’s hope my friends! With a 50:1 C:N ratio, leaves tend to match straw in their level of use for mulch. And, for the most part, leaves are free. The downside to leaves is that they tend to blow away if not shredded. I have had good luck enriching my soil by adding a layer of leaves (roughly 1-3″ thick) under a layer of straw when I put my garden beds to sleep for the winter.

Compost

It can do the trick, but I don’t recommend it. Compost will, for a time, stock the propagation of weed growth. However, it will allow the weeds to grow eventually. Add that to the fact that you’re probably putting in some decent effort to make a quality mulch to better your soil and this approach is one I would steer clear of.

Cardboard and Paper

We’ve used cardboard in our kill mulch to much success. And, in a typically mulching situation, it works well too. The problem with cardboard and paper is their propensity to fly away if not held down. I typically recommend a layer or cardboard or paper under a layer of straw. Be aware that both items will likely decompose in a few months. Also, make sure to stay away from glossy and colored paper.

How To Mulch

OK, we’ve armed ourselves with all this information and procured just the right mulch for our application. How do we apply it? The first step is to weed your garden. Pull anything out that you don’t want to grow. Be sure to pull out the entire weed, root and all. Next, lay down enough mulch so that no weeds will germinate through it. I’ve found that the sweet spot in my gardens is anywhere between 2 and 4 inches, but you’ll have to experiment for yourself. Obviously, you’ll have thinner mulch around seedlings versus established plants. That’s about it. Maintenance is almost nonexistant. If you see a weed, pull it out and thicken up that area of mulch a bit. If you notice your vegetables are turning yellow, you probably have too high of a C:N ratio meaning you have a nitrogen deficiency. There are a few things you can do to fix this: add diluted urine (yes, you read that right), compost tea or a layer of compost to get things back in order. I’ll cover diluted urine and compost tea in June.

Wrap-Up

You’ve just done a little bit of work to make your life that much easier. Sit back, sip on a cold beverage and enjoy watching your neighbors scurry around weeding their gardens. Got a tip or question regarding mulching? Please let us know in the comments or on our Facebook Page.

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Finally! A part of Project TWH that actually involves something other than planning!

Let’s get your hands dirty!

Kill mulch, at its simplest, is a way to use the existing organic matter on the ground as nutrients for your new crops. The process basically kills (hence the name) all the living plants, grass, weeds, etc and spreads their nutrients into the soil through decomposition.

In this quick article, I’ll explain what kill mulch is, how it works and how to get it going on your suburban homestead. As always, I’ll take direction from Anna Hess in her book The Weekend Homesteader as well as throw in my two cents where appropriate.

What Is Kill Mulch?

I know I said kill mulch is a way of using existing organic matter as nutrients for your new crops. And that statement is a 100% true…it’s also quite vague.

You’re probably thinking “OK, so I’m using something that is/was growing on my land to provide nutrients for something new that’s going to grow on my land. Cool. But how?”

Great question – the premise behind kill mulch is that it blocks the light from reaching grass and weeds, therefore killing them. The plants then die and rot in place producing a nutrient dense soil for future plantings.

How to Build Kill Mulch

Kill mulch – sometimes referred to as sheet mulch or lasagna mulch – is achieved by layering various substances.

You want to start with a compost. One that may contain weed seeds is permitted here. Next is a thick layer of light blocker – one layer of corrugated cardboard or a layer of twelve (minimum) newspaper sheets will do the trick.

Next, add a thick layer of weed-free compost. It is important that this layer is both thick and weed free. Remember that your plants’ will keep their roots in this layer for the first month or two until the cardboard or newspaper is broken down.

Finally, finish off the kill mulch with a layer of mulch – grass clippings or straw are perfect.

Why You Should Use Kill Mulch

Kill mulch’s biggest benefit is that it is a no-till approach. Aside from the labor involved in tilling a garden, tilling also has many drawbacks:

• Erosion – Tilled soil can blow or wash away easily causing you to lose soil and reducing your garden’s fertility.
• Loss of Soil Microorganisms – Bacteria and fungi are your friends! These wonderful items are important for plant growth and typically reside in the top three inches of soil. Tilling will destroy fungi-networks and move bacteria and fungi into different depths of the soil.
• Increased Weeds – While a freshly tilled garden looks great at first, what you’re not seeing is the weed seeds that have moved to the top and are ready to sprout!
• Soil Compaction – After that fluffy soil sees rain, it’ll compact down tight. Roots, seedlings and water will all have a tough time penetrating it at this point.

Wrap-Up On Kill Mulch

There’s the down and dirty on kill mulch. It’s a very effective process and, if done correctly, will result in some of the most fertile soil you can produce.

I used this approach, along with a woody bed/hugelkultur approach, on my new garden bed.

I laid down a little bit of compost and then dropped in layers and layers of newspaper to block the light getting to the grass underneath. The paper was then soaked endlessly – I left a hose on it for a couple of hours and allowed it to stay outside during rainstorms for a few weeks.

After that, I placed a thick (probably 6-10 inches) layer of wood down before filling the rest of the box with topsoil (I didn’t have enough compost). It will be interesting to see how the soil does in this area.

Please let us know any tips you have for building kill mulch in the comments or on our Facebook Page.

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In the April Preview of Project TWH, we’ll review the tasks we have lined up for this month.  A lot of these tasks are planning-related.  This April Preview couldn’t come at a better time for us.  The weather is finally warming up here on Long Island which means  it’s time to start planning our suburban homestead activities for the upcoming growing season.

In The Weekend Homesteader, Anna Hess outlines four tasks that we’ll tackle in April:

• Find Room To Homestead
• Survey Your Site
• Plan Your Summer Garden
• Kill Mulch

Find Room To Homestead

• Goal: Seek out growing space even if you don’t own land
• Cost: $0
• Time: 1-2hrs
• Difficulty: Medium
• Kid-Friendly: Maybe

This task is rather simple despite the semi-ambiguous title.  We’ll spend a little time figuring out what we have in terms of our land.  During this time, we’ll take a look at what we can change/use/not use to grow and improve our suburban homestead.  We’ll look at the kind of land we have – lawn, forest, unused areas, etc – as well as areas where we might want to consider non-conventional approaches to suburban homesteading.  In addition, we’ll consider the use of areas beyond our yard (empty lots, churches, neighbors’ yards, schools, etc.) for expansion of our suburban homesteading use.

Survey Your Site

• Goal: Figure out the assets and problems presented by your yard and community
• Cost: $0-5
• Time: 2-5hrs
• Difficulty: Medium
• Kid-Friendly: Maybe

Now that we’ve identified WHERE we are going to homestead, it’s time to figure out HOW we’re going to homestead.  We’ll start by sketching a map of our land – don’t worry, you can print out images from Google Earth if you failed art – and determine what we really have to workout.  The map can be used to develop a sun and shade profile (possible in conjunction with Google Earth and SketchUp Make).  It will also be used to determine paths commonly used on the property.  Similarly, we will identify areas that are accessed the most and areas accessed the least.  The soil in each area will be analyzed for its ability to grow crop.  The culmination of this information will allow us to create a plan for our land and determine what activities will take place where.

Plan Your Summer Garden

• Goal: Decide on the size, location and layout of your summer garden and choose the vegetables to plant
• Cost: $0-20
• Time: 1hr
• Difficulty: Easy
• Kid-Friendly: Maybe

Again, this task is fairly simple – we’ll take a look at the site survey and determining what we’ll plant where.  Each location and layout within each location will be reviewed.  In addition, a small discussion on record keeping and  it’s importance for a suburban homestead will take place.  The end result will be a list of vegetables we intend on growing.  We’ll also develop a general plan for where on the property each vegetable will be grown.

Kill Mulch

• Goal: Prepare a garden plot without tilling the soil
• Cost: $0-100
• Time: 1-4hrs
• Difficulty: Medium
• Kid-Friendly: Maybe

Finally a task that involves real work and not just paper and pencil planning!  Kill mulch is “an easy way to turn last year’s vegetable plot…into a no-till garden” according to The Weekend Homesteader.  In the simplest description, we’re going to chop the current growth as close to the ground as we can, lay down some mulch or compost that has seeds in it, followed by wet cardboard or newspaper.  The kill mulch will be finished with weed-free compost and a thick layer of mulch.  This approach will ensure our garden area does not have any growth that we don’t want and will also build up the health of the soil.

Conclusion

So there you have it, the April Preview of Project TWH.  There’s not many of exciting things in this month’s task list but a lot of important steps to set up for a successful suburban homestead.  As the information and plan evolves, so will the homestead.  Now that we’ve laid out the plan for the month, we’ll keep you updated as we start to execute on each of these tasks.  Looks like the beginning of a fun journey!

Like what we’re doing here? How about letting us know in the comments or on Facebook?

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