Vegetable garden mulching

Once upon a time when the world was young and I had two legs and unbounded energy I had several magnificent vegetable gardens.

We lived within easy driving distance of a housing development and I used to go out at dawn or dusk before garbage pickup and load bags and bags of grass clippings into the pick up truck.

Grass clippings were free, ready to return to the soil and completely effective in discouraging weeds and retaining moisture.

As I made my rounds, I explained to the curious, and then next year there was stiff competition for that green gold.

thanks Noddy. Unfortunately, people around here don't throw away their grass clippings :-(

Maybe I'll start saving mine.

Montana, check out this mulch guide

http://www.gardenguides.com/TipsandTechniques/mulch/mulch-noframe.htm

Check out Organic Gardening

http://search.organicgardening.com/cgi-bin/htsearch?method=or&format=builtin-short&sort=score&config=htdig_organicgardening&restrict=&exclude=&words=Mulch

Ruth Stout not only wrote the only vanity book to be come a best seller, she practically invented mulch.

Thanks a million you two :-D

I wouldnt use any bark mulch on veggies . Do you live in the Red soil coastal area? or the inland rocky sills?The interior soils need some good organic mulches with a balanced nutrient mix. The sandy soils that the glaciers left dont hold water and nutrients. Id wait till fall and then see if you cant get some salt marsh straw and horse manure (or sheep or cow) . Thats good for retaining moisture and nutrients.

Along the red soil coast area of Fundy, the soil is acidic so Id add some limestone and , again some straw mulch.
PS what are we trying to grow?
Who does the soil testing in your area? must you send the soil kits to Frederictown? or St John?

We have some friends that live in ST Andrews , and they swear by mulching with seaweed and rockweed that they gather at low tide.
I looked at the site acquiunk posted, it seems helpful . The OG people are very particular about being totally organic.

Get your soil tested for
Organic content and tilth (water holding capacity)
pH
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium

Nitrogen promotes god leafy structure but too much will mean you dont produce much fruit , like tomatoes

Phosphorus and potassium are needed for root growth and fruiting
pH should be around neutral unless your growing blueberries then make it slightly acid
most veggies like neutral or slightly basic (7.5 tops) pH

In the inner parts of New Brunswick the coal beds of the Jurrasic/Triassic rocks have lots of sulfur, so the soil is usually acidic. Thats why the blueberries and pitcher plants and pines grow so well.
Is your garden very big?

good growing. I think this year, since mulch doesnt form well in the hot dry part of the year. Id concentrate on feeding the plant and for next season start feeding the soil with mulch

Wow! Excellent info farmerman. My garden is 16 ft by 48ft and I'm growing onions, garlic, turnip, beets, tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, zucchini, cucumers, yellow beans, peas and lettuce. The main reason why I want to mulch is to prevent weeds and for retaining moisture since I have a raised garden that dries out quickly. We live along the Northumberland Strait with Prince Edward Island being on the other side of the Strait. Seaweed is something that I only have to cross the street to get at the beach and it would be great if I could use that since it's free.

Since I built the raised beds, the soil is all soil I bought in bags and is an organic top soil. I've never brought my soil anywhere to have it tested, so I'll have to look around to see where I can have that done.

Thanks again for your help.

Seaweed!

Years ago I read that people who fed on crops nourished by seaweed developed a certain insatiable wanderlust.

Do you plan to give your teen ager double helpings of veggies this summer?

LOL. Well, my son would like to travel a bit, but his heart is here, so I can't see him staying away for too long.