Garden

[Trabitha]

Grass clippings work well. If available - straw or pine needles too.

Thought I would add...
I use straw, but I'm cheap. I go to the greenhouses and farms in the spring and they usually have a few bales that have been sitting around too long and got wet. They can no longer use it, so most of the time I get it for free! It's GREAT for the soil and it keeps the weeds down. I also like the fact that it's a darker brown and not so golden. I just find it more visually pleasing.

Another way to get mulch is to call around to your local tree removals or landscapers. They have to PAY someone to take their chipped branches and bark. Many of them will let you have it for free or only pay to have it delivered if you don't have a way to do it yourself. If you get them to deliver it in a hot sunny place, just let it sit for a summer in the heat, and you can use it in the fall and next year. It's not perfect like some of that stuff you get from the store, but it works just as well and keeps things VERY tidy.

[Chris]

Thought I would add...
I use straw, but I'm cheap. I go to the greenhouses and farms in the spring and they usually have a few bales that have been sitting around too long and got wet. They can no longer use it, so most of the time I get it for free! It's GREAT for the soil and it keeps the weeds down. I also like the fact that it's a darker brown and not so golden. I just find it more visually pleasing.

Another way to get mulch is to call around to your local tree removals or landscapers. They have to PAY someone to take their chipped branches and bark. Many of them will let you have it for free or only pay to have it delivered if you don't have a way to do it yourself. If you get them to deliver it in a hot sunny place, just let it sit for a summer in the heat, and you can use it in the fall and next year. It's not perfect like some of that stuff you get from the store, but it works just as well and keeps things VERY tidy.

An important note to let it sit in the sun for a year.

A lot of times tree people are called in because a tree is dead, dying, diseased, or infested, and you don't want to invite any of that into your garden. So if you do take random chippings, compost them first.

[Rick]

The town I live in has it's own chipper and allows you to take the resulting mulch for free. As much as you want. Just back your truck in and take it. Most folks use it to mulch around flower beds.

[hunter63]

Wood chips in the veggies use up too much nitrogen tring to break down.
use for paths, and around trees.

One advantage of mulch that hasn't been brought up, is keeping the dogs feet from getting muddy.
This is important to keep from getting killed, both me and the dogs.

[LowKey]

^yup. I wouldn't use chippings in the garden for that reason. The other problem I've had with raw chippings is termites. Don't use them on your foundation plantings.

[Rick]

That's a great point, LowKey. I actually switch to rubberized mulch last year for around the house. I had started finding small termite nests in the wood mulch so that had to go.

[Trabitha]

An important note to let it sit in the sun for a year.

A lot of times tree people are called in because a tree is dead, dying, diseased, or infested, and you don't want to invite any of that into your garden. So if you do take random chippings, compost them first.

Good point. I use the guy right down the road though...and he's always good about telling me where he got the trees and their condition. All depends on the people you use. Bugs that could become an infestation or brought in from outer areas are always an issue too, so be careful with that.

Oh, my bad. I have a LARGE perennial garden too, so I should have specified that wood chips should never go into a veggie garden. Thanks for that add-on fellas.

I swear by straw and/or hay for the veggie garden though...

[Trabitha]

That's a great point, LowKey. I actually switch to rubberized mulch last year for around the house. I had started finding small termite nests in the wood mulch so that had to go.

What do you think of the rubber chips, Rick? Does it have a smell? Does it LOOK like rubber? My biggest fear is using it and then having my garden look like a trash dump...ya know?

[Rick]

The rubber mulch I use is recycled tire with 99.9% no metal. They are dyed red and have a ten year no color fade warranty. There is a smell when you first put it down but it dissipates very quickly, within a couple of days. I've had people ask me where I bought my mulch and when I tell them it's rubber they are amazed. They can be standing next to it and don't realize it's rubber. I was really hesitant at first so I did a lot in research on it. The fact that it's recycled tires was a plus. It's a way to reuse some refuse and it looks nice so that, of course, was a plus.

It doesn't float away like wood mulch did with a heavy rain. It pretty much stays put and it doesn't compress as bad as wood mulch. You won't have the problem with termites or earwigs like you do with wood mulch either.

I'm pretty pleased with it.

[doug1980]

So does anyone can then? Seems to me if you plan on using the garden to feed you thoughout the year than canning is a must. My wife and I plan on planting a garden when we move back to IN, small one, and she would like to learn how to can. Any good info about the whole process?

[Rick]

Doug - There are several good threads on canning. About the best web site I can offer up is:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

[doug1980]

Thanks Rick. I might have to pick your brain when it gets closer to planting. Find out what grows best in IN and all that. Only thing I know how to grow is corn and soybeans. That's about all the farming experience I have...well that and livestock.

[Rick]

No problem. I'll help any way I can. I'm sure Nell will be a great resource too.

[doug1980]

Last garden I had we planted watermelon and pumpkin too close to each other I guess and ended up with purple watermelons that didn't taste good at all. Pumkins never did come up. Of course my dad planted a huge garden that ended up being way too much work for us to maintain. So starting a smaller garden and slowly enlarging it every year is the best way in my opinion.

[Rick]

You'll be hard pressed to grow watermelons with any luck in Indiana unless you're near the river bottoms or you have very sandy soil. We have so much clay around here that melons don't do well. You can grow them but they are always small and take forever to make fruit.

[Batch]

Watermelons cost like $5 now. That is crazy!

[LowKey]

I use crushed stone in the foundation plantings. We can get a good brown variety of stone in 1" to 2" chunks. Put it down about 2" thick on top of a weed barrier around the house and it stays nice looking all year. And it doesn't blow away when using the leaf blower.

I do a bunch of canning. Putting Foods By has a couple of excellent waterbath pickle recipes. The bigger Ball canning book is full of weird stuff but their jelly and jams are useful. Also Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living. Hoping for a pressure canner for next fall. I want one with a weight rather than a gauge and they are damn expensive.

[your_comforting_company]

the watermelons bring to mind some things that should NOT be planted together. I've been told that squash and cucumbers will cross pollinate making Gerkhins, and pumpkins and watermelons will make similar unusable fruits.

I have not tested this, I just heeded the warnings of the old timers who told me. I'm probably wrong about the specifics of the plant pairings, but you get the gist. I'm terrible with searching on the net for such things, so better luck to you for finding the info!!!

[LowKey]

Squash and cukes are actually companion plants. Two different species not likely to cross pollinate.
Potatoes near cukes can be disasterous.
Not sure about watermelon and pumpkins. I hate watermelon so have never grown it, and smaller winter squash can do anything a pumpkin can do in less space.

[Chris]

So does anyone can then? Seems to me if you plan on using the garden to feed you thoughout the year than canning is a must. My wife and I plan on planting a garden when we move back to IN, small one, and she would like to learn how to can. Any good info about the whole process?

Ironically enough I blogged this last night.

http://www.gardeningblog.net/2010/01...w-to-make-jam/