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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jun 5, 2015 9:40:26 GMT -5
I don't use newspaper because of the soy ink.
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Post by ecsoehng on Jun 5, 2015 14:31:26 GMT -5
My straw comes from the feed store and before that from the local wheat fields which are numerous. It sprouts wheat, but wheat can be easily pulled.
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Post by Veggie Gal on Jun 5, 2015 14:43:44 GMT -5
I used cardboard to start my raised bed with soil, newspapers and straw. It worked wonderfully and was mostly worked into the soil when I was ready to plant. I'm going back to using the cardboard and straw with grass clippings in the fall. This past winter I purchased organic soil and I'm not as happy with it as I was when using the other mixture. I didn't know I could purchase shrink wrapped straw from Home Depot, I'll check that out.
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Post by datgirl on Jun 5, 2015 14:54:26 GMT -5
I just finished putting down cardboard on the paths in my garden. Covered with free woodchips we get from the township. I used newspaper one year and it served it's purpose but it didn't break down all the way and I was picking up chucks of newspaper once in a while. We piled on the mulch pretty thick. It's a little awkward walking on until it settles but it keeps the weeds down.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 5, 2015 14:56:26 GMT -5
I did some Googling and apparently OMRI approves the use of both paper (non glossy and without colored inks) and corrugated cardboard (non waxed) on organic gardens. The "glue" on corrugated is made from cornstarch and the ink in newspaper is from soy so if you worry about GMO things then I guess it won't work for you but the OMRI thinks that it is OK as a mulch. Here's the reference: www.omri.org/simple-gml-search/results/%22Paper%22
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Post by kimmsrđź•Š on Jun 6, 2015 6:03:13 GMT -5
Keep in mind that the Organic Materials Research Institute, OMRI, has been making some really questionable decisions about what is acceptable lately to accommodate agribusiness' entry into selling "organic foods".
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Post by tbird on Jun 6, 2015 9:12:31 GMT -5
I have found that the cardboard is relatively difficult to work with, in terms of breaking down the boxes, removing all the plastic tape and labels, etc. etc. I really hate the brown paper tape with the criss cross dental floss reinforcement? that is tough to remove.
I've been using brown paper, grocery bags from whole foods and trader joes, and purchasing the large garden waste bags also. then covering those with leaves. it was a good barrier, but found it hard to plant this spring! And - unpleasantly surprise with the instant weed festival once I removed it to plant.
This fall, I'm going to designate a bed to be fallow next year, put multiple bags, then the leaves and in spring, and not plant it in 2016.
I want to mulch my tomato bed, but it is relatively dry and we are expecting a lot of rain tomorrow, so I think I will weed it well today, let the rain soak it, and mulch on monday.
After I planted the tom toms, I did put back the leaves, but not up near the toms as they were planted deep and some only 3 inches above the soil. so it is maybe 2-3 inches of well worn leaves, with a 9 inch circle around the tom plants not mulched, and the weeds are poking up aplenty.
Not sure if I should do the paper over the leaves? I have a finely shredded bark mulch that I'm going to mulch the bed with, with an aim for being attractive.
But - I also haven't done anything about support for the toms either, and I should likely figure that out today as well. A lot my plants are bush, but the stupice is not
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 6, 2015 9:28:34 GMT -5
I always mulch heavily under my tomatoes to keep water from splashing soil up onto the plants. Early Blight spores live in the soil and if you get soil splashing on to the leaves, it can be carrying spores. I also trim off all of the lower tomato plant leaves for the same reason.
I think that I would like the brown bag idea better than cardboard. I didn't have good luck with that.
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Post by desertwoman on Jun 6, 2015 9:39:31 GMT -5
I never thought to try brown bags. Seems so obvious!
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Post by gakaren on Jun 6, 2015 11:09:50 GMT -5
You can also buy rolls of brown paper....shipping paper Another thing to inquire about if you are interested, is paper roll ends from your local newspaper. Some times they give them away and some times they don't. Since our paper is actually a group of several small town papers, they are all printed about 50 mi. away from us & not convenient to get our hands on! Don't use butcher paper since it generally has at least one side waxed.
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Post by tbird on Jun 6, 2015 13:19:42 GMT -5
I always mulch heavily under my tomatoes to keep water from splashing soil up onto the plants. Early Blight spores live in the soil and if you get soil splashing on to the leaves, it can be carrying spores. I also trim off all of the lower tomato plant leaves for the same reason. good point brown, and since the stems root rather than rot, I probably didn't need to exercise so much caution.
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Post by tbird on Jun 6, 2015 13:20:46 GMT -5
You can also buy rolls of brown paper....shipping paper I looked into that, and curiously, found it to be pricer than the garden waste bags.
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Post by claude on Jun 6, 2015 18:49:20 GMT -5
I tried the red plastic mulch but found that it prevented me from intensive planting...basil between tomatoes, dill and cilantro..lettuce in the shade of the tomatoes. Perhaps brown paper will work for me too. I just have to cut up the red plastic so much..that it's hard to keep it down.
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Post by octave on Jun 6, 2015 20:32:15 GMT -5
I use cardboard under mulch for the paths. On the tomato beds I use grass clippings or leaves only. No paper, no cardboard. I have almost no weeds because I never step on the soil where plants grow and I never leave the soil exposed. When I first start my beds I do what Veggie Gal does, and so far it has been working for me.
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Post by datgirl on Jun 6, 2015 20:40:28 GMT -5
Yes, the cardboard is only in the paths. I use leaves as mulch around the plants. I always have leaves left over from the fall.
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