Organic gardening is about two things: weed control and pest control. Successful gardening is about supplying the plants with nutrients and sufficient moisture.

The process of covering the bare ground with mulch is the primary answer to address all of the above and more!

if bare ground is exposed to sun, weeds will grow. Weeds compete with your plants for food and moisture. Weeds provide safe haven for insects.

Covering the spaces between your plants and between your rows with mulch prevents weeds from growing, saving you hours and hours of manual labor, weeding by hand or with a hoe. Mulch also protects the soil from the sun, trapping and preserving moisture.

Many people mulch with straw and we will use wheat straw for some plants or when our preferred mulch has run out.

However, all wheat or rye straw will have some remaining seeds mixed in. Eventually these will sprout and produce some of the most robust and difficult to remove weeds you are likely to encounter.

We do our best to avoid this by leaving the straw exposed to the weather for one year before using so that any remaining seeds will rot. While this will remove the viability of most seeds, some will still survive and become a problem.

Our preferred mulch comes from leaves we harvest in the fall. Living on the edge of the forest, we are surrounded by towering oaks, hickory, and other types of trees.

To preserve the lawns around our homes and public buildings, the leaves must be removed. It’s a win-win situation.

I use a mulching lawn mower with a bagger and dump the chopped leaves into plastic garbage bags. I collected over 50 bags last fall. It is important to use heavy duty bags or cover and protect them in some way so that the bags are not exposed to the elements and break down before you are ready to use the leaves the following summer.

Now, this year I am covering the entire garden with chopped leaves and I must say it is the best the garden has ever looked!

You can also use raked, un-chopped leaves, which will produce a tighter, flatter layer of mulch above the soil.

I will place these around water spigots and on paths, areas that get a lot of traffic and where I am certain I never want anything to grow.

Leaves are free and relatively abundant. If you live in or near a city, you can often find them already bagged, along sidewalks, ready for the local landfill.

Tree roots reach deep down into the ground pulling up trace minerals to feed the leaves.

As your leaf mulch breaks down, it can be tilled directly into the soil, introducing organic matter. Good stuff!

Buffalo River Canoe Trip July 21

Join us July 21 to canoe the upper Buffalo River, one of the last unspoiled scenic rivers in America. It is the perfect way to beat the summer heat and get away from it all. Take a break from texts, cell phones, and emails to make a deep connection with nature at its finest.

It helps us to know how many people to expect and who is on our list before departing, so please contact us to RSVP at 931-964-4402 or email foreverwild@swantrust.org.

Thank you for your time and attention!

Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com