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Re: Compost/ Sort of...

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

JessicaM (Zone 5- Central Michigan) WROTE:

>This is sort of a compost question: Last year on my 
> veggie beds I used cocoa hull mulch. As it got towards the fall I 
> added another layer of Pine Bark mulch. Also over the winter a lot 
> of leaves made their way to my beds and settled their as well. As I 
> was poking around in the beds today I noticed quite a bit of the 
> cocoa hulls and leaves had started to decompose and the soil is 
> really black. 
>  So should I remove the cocoa 
> hulls and leaves to my compost pile or leave them on the bed and 
> turn over into the soil come sowing time. 
> 
> I use these particular beds for lettuce, chard, and other leafy 
> greens.
> 

Smitty replied
Hello,
LOL  this is only true if you are actually creating a compost pile.
It sounds to me like you are only mulching and allowing nature to take
it's course.
Many of us that garden use a mulch as a means of building soil and
holding moister within it.
So your answer is no. You need not remove the mulch  and further more you
may wish to add to the existing mulch once you have planted this area
again. This is sort of a No-till method. Push aside the bigger pieces of
the mulch that exists and plant your vegetables and then as they grow
draw the mulch back up around them and add more as the need arises. Heck
isn't this exactly how nature has been gardening for thousands and
thousands of years. does anyone tend the fields and forests?  (c:

Smitty in Southeastern Connecticut zone 6
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
He gave me life that I might enjoy all things.


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