Re: [tomato] Hay Mulch
Olin Miller (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Wed, 3 Nov 1999 08:46:26 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: William McKay <bmckay55@hotmail.com>
To: <Tomato@GlobalGarden.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 1999 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: [tomato] Hay Mulch
>
> Reading through the posts on hay mulch, plastic mulch, etc reinforces
my
> belief that like politics, all gardening is local. How you do it
depends
> not only on your individual microclimate, but what you have for
inputs.
Certainly true in our case. It may also be seasonal, For example, our
hay from the first cuttings in the spring (Phoenix AZ) is pretty much
free of weeds. But as the summer progresses, the warm season weeds and
the warm season weeds and grasses mature (giant Bermudagrass may be the
worst), it becomes too weedy to use for mulch after about the 4th
cutting (We get up to 10-12 cuttings per year). Contrasted wit the
Midwest where earlier cuttings are weedy and the later cuttings are
purer. Our straw is usually either from wheat or rye and is pretty free
of weeds. These crops are pretty expensive so the weed content and
impurities from harvesting are pretty carefully controlled. -Olin