I just got a bunch of free cedar mulch so I hope that is okay for the veggie
garden if i put it on top of my newspaper,
wrote in message
...
That is a lot of mulch, isn't it? I bought six large bags and I don't
think it will come close to 10 inches high, at about 270 sq. ft. Will
I have to buy that much mulch every year, about 18 baags? This hobby
can be quite expensive and for some reason I think the vegetable yield
that we actually use will not be in like with the cost. We spent so
far::

Gardener to pull all the weeds
Sprinkler guy to fix the sprinklers heads where the garden is.
We had stick in the ground fences but I also bought 36 in fencing to
keep out the rabbits and maybe the squirrels.
Fiskars 16 foot Pruner to make sure there is sun.
13 tomato cages
Miracle grow Sprayer
Gloves

That won't have to be repeated next year.

The annual expenses a

Plants $ 150
Box of Miracle Grow Packets 16
Humus 4 40# bgs 14
Mulch 18 bags 69
------------
Total $252

That's for lots of tomatoes, basil, 6 red onions, thyme, parsley,
peppers, eggplant, zuchinni, red cabbge, chives and cuccumber. The
thing is, this is only for three months at best and we still don't
have green cabbage, romaine, carrots,

However, there is something priceless about those tomatoes and
cuccumbers. Probably should haave done less tomatoes and instead
romaine and green cabbge. We make lots of cole slaw.

****As far as the woodchips, What do you do with them at the end of
the season? Since I never really had the time to prepare the soil
this year, I thought next year I'd rototill with a gas powered stick
rototiller that I have. I guess I'd have to rake off the wood chips
and put them back after the soil is prepared again.



On 11 Jun 2005 11:41:50 -0700, "simy1" wrote:

you can mulch now, and it will eliminate most of your weeding, reduce
your watering, and help get the soil prepared for next year. Mulch all
the way to the first set of leaves for each plant (ten inches for
tomatoes, two for thyme), then spread it flat at the end of season. You
need to have a tree company deliver four or five cubic yards of free
wood chips. They are a pain to spread with the plants already in, but
at least you have to do it only once. if you put newspaper down before
applying the chips, most of the grass will die also.