"David Hare-Scott" wrote | Look carefully at the
material and where it came from. It is possible that
| it contains seeds and rubbish that you don't want, it is also possible
that
| it is fine, there are no hard and fast rules. Consider straw, it depends
on
| what crop the straw is derived from, how well it was taken off when
| harvested and what weeds (if any) were cut along with it.

I always get wheat straw for mulching. It's a little more expensive but
worth it in the long run. There's not as much 'junk' in it as regular
straw.

For mulch I use discarded household leavings (fruit, veggies, egg shell,
coffee grounds) along with pecan and oak leaves. A few layers of newspaper
and some wheat straw on top.

Kimberly