On Mon, 07 May 2007 09:07:14 -0700, William Rose
wrote:

In article , Persephone
wrote:

On Mon, 7 May 2007 11:41:10 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

Persephone wrote in message
Some of my veggie patch has bare dirt that dries out fast.
I don't have enough home-made compost to do much,
so wondered if anybody had experience using worm castings
as top dressing. I have quite a bit of that left over.

Wow. I'd think that using worm casting to stop drying out would be like
using gold. It'd work but seems to me to be a bit of a waste. Do you have
access to a less precious mulch that would do the same job? For around
small veggies and seedling, I use horse food ie chaff. It's very fine, and
once watered and settled in, doesn't blow away but keeps in moisture quite
well in addition to adding to the humus levels of the soil.

Could you clarify term "horse food ie chaff". Is that something
I have to get at a horse place, or...? Sorry, not familiar with term.

Sounds promising.

Yes, worm ca$ting$ are overkill; I usually mix them with soil and
mulch and maybe some nutrients for planting/transplanting.

TIA

Couldn't you just buy a bale of hay from a feed store? A bale of hay
will cover a lot of area. Around here it is $5 from a store ans as low
as $3 from the grower.

- Bill
Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

I see you fixed your .sig, Bill. Congrats.

For OP - is chaff what remains when you thresh grain?

Do horses really eat that?-

I don't have a way to get to a feed store; not driving at the moment,
and can't use a large quantity anyway.

Sigh! Guess I'll have to see if there's enough cooked in there to
scoop out the composter. Tough job.

Persephone