Just started a compost pile today with a bin I made of oak pallets.
Everyone was very helpful with my wood chip question (I'll add
some but sparingly) for composting. I also got 2 books from the
Library yesterday that will be my evening reading for the next few days.

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.

I also was thinking about adding them as cover to the in-use garden
area now to help hold in moisture (mostly sand). Then in fall I'll
turn the soil so they too are mixed in. Are either of these in
general no-no's? FWIW, I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7) almost no rain
and mid 90's so its hot and VERY dry. Regardless, I still intend to
do the compost pile though.

TIA, again

The combination of brown and green compost faster than either by itself.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"John DeBoo" wrote in message
...
Just started a compost pile today with a bin I made of oak pallets.
Everyone was very helpful with my wood chip question (I'll add
some but sparingly) for composting. I also got 2 books from the
Library yesterday that will be my evening reading for the next few days.

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.

I also was thinking about adding them as cover to the in-use garden
area now to help hold in moisture (mostly sand). Then in fall I'll
turn the soil so they too are mixed in. Are either of these in
general no-no's? FWIW, I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7) almost no rain
and mid 90's so its hot and VERY dry. Regardless, I still intend to
do the compost pile though.

TIA, again

John DeBoo wrote:
New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as
I was adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly
to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies?

That works and you could plant a fall cover crop also.

--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

John DeBoo wrote:

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.


Here's a radical thought: Why not leave them on the grass?

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug:
Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 18:47:39 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

Just started a compost pile today with a bin I made of oak pallets.
Everyone was very helpful with my wood chip question (I'll add
some but sparingly) for composting. I also got 2 books from the
Library yesterday that will be my evening reading for the next few days.

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.

I also was thinking about adding them as cover to the in-use garden
area now to help hold in moisture (mostly sand). Then in fall I'll
turn the soil so they too are mixed in. Are either of these in
general no-no's? FWIW, I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7) almost no rain
and mid 90's so its hot and VERY dry. Regardless, I still intend to
do the compost pile though.

TIA, again
The action of making compost will produce a biologically superior
product. Congratulations on making the first step in developing a
vastly improved garden.

Here is a helpful link in building a successful thermophilic
(superior) pile.

http://www.gardenplace.com/content/c...lch_calc.html#

The herbacide clopyralid is the one that seems most persistant in
grass clippings.
You can test for it's presence in compost by how it affects the
germination and growth of garden peas.
The more residue present the more stunted and distorted the pea
foliage is.
At 75 parts per billion they really look bad.
It does hang around far longer than desirable.

This link will take you to photographs of clopyralid damaged seedlings .
On the same site are testing protocols.
The search term used to find this information was "clopyralid testing"

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt...r%20Plants.htm

John DeBoo wrote:

Just started a compost pile today with a bin I made of oak pallets.
Everyone was very helpful with my wood chip question (I'll add
some but sparingly) for composting. I also got 2 books from the
Library yesterday that will be my evening reading for the next few days.

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.

I also was thinking about adding them as cover to the in-use garden
area now to help hold in moisture (mostly sand). Then in fall I'll
turn the soil so they too are mixed in. Are either of these in
general no-no's? FWIW, I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7) almost no rain
and mid 90's so its hot and VERY dry. Regardless, I still intend to
do the compost pile though.

TIA, again

The only problem with that idea is, if the clippings include
seed, you're tilling it right in where you don't want it to
grow. Other than that, this plan works just fine; we till in our
crops every fall in the veggie beds with no problem at all.

Chris Owens


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Warren wrote:
John DeBoo wrote:

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.



Here's a radical thought: Why not leave them on the grass?

Because I prefer to use them as compost for my garden if possible. My
lawn grows nicely so no need to fix what isn't broken. The garden OTOH
could use some help.

On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 20:59:45 -0400, Chris Owens
wrote:

John DeBoo wrote:

Just started a compost pile today with a bin I made of oak pallets.
Everyone was very helpful with my wood chip question (I'll add
some but sparingly) for composting. I also got 2 books from the
Library yesterday that will be my evening reading for the next few days.

New question grass clippings. I intend to use some in the
compost bin along with other garden greens & browns etc but as I was
adding them I got to thinking - why not add some directly to the
unused garden area now and mix them with the dirt so they
breakdown(?) and may be ready for next years crop of goodies? Soil
is sand & a lot of clay so it sticks in clumps as hard as concrete.

I also was thinking about adding them as cover to the in-use garden
area now to help hold in moisture (mostly sand). Then in fall I'll
turn the soil so they too are mixed in. Are either of these in
general no-no's? FWIW, I'm in Albuquerque (zone 7) almost no rain
and mid 90's so its hot and VERY dry. Regardless, I still intend to
do the compost pile though.

TIA, again

The only problem with that idea is, if the clippings include
seed, you're tilling it right in where you don't want it to
grow. Other than that, this plan works just fine; we till in our
crops every fall in the veggie beds with no problem at all.

Chris Owens


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http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----


I just recently learned that I should mulch my grass clippings, leaving
them on the lawn. I was bagging the grass early on basically to use as
mulch in the garden. When I started doing that the grass now needs cut
every two or three days and looks better than in July when we had above
average rainfall by 2.88 inches. At our current rate we will be about
average for August.

Contrary to what many people believe, mulching the clippings does not
contribute to thatch build up.

sparkie