Got a call from my tree service buddy. I drove 7 minutes away and got a full truckload, had to throw a few smaller limbs inside the backseat and passenger seat. Woo hoo! On a side note I traded a bedfull of scraps and cookies I busted up for 2 bales of hay. Gonna use that as mulch instead of wood chips in my garden.
Great score on the white birch, and I unwittingly used hay years ago for weed control in the garden... Hay is full of seeds What you want are straw bales.
Way ahead of you guys. I'm going to solarize the hay. Wrap it in shrink wrap, douse with water, and then let it sit for 2 weeks. That heats it up to the point where any seeds in there be dead. How to Kill Weed Seeds in Hay
And yes, I would have preferred straw but round these parts not so easy to acquire. For example, the straw available for $14.99 / 3.6cu ft has been sprayed with Sencor which is a broad leaf herbicide. A good way to kill your garden for the next 10 years.
Why are you switching from wood chips? They will bind nitrogen if tilled in, but only if tilled in. A 2-4” layer on top is great for moisture retention and weed prevention. It’s the best amendment too when it’s decomposed. I wish I had space for stockpiling chips. Once it breaks down it’s loaded with microbial life and myccorhizae love it.
As I was wrapping it and noticing all the cars on the road zoom past me, I was thinking just that - that someone would call the cops on me and say I was wrapping up the mega load of mary jane. hahahaha I did not till it in...but it did kind of get annoying to work with. I also saw a video where this lady had her soil tested with and without wood chips....the area without the wood chips had better growth and the soil test confirmed it as well. I think the "only if tilled in" part is a) easier said than done and b) still steals nitrogen from the soil. I had kind of limp growth in both my garlic (1.5 beds, 120 cloves planted) as well as bak choi, etc. It might be lack of sun but I want to rule out the chips. I use the chips as the floor in the raised bed enclosure area and the stuff I raked off I just tossed back into the newest compost pile I just started so nothing will be wasted. That said this is my first year gardening and I had a late start due to surgery so the real answer to your question is I'm just experimentating a bit. I can always go back to wood chips. Maybe I will keep a few beds with wood chips and a few with solarized hay. I have 6 beds to play with + 1 raised planter box. Fwiw the raised planter box is doing amazing with compost + soil, no mulch at all, full sun southern exposure. The raised garden bed area is on the north side of the house. I had a huge pile of wood chips on my driveway and then the code enforcement officer threatened to call the EPA on me for run off. Lmfao.
Ffs, yeah that’s way worse than petroleum runoff from streets and parking lots. I was thinking composted chips will be a good money maker when half the population starts growing their own herb.
So.... gonna start a thread on how to recover the heat generated from that little experiment? Next thing you know, there'll be a "HayBaleHoardersClub !!!
My point being the code enforcement officer called it compost lmfao. I forgot to put that in there (although I think I posted it somewhere else) hahahaha. I mean the guy literally doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm making some delicious compost and will be growing my own herb for sure. 3 mature plants, 3 immature plants, if one adult........6 and 6 if more than one adult. WOO HOO BABY.
I have helped my buddy roll up around 2800 large rounds that are weighing anywhere from 1750# - 2000# depending on the type of hay. But most of that stuff only keeps a couple years at best if left outside.
Nice haul there! He gets the lengths consistent. Were you specific with him about that? Only scrounged WB once last Summer after a storm here.
I've used wood chips in the vegetable garden and yeah they can be a bit of a PITA sometimes.Kinda depends on your gardening technique(s). Binding nitrogen is a bit oversold as they only tie up the nitrogen immediately nearby, like say maybe an inch if that , so they could be somewhat detrimental to shallow rooted vegetables like maybe cucumbers. It's not like nitrogen isn't easy to buy either. Plus nitrogen is constantly coming and going anyway. It doesn't just sit there until a plant needs it, it washes away rather readily. If it didn't, fertilizing lawns wouldn't be such a lucrative business. That said, I use last year's leaves that I piled up using the riding mower. It usually chops them up at least enough so that they don't blow away. I will use lawn clippings saved with the mower for mulch avoiding using the ones with weed seeds . The worms and decomposition usually make the lawn mulch disappear over the Winter but the oak leaves seem to last forever. Sometimes I just rake them out of the way and re-use them , sometimes I burn them.
Yeah, a lot of seeds make their way thru a horse's digestive system, too. Horse manure can be a PITA . "But it was freee !!!!!"
Thanks man. I have mentioned 16" in the past. While these were consistent they were about 14" in length so not *perfect*. But I ain't complaining. Plus I'm giving it to my neighbor.
Nice score! I always have plenty of white birch in my stacks and I'm one of those that actively looks for dead and down white birch when scrounging. It can go punky very quickly, and I usually try to unzip the bark if I can't split it right away, however it is a great SS or early morning firewood.
