Garden Mulching

[Vinca]

For the first time in forever I'm unable to find hay to mulch my vegetable garden. Has anyone used anything else successfully???

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Untreated grass clippings...hardwood bark chips...newspaper

Topped with wheat straw...just to name a few

[tazkcmo]

2. I've used

grass clippings from mowing the lawn and leaves from raking. Never had an issue with the grass clippings seeding and growing either although if you have a lot of Johnson grass it may become an issue due to the many seeds at the top of Johnson grass. I've had friends that also used saw dust.

[Bayard]

3. Last year

I went to the sawmill up the road and shoveled pickup truck loads of their by-products. This year, I'm only doing that for the garden paths, and mulching plants with hay. I already have it on hand with the horses. I've also used pine straw that I raked up in our woods, but too many weed seeds mixed in. Do you see anything on Craigslist? Can you call a local feed store and see who they know? You can also get bagged pine shavings (used for horse bedding) at a feed store like Tractor Supply for about $5 a bag. Much cheaper than buying wood mulch at Lowes. Clean, dry, and smells great.

[Vinca]

4. I don't want to put wood products near the veggies because of the acidity. I'll keep searching for

hay and try to keep ahead of the weeds with the Mantis rototiller. We usually buy hay from the local farm supply store, but mysteriously they're out and said there's a shortage of hay. I wonder how people are feeding their animals.