Mulching is not just a way to keep a garden/farm neat & tidy for the neighbors.
(I say neighbors because from what I'm learning so far, I believe a permaculturist, absent of neighbors, would delight in natural chaos).
As you probably know, and I am discovering, organic mulching serves as a weed barrier, a moisture trap, and a nutritional infusion. We have been mainly applying alfalfa.
There is something strangely peaceful about quietly smothering a weed, with a warm blanket of alfalfa, instead of blasting it, and everything around it, with chemicals.
When making farm & garden decisions it can be helpful to remember the 3 main Permaculture Ethics: Care for the Earth, Care for people, and Fair share. Do pesticides care for the earth or people? Does hay/alfalfa mulch?
And in consideration of the 6th Permaculture Principle: Produce no waste, so...
Extra Hay? Mulch Away!
A few days before the alfalfa blanket, we chopped and dropped a thin, but nutrient packed, layer of comfrey, a sort of pre-mulch, to some of the plants.
Our comfrey [chopped, leaving about 6 inches of stalk growth intact]
couldn't wait to replenish itself.
On an organizational note:
Scheduling will have me immersed in permaculture the first half of every week, leaving the second half (Wed-Sunday) for blogging and meditation on my experiences.
Don't Forget to Click on the Links w/in the text.
Look Forward to: My interpretation of an Intro to Permaculture ethics and principles.
Copyright Jacquelyn Marie Schneller 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment