Ruth Stout discovered--or at least popularized this new-to-her
method. Mulching may owe some of its popularity to Ruth's possession
of writing talent similar to her brother Rex's, who was a well-known
mid-century mystery writer. Ruth's humorous book, _Gardening Without
Work_ is a fun-to-read classic that I highly recommend if for no
other reason than it shows how an intelligent person can make
remarkable discoveries simply by observing the obvious. However,
like many other garden writers, Ruth Stout made the mistake of
assuming that what worked in her own backyard would be universally
applicable. Mulch gardening does not succeed everywhere.
This easy method mimics decomposition on the forest floor. Instead
of making compost heaps or sheet composting, the garden is kept
thickly covered with a permanent layer of decomposing vegetation.
Year-round mulch produces a number of synergistic advantages. Decay
on the soil's surface is slow but steady and maintains fertility. As
on the forest floor, soil animals and worm populations are high.
Their activities continuously loosen the earth, steadily transport
humus and nutrients deeper into the soil, and eliminate all need for
tillage. Protected from the sun, the surface layers of soil do not
dry out so shallow-feeding species like lettuce and moisture-lovers
like radishes make much better growth. During high summer, mulched
ground does not become unhealthfully heated up either.
The advantages go on. The very top layer of soil directly under the
mulch has a high organic matter content, retaining moisture,
eliminating crusting, and consequently, enhancing the germination of
seeds. Mulchers usually sow in well-separated rows. The gardener
merely rakes back the mulch and exposes a few inches of bare soil,
scratches a furrow, and covers the seed with humusy topsoil. As the
seedlings grow taller and are thinned out, the mulch is gradually
pushed back around them.
Weeds? No problem! Except where germinating seeds, the mulch layer
is thick enough to prevent weed seeds from sprouting. Should a weed
begin showing through the mulch, this is taken as an indication that
spot has become too thinly covered and a flake of spoiled hay or
other vegetation is tossed on the unwanted plant, smothering it.
Oh, how easy it seems! Pick a garden site. If you have a year to
wait before starting your garden do not even bother to till first.
Cover it a foot deep with combinations of spoiled hay, leaves, grass
clippings, and straw. Woody wastes are not suitable because they
won't rot fast enough to feed the soil. Kitchen garbage and manures
can also be tossed on the earth and, for a sense of tidiness,
covered with hay. The mulch smothers the grass or weeds growing
there and the site begins to soften. Next year it will be ready to
grow vegetables.
If the plot is very infertile to begin with there won't be enough
biological activity or nutrients in the soil to rapidly decompose
the mulch. In that case, to accelerate the process, before first
putting down mulch till in an initial manure layer or a heavy
sprinkling of seed meal. Forever after, mulching materials alone
will be sufficient. Never again till. Never again weed. Never again
fertilize. No compost piles to make, turn, and haul. Just keep your
eye open for spoiled hay and buy a few inexpensive tons of it each
year.
Stout, who discovered mulch gardening in Connecticut where irregular
summer rains were usually sufficient to water a widely-spaced
garden, also mistakenly thought that mulched gardens lost less soil
moisture because the earth was protected from the drying sun and
thus did not need irrigation through occasional drought. I suspect
that drought resistance under mulch has more to do with a plant's
ability to feed vigorously, obtain nutrition, and continue growing
because the surface inches where most of soil nutrients and
biological activities are located, stayed moist. I also suspect that
actual, measurable moisture loss from mulched soil may be greater
than from bare earth. But that's another book I wrote, called
_Gardening Without Irrigation.
_
Yes, gardening under permanent year-round mulch seems easy, but it
does have a few glitches. Ruth Stout did not discover them because
she lived in Connecticut where the soil freezes solid every winter
and stays frozen for long enough to set back population levels of
certain soil animals. In the North, earwigs and sow bugs (pill bugs)
are frequently found in mulched gardens but they do not become a
serious pest. Slugs are infrequent and snails don't exist. All
thanks to winter.
Try permanent mulch in the deep South, or California where I was
first disappointed with mulching, or the Maritime northwest where I
now live, and a catastrophe develops. During the first year these
soil animals are present but cause no problem. But after the first
mild winter with no population setback, they become a plague. Slugs
(and in California, snails) will be found everywhere, devastating
seedlings. Earwigs and sow bugs, that previously only were seen
eating only decaying mulch, begin to attack plants. It soon becomes
impossible to get a stand of seedlings established. The situation
can be rapidly cured by raking up all the mulch, carting it away
from the garden, and composting it. I know this to be the truth
because I've had to do just that both in California where as a
novice gardener I had my first mulch catastrophes, and then when I
moved to Oregon, I gave mulching another trial with similar sad
results.
Sources for Composters, Grinders and etc.
_