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Ligaya Garden
a little garden near Gawler
Mulching in the rain
It’s good to get out in the rain while the weather’s still a bit warm. It’s an ideal time for a light mulch of the front too.
I like to mulch once it’s rained at least once and is raining again. That way the soil underneath has a good soak and the mulch gets a good soak too.
Today is perfect. I gave the garden a good soak the other day and a goodly dose of seaweed fertizer. That’ll give the plants a good feed.
It rained well last night, so in between the heavier showers, I’ve been out distributing a super compressed bale of straw. It only takes two of these to do the whole front yard lightly.
This is only a light mulch so that the straw gets to start breaking down whole the air and ground is still warm. I reckon that way it feeds the plants better over Winter.
A light mulch like this also keeps the Sparrows and Blackbirds occupied. I can never get it spread out to their satisfaction. Maybe while they’re reorganising the mulch, they’ll leave our veggie seedlings alone.
Mulching like this usually done here three times a year – now, at the beginning of Spring and once more at the beginning of Summer. That’s in addition to distributing the litter from the chook run and my Chop ‘n’ Drop composting, both of which happen continuously throughout the year.
Mulching is critical to keeping the up nutrients in the garden as well as protecting the soil web from extremes of weather.
If you’d like to learn more about how we compost here at Ligaya Garden, especially as we do it without a traditional compost heap, check our Composting page. It’s being updated now but you’ll probably be able to squeeze something interesting out of it.
One Comment on “Mulching in the rain”
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Ligaya Garden 
The thought of rain brings pleasant images to mind.
I like your comment about the straw not being laid to the blackbirds satisfaction. I think the birds here have taken all my chop-and-drop material at the back of the garden for nests.
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