April 5, 2023 • 15 mins
Welcome to the ECO MAMA Podcast
Green Your Garden: The Benefits of Choosing Organic Mulch
The Problems with Traditional Mulch
- Chemicals and toxins
- Environmental impact
- Cost
The Benefits of Organic Mulch
- Cost-effectiveness
- Nutrient-rich
- Retains moisture in the soil
How to Switch to Organic Mulch
- How to choose the right organic mulch for your garden
- How to properly apply and maintain organic mulch
- Tips for transitioning from traditional to organic mulch
The Environmental Impact of Organic Mulch
5 Brands to Get Organic Mulch in your garden today.
To learn more, check out The Eco Mama Blog https://ecocratesofamerica.com/organic-mulch-for-your-garden/
To hear about Pesticide Free Yards, Check out Episode #5.
www.ecocratesofamerica.com
https://www.ecocratesofamerica.com
https://www.pinterest.com/ecocratesofamerica
DISCLAIMER:
Thank you for listening to the Eco Mama podcast. Please note that this podcast's information is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is based on personal experiences and opinions. We are not licensed healthcare providers; the content should not be considered professional medical advice.
We encourage you to consult a healthcare provider before changing your diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle. The information shared on this podcast is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Furthermore, any views or opinions expressed on this podcast are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. The content is intended to be informative and enjoyable.
By listening to this podcast, you agree that the hosts, guests, or anyone associated with the Eco Mama podcast will not be held liable for any loss, damage, or injury caused or alleged to be caused by the information or opinions shared on this podcast.
Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to continuing to share our journey toward a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle with you.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Did you know that your skin isthe largest organ on your body?
(00:04):
And that whatever you put on it,Hits your bloodstream faster
than if you were to eatsomething.
When was the last time you readthe ingredients on your personal
care products or those cleaningproducts you use in your home
every week?
Jaime (00:17):
12 years ago, I embarked on a journey to seek home and
personal care products made withonly the safest ingredients
while learning which ingredientswere harmful and should be
avoided in that time, I'vecultivated a lifestyle where I
confidently know what is in ourproducts.
The ECO Mama Podcast is formamas who want to create the
(00:39):
safest environment in their homefor their family, and belief
prevention is the ultimatesolution for attaining optimal
health.
Join me as I continue this journey and share stories
of lessons learned while havingan occasional conversation with
other mamas.
My name is Jaime Snell, and Iwill be your ECO mama guide.
(01:01):
Welcome back to the ECO Mama podcast.
I'm your host, Jaime Snell, andI'm super excited that you're
joining me today.
I wanna talk a little bit aboutgardening and in particular, now
that spring is upon us, I wannatalk about the mulch that we use
in our gardens.
Mulch is a great, great toolthat we can use to help preserve
(01:24):
the soil, to keep it moist, toprotect the roots of our plants
and to make our yards lookpretty.
But sometimes we go for vanityover security and we pick the
prettiest mulch out there.
There's a downside to doing thatbecause you might be gravitating
towards some of that brightshiny red mulch.
(01:47):
Those colors are dyed.
My friends, and I'm so sorry tobe the one to inform you of
this, I have not seen anynatural mulches that are red.
At least not in the southeast ofthe United.
And the problems with these isthat they are adding chemicals
to this mulch and it isaffecting the natural flora in
your yard and creating somehavoc within your root system
(02:11):
and putting pesticides, cuz yes,they are treated with pesticides
too and other chemicals.
On your lawns and it's just notgood.
Especially if you are doing avegetable garden.
Vegetable gardens need as muchorganic material as possible.
Think compost, grass clippings,undid mulch, natural wood
(02:35):
shavings, you can even go withdried leaves, things of that
nature.
So I think mulch is important.
It can be still beautify, eventhough if it's not a dyed color.
But in addition to that, I wantto share with you the different
kinds of mulches that you can bechoosing from.
The two big types are organicmulch and inorganic mulch.
(02:59):
So the organic mulch is likeyour wood mulch chips and bark
shredded leaves, as I hadmentioned.
This is something that you canrun over your lawnmower with.
If you get one of those bags oryou.
You know, build them up in apile throughout the fall in your
backyard, and then use them inyour garden.
Or in your planter areas toprotect the soil and the roots
(03:20):
of your plants.
Grass clippings, like Imentioned, straw mulch is
another one, and pine needles.
So these are all examples oforganic mulch that is safer your
yard, safer, your pets to runaround in safer the water to
flow and drain back into thesewer systems.
It's always to beautify andsecure your yard and the
(03:40):
plantings within it withoutsacrificing the environment or
the health of you or your lovedones.
Some of the examples of theinorganic mulches that I highly
encourage not to be consumed orpurchased or supported, or much
less put in your yard.
I would say the number one isthe plastic mulch.
(04:03):
Plastic mulch has been made.
It's more for commercial uses,but they're basically making
this one purpose.
Mulch out of plastic that willnever really be able to use
anywhere else for anything else.
They're literally, and it's noteven recycled plastic.
If they're creating plastic toput in your yard, does it do the
job well, kinda.
But the chemicals from theplastic leach down into the soil
(04:26):
contaminating the soil, so itdoes protect in the soil
creating a a layer, so to speak.
It creates that protective.
On the top of the soil and itkeeps the the beating sun or
the, the very cold, cold fromchanging the temperature of the
soil.
However, like I said, thosechemicals leech down into the
(04:49):
soil, contaminating it.
So, and then, There's wash awaywith heavy rains.
And then what happens whenyou're done?
Is it just buried down into theearth as gravity takes hold?
Do you clear it out and take itto the dump?
I mean, it's just not a naturalthing that's gonna break down
into your garden, so I justhighly encourage to stay away
(05:09):
from that.
Another item that is consideredorganic would be gravel and
rocks.
Now, a lot of the gravel androcks that you find, they're
actually manmade concrete that'schipped down into small pieces.
And the reason that you don'twanna use these is because they
will not decompose.
Another benefit of using organicmulch is that it adds nutrients
(05:31):
to your garden and to your soiland to your yard.
So if you put something in therethat's not gonna decompose, it's
just gonna sit there and.
Add any additional benefit tothe garden.
No nutrients, nothing that willenhance your plants or your
garden.
Or your flowers for that matterif you like to do a butterfly
garden every year.
(05:52):
Another one that I suggest thatwe avoid is rubber mulch.
This is most commonly seen in myexperience at playgrounds now.
When I first came across it, I'mlike, oh, that's ingenious,
because when the kids fall off,The slide or the swing or the
monkey bars, they bounce rightback.
Right.
Well, there's some benefits tothat.
(06:12):
I can see it.
And I think that that is a goodrepurposing of rubber that we
can't do anything else with.
So I'm not completely opposed toit now.
I highly discourage anyone fromusing it.
In their personal lawn care,number one, it stinks.
It smells really, really bad.
It's treated so you're addingchemicals to your yard.
(06:35):
Number two, it attractscockroaches.
Cockroaches just love it.
I cannot explain why, but theydo.
So.
I just wouldn't wanna put it outthere just for that sake alone,
having like more bugs and stuffin there.
And the third is, it also doesnot decompose.
It just sits there.
It doesn't add any benefit.
If anything, like I mentioned,the chemicals, they'll leach
(06:57):
right back down into the garden.
All right, so I shared with youa little bit about the
differences of the two mainmulches, organic and inorganic.
And then I also shared.
Why we should use mulch in ouryard, especially in the
springtime when the weatherstarts to change, the moisture
retention, the temperaturecontrolling.
One thing I didn't mention, andI think this is probably why my
(07:20):
parents used it, it does greatweed control.
I don't like to use anychemicals in my yard.
I did a podcast in the fall withmy husband, and I'll reference
it down in the notes below inthe show notes.
And we talked about lawn care,lawn treatment, and side note on
that, if you've listened to thatepisode, we are now using
(07:41):
Sunday, and we're not far enoughlong into the use of it yet for
me to report on it, but I'mexcited because.
They don't use the pesticidesand the chemicals that a lot of
the lawn care services use.
And it's kind of ado-it-yourselfer so we know what
we're putting on our graph.
And I can trust what's going onthere.
But with the weed suppressionfrom mulch, it's great because I
(08:02):
don't want to spray any weedkiller in my gardens or in my
side beds or where my flowersare, or my vegetables are not
even where my roses are.
I just don't want'em.
I don't want any chemicals in myyard if I can avoid it, and I do
my best to do that, the only wayit's really gonna get in is when
the neighbors to the right of meand the neighbors to the left of
me put it on their yards.
(08:22):
And the wind blows it into minethat I have no control over, but
I can control what I put in myown grass.
So another benefit is it helpsmaintain your soil health and
prevent erosion.
And then of course, the thing Imentioned about making it look
pretty, that's considered theaesthetic appeal.
There's another benefit to usingmulch, especially organic mulch
(08:44):
because there's a costeffectiveness to.
It can be a little bit moreexpensive than your traditional
mulches that are treated or evendyed, you know, upfront.
But it lasts longer.
And like I mentioned, it addsnutrients back to your soil so
you don't have to use otherproducts.
You don't have to spend money onother soil enhancements to get
that.
So you kind of, you save moneyin the long run, if you think
(09:06):
about it that way.
Making the switch fromtraditional to organic mulches.
I don't know.
It's kind of a no-brainer sinceI started owning my own home,
which, Hmm, we're going on nineyears now that I've been buying
mulch.
I think that's right.
Maybe it's eight years that I'vebeen a mulch buyer.
I've always saw it, the organic,the untreated, the non-treated.
(09:27):
I did look once into the redbecause I saw it in someone's
yard and I was like, oh, that'sso pretty.
I want that.
You know, the researcher and medug into it and saw that it was
artificially colored, and thosecolors can wreak havoc in nature
because they're not meant forit.
Just like our bodies, our bodiesweren't meant to digest our
artificial colors, and neitheris the earth.
(09:50):
So I opted out and we have plainall brown here, but I can still
beautify it with flowers.
I have lots of seeds forflowers.
We've got some germinating rightnow and I can't wait to put them
in the ground.
We have a beautiful butterflygarden out back, and I'm putting
some more perennials in therethis spring.
I'm very excited for it.
So we've already done onedelivery of mulch in our yard.
(10:11):
If you wanna see some funpictures from that, you can
check out POD or this is thepodcast, sorry.
You can check out the blog thatI've done on mulching and that
just a great opportunity to diga little bit deeper and it goes,
gives you more than what theshow notes will have on all the
research that I did for this foryou.
But make a positive impact onthe environment and don't make
(10:32):
it worse.
I highly encourage you to go forthe organic mulch.
Now, I.
Pull up five cuz you know me,I'm all about USA made brands,
so I pulled up five USA madebrands that I recommend.
Now I, I'll be honest, I havenot bought these brands
directly.
I have just gone to my localmulch supplier and it's almost
like a big stockyard and theytake a forklift and scoop up the
(10:56):
mulch and they drop it in myneighbor's truck because I have
an awesome neighbor who will letus use his truck to bring the
mulch back.
We have purchased.
Riverbed rocks from them before,so they do delivery as well, but
we never, we really don't usethat much mulch that we need it
delivered every year.
So we go and pick it up.
Now, if I were to need to go toa hardware store just for a bag
(11:18):
or two, something that is likepre-measured for me thankfully
I, I have the option not to dothat because then that's just
more plastic we have to throwaway.
But if you have to go thatroute, cause you do need mulch
for your yard and you wanna dosomething to beautify it and to
protect your soil and enhanceyour.
These are five brands that Ihave found that are made in the
new USA and I have very highratings, so I highly suggest one
(11:39):
of these if you're gonna hityourself into Lowe's or Home
Depot or ACE Hardware.
Big proponent of Ace Hardwarehere.
It's still small business feelwhen I go into it, and almost
everyone who works at AceHardware knows what they're
talking about as opposed to theother two big brand store.
Okay, ECOS scraps.
So Ecos scraps produces mulchfrom food waste.
(12:00):
And side note, did you know thatthere are companies now that
will compost for you?
You put your food in a bag, yourfood scraps that are safe or
composting, and instead ofhaving one in your backyard,
they pick up that bag every weekand drop off fresh compost to.
And it's like a communitycompost service, which is
(12:22):
really, really cool.
I still have one in my backyardwhere seem to be managing it.
Okay.
But I would've loved that whenmy kids were younger because I
would've had the opportunity tostill have mulch for my or not
mulch for my garden.
Well, yes, mulch, becausecompost can be mulch, but I
would have composting for mygarden that could help enrich
my.
And be able to not just tossthat food in the garbage.
(12:45):
So if you're interested in that,I suggest you Google it for your
neighborhood.
But ECO scraps takes food wasteand creates mulch, and they
reduce waste in the landfills bydoing so, and they have that
valuable nutrient.
Its back into your soil HarvestGarden Pro may say that again.
Harvest Garden Pro is a companythat produces mulch, shrimp,
(13:07):
bark, and wood chip.
Also, as I mentioned, it's greatfor retaining moisture and
suppressing weeds.
These two, as well as the nextthree that I'm gonna mention are
organic brands.
These are organic mulches, soilpep.
It's a company that producesmulch, made from a blend of
composted leaves, grass and woodchips.
(13:28):
It gives that nutrient rich.
Great.
That's great for improving yoursoil health.
Black gold.
Now this is the stuff myneighbor uses and I'm always
blessed when she brings me alittle bit of it, if it's
leftover from her gardening.
She has two houses.
She lives next door and thenshe's got a house in the city.
And just a small, little Whatwould you call it?
Like keep cod style home.
(13:48):
But she still main maintains hergarden over there, even though
she spends most of her time hereand she gets the black gold
organic for over there.
Cause it's such a small area,it's kind of a higher end mulch.
And she brings me some and it'sjust this beautiful enriched,
it's almost like a soiled mulch,but it's, it's, it's composted
bark is what it is with woodchips and other organic
(14:09):
materials.
And it brings this great balanceback to the garden.
Finally, the last supplier thatI would suggest that I've read
with high ratings.
Black gold is the only one thatI've tried, but Gardener's
supply company, it's another onethat I found that's made in the
usa and they produce their mulchmade from a blend of coconut per
(14:30):
light and worm castings.
Now worm cast.
Or another forum of composting.
And, and I will eventually getinto composting one day to share
some of the tips and tricks thatI've learned about it.
But basically there's like twomain things of com of
composting.
You have your food scraps fromyour kitchen, then there's warm
composting.
(14:51):
So the, the two differences areboth valuable and rich.
But basically you have liveworms that help break down that
food for you.
Speeds up the process.
So Gardener Supply Company usesworms in their mulching process.
And again, there's this great,that product is great for
retaining the moisture andimproving soil.
So yeah, there you have it.
(15:15):
Long winded explanation ofmulching, why you need to switch
to organic mulch if you haven'talready made that switch.
Check out the show notes below.
If you wanna reference back tothe episode of why I don't use
pesticides in our yard.
And feel free to leave amessage.
We would love to hear from youand share with us any of your
(15:36):
tips and tricks on organicgardening, because I wanna talk
more about that.
And I would love to share newthings that I can learn from you
as well as things that I'vealready learned on my own.
So I hope you guys have afabulous.
I hope you have a fabulous day,and I'm so grateful you were
able to join me today.
Thank you so much.
(15:56):
Take care.
Did you know that your skin isthe largest organ on your body?
(00:04):
And that whatever you put on it,Hits your bloodstream faster
than if you were to eatsomething.
When was the last time you readthe ingredients on your personal
care products or those cleaningproducts you use in your home
every week?
Jaime (00:17):
12 years ago, I embarked on a journey to seek home and
personal care products made withonly the safest ingredients
while learning which ingredientswere harmful and should be
avoided in that time, I'vecultivated a lifestyle where I
confidently know what is in ourproducts.
The ECO Mama Podcast is formamas who want to create the
(00:39):
safest environment in their homefor their family, and belief
prevention is the ultimatesolution for attaining optimal
health.
Join me as I continue this journey and share stories
of lessons learned while havingan occasional conversation with
other mamas.
My name is Jaime Snell, and Iwill be your ECO mama guide.
(01:01):
Welcome back to the ECO Mama podcast.
I'm your host, Jaime Snell, andI'm super excited that you're
joining me today.
I wanna talk a little bit aboutgardening and in particular, now
that spring is upon us, I wannatalk about the mulch that we use
in our gardens.
Mulch is a great, great toolthat we can use to help preserve
(01:24):
the soil, to keep it moist, toprotect the roots of our plants
and to make our yards lookpretty.
But sometimes we go for vanityover security and we pick the
prettiest mulch out there.
There's a downside to doing thatbecause you might be gravitating
towards some of that brightshiny red mulch.
(01:47):
Those colors are dyed.
My friends, and I'm so sorry tobe the one to inform you of
this, I have not seen anynatural mulches that are red.
At least not in the southeast ofthe United.
And the problems with these isthat they are adding chemicals
to this mulch and it isaffecting the natural flora in
your yard and creating somehavoc within your root system
(02:11):
and putting pesticides, cuz yes,they are treated with pesticides
too and other chemicals.
On your lawns and it's just notgood.
Especially if you are doing avegetable garden.
Vegetable gardens need as muchorganic material as possible.
Think compost, grass clippings,undid mulch, natural wood
(02:35):
shavings, you can even go withdried leaves, things of that
nature.
So I think mulch is important.
It can be still beautify, eventhough if it's not a dyed color.
But in addition to that, I wantto share with you the different
kinds of mulches that you can bechoosing from.
The two big types are organicmulch and inorganic mulch.
(02:59):
So the organic mulch is likeyour wood mulch chips and bark
shredded leaves, as I hadmentioned.
This is something that you canrun over your lawnmower with.
If you get one of those bags oryou.
You know, build them up in apile throughout the fall in your
backyard, and then use them inyour garden.
Or in your planter areas toprotect the soil and the roots
(03:20):
of your plants.
Grass clippings, like Imentioned, straw mulch is
another one, and pine needles.
So these are all examples oforganic mulch that is safer your
yard, safer, your pets to runaround in safer the water to
flow and drain back into thesewer systems.
It's always to beautify andsecure your yard and the
(03:40):
plantings within it withoutsacrificing the environment or
the health of you or your lovedones.
Some of the examples of theinorganic mulches that I highly
encourage not to be consumed orpurchased or supported, or much
less put in your yard.
I would say the number one isthe plastic mulch.
(04:03):
Plastic mulch has been made.
It's more for commercial uses,but they're basically making
this one purpose.
Mulch out of plastic that willnever really be able to use
anywhere else for anything else.
They're literally, and it's noteven recycled plastic.
If they're creating plastic toput in your yard, does it do the
job well, kinda.
But the chemicals from theplastic leach down into the soil
(04:26):
contaminating the soil, so itdoes protect in the soil
creating a a layer, so to speak.
It creates that protective.
On the top of the soil and itkeeps the the beating sun or
the, the very cold, cold fromchanging the temperature of the
soil.
However, like I said, thosechemicals leech down into the
(04:49):
soil, contaminating it.
So, and then, There's wash awaywith heavy rains.
And then what happens whenyou're done?
Is it just buried down into theearth as gravity takes hold?
Do you clear it out and take itto the dump?
I mean, it's just not a naturalthing that's gonna break down
into your garden, so I justhighly encourage to stay away
(05:09):
from that.
Another item that is consideredorganic would be gravel and
rocks.
Now, a lot of the gravel androcks that you find, they're
actually manmade concrete that'schipped down into small pieces.
And the reason that you don'twanna use these is because they
will not decompose.
Another benefit of using organicmulch is that it adds nutrients
(05:31):
to your garden and to your soiland to your yard.
So if you put something in therethat's not gonna decompose, it's
just gonna sit there and.
Add any additional benefit tothe garden.
No nutrients, nothing that willenhance your plants or your
garden.
Or your flowers for that matterif you like to do a butterfly
garden every year.
(05:52):
Another one that I suggest thatwe avoid is rubber mulch.
This is most commonly seen in myexperience at playgrounds now.
When I first came across it, I'mlike, oh, that's ingenious,
because when the kids fall off,The slide or the swing or the
monkey bars, they bounce rightback.
Right.
Well, there's some benefits tothat.
(06:12):
I can see it.
And I think that that is a goodrepurposing of rubber that we
can't do anything else with.
So I'm not completely opposed toit now.
I highly discourage anyone fromusing it.
In their personal lawn care,number one, it stinks.
It smells really, really bad.
It's treated so you're addingchemicals to your yard.
(06:35):
Number two, it attractscockroaches.
Cockroaches just love it.
I cannot explain why, but theydo.
So.
I just wouldn't wanna put it outthere just for that sake alone,
having like more bugs and stuffin there.
And the third is, it also doesnot decompose.
It just sits there.
It doesn't add any benefit.
If anything, like I mentioned,the chemicals, they'll leach
(06:57):
right back down into the garden.
All right, so I shared with youa little bit about the
differences of the two mainmulches, organic and inorganic.
And then I also shared.
Why we should use mulch in ouryard, especially in the
springtime when the weatherstarts to change, the moisture
retention, the temperaturecontrolling.
One thing I didn't mention, andI think this is probably why my
(07:20):
parents used it, it does greatweed control.
I don't like to use anychemicals in my yard.
I did a podcast in the fall withmy husband, and I'll reference
it down in the notes below inthe show notes.
And we talked about lawn care,lawn treatment, and side note on
that, if you've listened to thatepisode, we are now using
(07:41):
Sunday, and we're not far enoughlong into the use of it yet for
me to report on it, but I'mexcited because.
They don't use the pesticidesand the chemicals that a lot of
the lawn care services use.
And it's kind of ado-it-yourselfer so we know what
we're putting on our graph.
And I can trust what's going onthere.
But with the weed suppressionfrom mulch, it's great because I
(08:02):
don't want to spray any weedkiller in my gardens or in my
side beds or where my flowersare, or my vegetables are not
even where my roses are.
I just don't want'em.
I don't want any chemicals in myyard if I can avoid it, and I do
my best to do that, the only wayit's really gonna get in is when
the neighbors to the right of meand the neighbors to the left of
me put it on their yards.
(08:22):
And the wind blows it into minethat I have no control over, but
I can control what I put in myown grass.
So another benefit is it helpsmaintain your soil health and
prevent erosion.
And then of course, the thing Imentioned about making it look
pretty, that's considered theaesthetic appeal.
There's another benefit to usingmulch, especially organic mulch
(08:44):
because there's a costeffectiveness to.
It can be a little bit moreexpensive than your traditional
mulches that are treated or evendyed, you know, upfront.
But it lasts longer.
And like I mentioned, it addsnutrients back to your soil so
you don't have to use otherproducts.
You don't have to spend money onother soil enhancements to get
that.
So you kind of, you save moneyin the long run, if you think
(09:06):
about it that way.
Making the switch fromtraditional to organic mulches.
I don't know.
It's kind of a no-brainer sinceI started owning my own home,
which, Hmm, we're going on nineyears now that I've been buying
mulch.
I think that's right.
Maybe it's eight years that I'vebeen a mulch buyer.
I've always saw it, the organic,the untreated, the non-treated.
(09:27):
I did look once into the redbecause I saw it in someone's
yard and I was like, oh, that'sso pretty.
I want that.
You know, the researcher and medug into it and saw that it was
artificially colored, and thosecolors can wreak havoc in nature
because they're not meant forit.
Just like our bodies, our bodiesweren't meant to digest our
artificial colors, and neitheris the earth.
(09:50):
So I opted out and we have plainall brown here, but I can still
beautify it with flowers.
I have lots of seeds forflowers.
We've got some germinating rightnow and I can't wait to put them
in the ground.
We have a beautiful butterflygarden out back, and I'm putting
some more perennials in therethis spring.
I'm very excited for it.
So we've already done onedelivery of mulch in our yard.
(10:11):
If you wanna see some funpictures from that, you can
check out POD or this is thepodcast, sorry.
You can check out the blog thatI've done on mulching and that
just a great opportunity to diga little bit deeper and it goes,
gives you more than what theshow notes will have on all the
research that I did for this foryou.
But make a positive impact onthe environment and don't make
(10:32):
it worse.
I highly encourage you to go forthe organic mulch.
Now, I.
Pull up five cuz you know me,I'm all about USA made brands,
so I pulled up five USA madebrands that I recommend.
Now I, I'll be honest, I havenot bought these brands
directly.
I have just gone to my localmulch supplier and it's almost
like a big stockyard and theytake a forklift and scoop up the
(10:56):
mulch and they drop it in myneighbor's truck because I have
an awesome neighbor who will letus use his truck to bring the
mulch back.
We have purchased.
Riverbed rocks from them before,so they do delivery as well, but
we never, we really don't usethat much mulch that we need it
delivered every year.
So we go and pick it up.
Now, if I were to need to go toa hardware store just for a bag
(11:18):
or two, something that is likepre-measured for me thankfully
I, I have the option not to dothat because then that's just
more plastic we have to throwaway.
But if you have to go thatroute, cause you do need mulch
for your yard and you wanna dosomething to beautify it and to
protect your soil and enhanceyour.
These are five brands that Ihave found that are made in the
new USA and I have very highratings, so I highly suggest one
(11:39):
of these if you're gonna hityourself into Lowe's or Home
Depot or ACE Hardware.
Big proponent of Ace Hardwarehere.
It's still small business feelwhen I go into it, and almost
everyone who works at AceHardware knows what they're
talking about as opposed to theother two big brand store.
Okay, ECOS scraps.
So Ecos scraps produces mulchfrom food waste.
(12:00):
And side note, did you know thatthere are companies now that
will compost for you?
You put your food in a bag, yourfood scraps that are safe or
composting, and instead ofhaving one in your backyard,
they pick up that bag every weekand drop off fresh compost to.
And it's like a communitycompost service, which is
(12:22):
really, really cool.
I still have one in my backyardwhere seem to be managing it.
Okay.
But I would've loved that whenmy kids were younger because I
would've had the opportunity tostill have mulch for my or not
mulch for my garden.
Well, yes, mulch, becausecompost can be mulch, but I
would have composting for mygarden that could help enrich
my.
And be able to not just tossthat food in the garbage.
(12:45):
So if you're interested in that,I suggest you Google it for your
neighborhood.
But ECO scraps takes food wasteand creates mulch, and they
reduce waste in the landfills bydoing so, and they have that
valuable nutrient.
Its back into your soil HarvestGarden Pro may say that again.
Harvest Garden Pro is a companythat produces mulch, shrimp,
(13:07):
bark, and wood chip.
Also, as I mentioned, it's greatfor retaining moisture and
suppressing weeds.
These two, as well as the nextthree that I'm gonna mention are
organic brands.
These are organic mulches, soilpep.
It's a company that producesmulch, made from a blend of
composted leaves, grass and woodchips.
(13:28):
It gives that nutrient rich.
Great.
That's great for improving yoursoil health.
Black gold.
Now this is the stuff myneighbor uses and I'm always
blessed when she brings me alittle bit of it, if it's
leftover from her gardening.
She has two houses.
She lives next door and thenshe's got a house in the city.
And just a small, little Whatwould you call it?
Like keep cod style home.
(13:48):
But she still main maintains hergarden over there, even though
she spends most of her time hereand she gets the black gold
organic for over there.
Cause it's such a small area,it's kind of a higher end mulch.
And she brings me some and it'sjust this beautiful enriched,
it's almost like a soiled mulch,but it's, it's, it's composted
bark is what it is with woodchips and other organic
(14:09):
materials.
And it brings this great balanceback to the garden.
Finally, the last supplier thatI would suggest that I've read
with high ratings.
Black gold is the only one thatI've tried, but Gardener's
supply company, it's another onethat I found that's made in the
usa and they produce their mulchmade from a blend of coconut per
(14:30):
light and worm castings.
Now worm cast.
Or another forum of composting.
And, and I will eventually getinto composting one day to share
some of the tips and tricks thatI've learned about it.
But basically there's like twomain things of com of
composting.
You have your food scraps fromyour kitchen, then there's warm
composting.
(14:51):
So the, the two differences areboth valuable and rich.
But basically you have liveworms that help break down that
food for you.
Speeds up the process.
So Gardener Supply Company usesworms in their mulching process.
And again, there's this great,that product is great for
retaining the moisture andimproving soil.
So yeah, there you have it.
(15:15):
Long winded explanation ofmulching, why you need to switch
to organic mulch if you haven'talready made that switch.
Check out the show notes below.
If you wanna reference back tothe episode of why I don't use
pesticides in our yard.
And feel free to leave amessage.
We would love to hear from youand share with us any of your
(15:36):
tips and tricks on organicgardening, because I wanna talk
more about that.
And I would love to share newthings that I can learn from you
as well as things that I'vealready learned on my own.
So I hope you guys have afabulous.
I hope you have a fabulous day,and I'm so grateful you were
able to join me today.
Thank you so much.
(15:56):
Take care.
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