Mulch, a time saver

I find hay to be a good mulch. A bale separates nicely into layers and can then be laid on the soil between rows, around the plants or as a path so there are no muddy shoes every time you walk the garden. It helps to cut down weeds and if any do sprout, turning the hay over usually dislodges them or a quick pull for the occasional stubborn one. If it is getting thin adding more will usually smother new weed shoots. Mulch is a barrier to water evaporation, always check under the mulch before watering, it may not need it even on those long hot days. When the hay used on a path is well worn by the end of a season more can be added or it can be dug into the garden soil in the fall and new laid down in the spring. Roughage in the soil, like hay, will encourage worms in your garden. In my garden nothing is more important than worms, they aerate the soil and their castings fertilize. The more worms the better and healthier growth of all the plants.
There is an old raspberry patch here that was severely overgrown and not productive. I spent a lot of time the first two hot summers weeding between the tall thorny canes and found many dead twigs and plants. Three years ago half of the canes were cut down to about 12” and the dead material weeded out. I did not want to cut all the canes incase I did it wrong and damaged them, losing the whole patch. The next summer brought a lot of growth and some good berries, but the second summer, last year, was so abundant I actually gave up picking them and left the berries for the bears. This fall the rest of the canes will be cut down and mulched with hay. Mulching the berries helps me gain access to the 10’ x 20’ tight patch, when weeds and grass sprout amongst the canes it can be inaccessible. The year I don’t find the time in the spring to mulch the patch I end up spending long hot days weeding. I have thought of placing a stone path down the middle but am still not sure, since, to really work it may take up too much space.
The second autumn here a bed was prepared for my first planting of garlic; it worked so well I now plant garlic every fall. One year, after the cloves were in, long grass from the field was gathered, the top seed head was cut off, and placed on top 2-3” deep, it gave my best crop ever that spring. The ground warmed fast encouraging growth while protecting the young shoots and no weeds came up even though I used wild grasses. This fall I will cover with hay, then, once the garlic is harvested the hay will be turned into the soil ready for the next planting.
After Halloween there should be bales around and no longer at a premium price. If you do a big yard display for Halloween or have a neighbour or friend who does, ask if you can take the hay bales off their hands!
My problem is remembering to pick up hay in the early fall or I won’t have any for winter protection and spring planting. At least I can always fall back on the field grasses!
Another idea I want to try with hay is to make a nice sized pile, 2 or 3 bales, and plant potatoes in it. It is easy to reach in and check the size of the tuber and only pick the larger ones, leaving the little spuds to grow bigger undisturbed. I’ll let you know how that goes; right now it is in the thinking/planning stage.