Mulch to Do about Mulch

I ran across this film by mention from a friend and was totally inspired because I knew this is what I had been doing wrong for the last four years.

My first year gardening, I had mulched my beds with 2 inches wood mulch over a topsoil/mushroom compost mixture and I had OK results. The second year I turned by beds over and decided I wouldn't mulch again because the chips didn't turn into the soil well and it was chunky and I didn't like the appearance of the tilled in wood chips. I had a great year of produce! The next year all the mulch was gone and I noticed a decline in my garden results. I attributed it to the particularly hot summer and lots of stink bugs. Last year I only made minimal amendment to the soil and hoped for the best. The output was nothing short of a disappointment, by the time fall gardening came around, nothing grew save lots and lots of mustard greens, which would probably find a crack in cement and flourish. I examined the soil, found it hard and crusty, no earth worms, even the weeds refused to grow there. I had depleted the growing capacity of my soil and downgraded it to nothing more than dirt.

So I went looking for answers, I came to cover crops and worm towers. I've felt somewhat optimistic about my new prospects for this year until I came upon Back to Eden and knew it was the mulch that I had been missing. It was the constant feed that the soil yearned for to thrive and flourish. The protection from our incredibly intense summer sun and the pounding rains. I wasted no time and found a source of free wood chips and now I've gone "Back to Eden"

 A few days before adding the mulch. This is bare manure/humus compost about 4 inches on top of the depleted soil.

This is just a week later after adding the wood chips, about 3 or so inches. Despite the unusual cold we've been experiencing the plants are insulated and happy, especially the tomatoes are feeling the love.


The plants are no longer wilting in the afternoon. I no longer am cautiously optimistic about the results this year, but eager to harvest the abundance I'm sure will come