The Difference Between Mulch and Compost

...or over a plant to provide insulation, protect from desiccation, and deter weeds. Also: textile or other artificial material used for the same purpose. I’d argue that compost, properly defined, is fully not partially rotted organic material (or textiles or plastic, though I don’t like plastic mulch). The distinction is important. If you integrate mulch, i.e. partially rotted material, like wood chips or straw into soil you’ll cause a temporary nit...

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Supper for a buck?

...t around this time of year I could forage a salad for free from the spring weeds. But for the sake of a sensationalist headline, I’m ballparking our supper for two at about a dollar. It may have been more than a dollar when all the little things are added up–but I honestly think two dollars would be too much. We had one thick slice of bread each, and roughly a cup of cooked beans per person–that’s 25 cents worth of beans for each of us. I’m just n...

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LA’s Parkway Garden Dilemma: Not Fixed Yet

...fornica? Avoiding plant lists also goes for using the word “edible.” Most “weeds” are edible. Marijuana is edible (but would probably not last long in the parkway!). A lot of plants are “edible” but not necessarily something you’d want to eat. If a neighbor complains about my set of parkway plants can I just make a salad to prove they are “edible?” Allow growing plants over 4-inches without permit fees. If plants are not allowed to go to flower th...

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Decomposed Granite as Mulch: A very bad idea

...nd does not build new soil. And eventually, the plastic will fail, and the weeds will come through (some come through even when the plastic is new), and whoever is left holding the bag a couple of years down the road will be pulling decaying bits of plastic out of their garden for evermore. What’s a better approach? Wood chips. Pile it on thick. Skip the plastic liner. Eventually your new plantings will cover any bare areas if you space them corre...

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