Mulches Without Manure (horse and cow)

[VirginVegGrower]

OK we all have different soils and different ways of adding nutrient. In the past I have used horse muck, but owing to both getting chickens and not being able to rule Aminopyralid free sources in, I was wondering how to add the organic bulk/matter that manure gives. We sowed green manure in two beds through Autumn and rested them. We have sandy free draining soil, which needs the organic matter that hen poop alone can't give. I have been using the poop as an activator and using the compost generated, but it's still not enough.
What do we all use?!

[SarzWix]

Grass clippings mixed with shredded cardboard/paper is quite bulky. Mixed with chicken muck it would break down quite quickly too. If you have any sheltered housing/community housing nearby, whoever cuts the grass is usually happy to let you take the clippings away. And some local businesses or school will probably have stacks of shredded paper to get rid of.

[taff]

I dont have nearly enough either, so I get the next door neighbours grass clippings, and am going to split the comfrey again to put a couple more patches round the garden.
I think I'll also see someone I know and see if they have any hay or straw [can't remember which one comes without seed heads] left over from the winter...

[VirginVegGrower]

We cut the neighbour's grass too! Over three quarters of an acre of lawns, but it still isn't adding up just yet.

[binley100]

If you have grass clippings off other people , make sure they haven't used any weed and feed type stuff just incase .......

[VirginVegGrower]

If you have grass clippings off other people , make sure they haven't used any weed and feed type stuff just incase .......

That's why I would only use ours.

[Two_Sheds]

We have sandy free draining soil

Same here

the compost generated ... it's still not enough.

I have six daleks for myself, and they're always full (until I empty them, which I do whenever they all get full ) I've tried lots of different compost methods over the 16 years I've been lottying, and this way suits me best now. They get:

- guinea pig & parrot bedding (newspaper with droppings)
- all kitchen peelings
- all weeds & garden waste
- lawn clippings (but we only have a small lawn & the piggies eat most of it)
- newspapers (one a day)
- green manures (I don't dig them in, I use them as weed suppressants and then compost them)


The school daleks get a bucket full of teabags, fruit bits, newspapers & paper towels every day, plus weeds & plant waste.
It all goes in the (2) daleks, which get turned out when they're full. The pile of compost gets raked over and the big lumps put back in the dalek. The (fairly rough & chunky) compost goes in the raised beds. It's perfectly good for growing in, it doesn't need to be fine like seed compost. The veg grow really well in it