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I never really thought of myself as a gardener. But over the past few years the urge to grow food has risen from within. Perhaps it’s the collective enthusiasm of the nation of born-again gardeners that’s permeating my core. Or perhaps it’s because I’m a parent now and the need to hunt and gather (if only vegetables) has risen up from the depths of my instincts. What ever the reason, I’ve been bitten by the gardening bug, and it’s having nice, warm, relaxing effect – like Guinness beer.

There’s something about a good sea-grass mulch that fills me with contentment. All those lovely plants, future feeders of my family, surrounded in a thick and supportive blanket of sea-grass. They’re protected from a hot, sunny Nelson summer by layers of moisture retaining organic matter. Overbearing weeds are kept nicely at bay by the sheer weight of the mulch. And best of all, when it rains, the mulch feeds my lovely plants with a nutritious seaweed tea.

For years I hung out at the Golden Bay Community Organic Gardens, researching and writing about organics for various publications, and listening to Sol Morgan raving about mulching. I noticed he wrote about mulching just a few days ago in the GB Weekly:

“Seaweed and sea grass are great mulches. They help minimize water loss from soil, suppress weeds, supply valuable minerals and get you to the beach! They carry certain weed seeds,” he said.

See! Even the Master (Sol has to have at least a third-dan black belt in organic gardening) raves about seaweed mulching. He also says that you’ve got to be mindful of when to mulch:

“When mulching, timing is important. Organic mulches in spring and autumn keep the soil cool, slowing plant growth when we want to encourage it. Other mulches help reduce water loss, warm the soil, suppress weeds and add nutrients. Rich dark compost added to the soil surface will not only supply all or most required plant nutrients, but also encourages soil warming, and plant growth.”

You can read more of the Master’s mulching story in the GB Weekly here.

It’s interesting to consider that nature’s a great mulcher. She drops her leaves, trees, animals – everything really – onto the ground. It all decomposes, and new life begins, which feeds on the goodness of that ‘mulch’. In fact, I once heard that bare earth isn’t really nature’s ‘scene’. She doesn’t really dig bare, unprotected soil (please embrace the pun), as it usually means somethings out of balance.

So mulch! Oh mulch I say! Because if nature’s into it, you can be sure it’s one fad worth following.

Tags: Sustainability