Free Mulch & Wood Chips Program
- Thread starter journey11
- Start date
baymule
Garden Master
I wrote this Saturday, Feb 25 but just as I finished it, my internet went off and I could not post it. 
So I saved it to documents and I finally got the internet back on today and posted this. It only took 2 1/2 hours, my neighbor Robert (who is much better at this than I am) dropped calls and calling back, running through all the tests and jumping through flaming circus hoops, getting switched to a 3rd party service provider and starting over with all the tests and turning this on, turning this off, deleting this and that, restarting and all the fun computer exercises they could think of. Finally, it came back on. So here is what I wrote Saturday.
Well, we have gotten over 20 big truck loads of wood chips. We shared the wealth and sent them to dump a couple of loads at our neighbor's house, Robert. We spread mulch on the bare dirt in front of the portable building that acts as a feed room. We spread mulch all around the barn because it is all sand. In the summer it gets dry and blows like sand storms. We have a 29 year old Tennessee Walker mare with lung issues and the dust makes her cough, sometimes the poor thing can hardly catch her breath. So we spread wood chips all around the barn, plus more down the barn alley. The chips are from a couple of inches to a foot deep, covering about a third of an acre.
The chips are a mixture of wood chips, leaves, pine needles, cedar, and TWIGS! Lots and lots of twigs. It is green and won't scoop in the tractor front end bucket. We hired a neighbor, thinking his bigger tractor might be able to scoop it up. He didn't think it would, so he asked to borrow a friend's tractor with a log grappler on it. It worked! The big jaws opened up and grabbed a load of mulch. Russell dumped piles all around the barn. At first we tried to spread it with our tractor, but the twigs just balled up and rolled. It didn't spread at all.
My husband just had shoulder replacement surgery and was going nuts that he couldn't be in the middle of it all! I wound up using a landscaper's rake and raking out the mulch. We worked on it Thursday all evening for several hours. Friday, Russell got off early, but I told him I was beat, so we agreed we'd finish up today. Russell admired our driveway, covered with mulch to keep the dust down and mentioned that he'd like to have some mulch too. So we hooked up the dump trailer to his truck and he loaded it up. He made 2 loads and spread it on part of his driveway.
So today, we got started at 9 AM. Russell brought his 8 year old little boy, Cooper and he was on gate duty to keep the horses from getting out. Russell dumped a load and I chopped it with the rake, aided by little Cooper and his garden rake. He'd run to open the gate and close it again. He and I raked mulch and got a load spread by the time Russell showed up with another load. My husband came out and manned the gate. He admired our work and told Russell where to dump the loads. It did him good to get outside and he felt useful.
Russell has cows and has a small lot that he sets round bales of hay in for them. All winter the cows have come to the lot for their hay. They never eat it all, and step and poop in what's left. Russell would set them out another round bale, the cows would eat most of it, stomp, pee and poop on the rest. So he pushed up a big pile of it and offered it to us in exchange for the loads of wood chip mulch we gave him. We were delighted! We hooked up the dump trailer and went to his place. We got 2 loads of about 12 yards each and dumped them out. We'll spread it down the pipeline, more sand, in an effort to add humus to the soil so that we can get a decent stand of grass growing. On one load, it was so heavy that my husband's truck got stuck in the soft sand so Russell chained his truck to DH's truck and pulled him free.
DH settled up with Russell and paid little Cooper $20 for his help. Cooper was thrilled and gave my husband a big hug. That kid worked hard, chopping mulch and spreading it, running to the gate and being Daddy's shadow.
We had a late lunch of jalapeno poppers, avocado and iced tea. Then we conked out and took a good nap. We were whupped puppies.
So I saved it to documents and I finally got the internet back on today and posted this. It only took 2 1/2 hours, my neighbor Robert (who is much better at this than I am) dropped calls and calling back, running through all the tests and jumping through flaming circus hoops, getting switched to a 3rd party service provider and starting over with all the tests and turning this on, turning this off, deleting this and that, restarting and all the fun computer exercises they could think of. Finally, it came back on. So here is what I wrote Saturday.Well, we have gotten over 20 big truck loads of wood chips. We shared the wealth and sent them to dump a couple of loads at our neighbor's house, Robert. We spread mulch on the bare dirt in front of the portable building that acts as a feed room. We spread mulch all around the barn because it is all sand. In the summer it gets dry and blows like sand storms. We have a 29 year old Tennessee Walker mare with lung issues and the dust makes her cough, sometimes the poor thing can hardly catch her breath. So we spread wood chips all around the barn, plus more down the barn alley. The chips are from a couple of inches to a foot deep, covering about a third of an acre.
The chips are a mixture of wood chips, leaves, pine needles, cedar, and TWIGS! Lots and lots of twigs. It is green and won't scoop in the tractor front end bucket. We hired a neighbor, thinking his bigger tractor might be able to scoop it up. He didn't think it would, so he asked to borrow a friend's tractor with a log grappler on it. It worked! The big jaws opened up and grabbed a load of mulch. Russell dumped piles all around the barn. At first we tried to spread it with our tractor, but the twigs just balled up and rolled. It didn't spread at all.
My husband just had shoulder replacement surgery and was going nuts that he couldn't be in the middle of it all! I wound up using a landscaper's rake and raking out the mulch. We worked on it Thursday all evening for several hours. Friday, Russell got off early, but I told him I was beat, so we agreed we'd finish up today. Russell admired our driveway, covered with mulch to keep the dust down and mentioned that he'd like to have some mulch too. So we hooked up the dump trailer to his truck and he loaded it up. He made 2 loads and spread it on part of his driveway.
So today, we got started at 9 AM. Russell brought his 8 year old little boy, Cooper and he was on gate duty to keep the horses from getting out. Russell dumped a load and I chopped it with the rake, aided by little Cooper and his garden rake. He'd run to open the gate and close it again. He and I raked mulch and got a load spread by the time Russell showed up with another load. My husband came out and manned the gate. He admired our work and told Russell where to dump the loads. It did him good to get outside and he felt useful.
Russell has cows and has a small lot that he sets round bales of hay in for them. All winter the cows have come to the lot for their hay. They never eat it all, and step and poop in what's left. Russell would set them out another round bale, the cows would eat most of it, stomp, pee and poop on the rest. So he pushed up a big pile of it and offered it to us in exchange for the loads of wood chip mulch we gave him. We were delighted! We hooked up the dump trailer and went to his place. We got 2 loads of about 12 yards each and dumped them out. We'll spread it down the pipeline, more sand, in an effort to add humus to the soil so that we can get a decent stand of grass growing. On one load, it was so heavy that my husband's truck got stuck in the soft sand so Russell chained his truck to DH's truck and pulled him free.
DH settled up with Russell and paid little Cooper $20 for his help. Cooper was thrilled and gave my husband a big hug. That kid worked hard, chopping mulch and spreading it, running to the gate and being Daddy's shadow.
We had a late lunch of jalapeno poppers, avocado and iced tea. Then we conked out and took a good nap. We were whupped puppies.
- Thread starter
- #63
journey11
Garden Master
Oh my goodness, Bay, you are going to be growing a tropical rainforest before we know it! All that mulch, hay and manure, tromped on and mixed together and decomposing...magic! Can't wait to see what you are growing in it this time next year. 
baymule
Garden Master
I hope I can grow some pasture grass for my sheep and horses. The soil is so poor, that last winter I planted winter rye grass on it and in places it only got 3 or 4 inches tall, where it should have reached 2 feet tall. I planted winter rye again in September, it is a little better this year, but still very poor soil.
The garden is mulched with 5 year old wood chips!
The garden is mulched with 5 year old wood chips!
- Thread starter
- #65
journey11
Garden Master
Winter rye roots can go really deep, like 3' or so. I wonder what your soil is like at that depth? Still all sand?
baymule
Garden Master
I didn't know the roots would go that deep, that's good to know. The soil is sand as far as I've been able to dig. I've planted this rye before and got good winter pasture, but I had better ground. We laid flakes of bahaia hay across the slope in lines as baffles to help with water run off. It had lots of seeds in it, so maybe some will take root.
thistlebloom
Garden Master
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You guys are really working it! It's inspirational! I'm sure that you'll begin to see some of the benefits to your soil real soon.
Yay for free wood chips!
Yay for free wood chips!
bobm
Garden Master
Bay, why not try the cerial grain Barley , in Cal. it is extensively used as a cover crop that grows to waist high ( 3+ ft. tall ) and when the seed heads reach dough stage it is tilled under. Great for soil improvement, tilth and moisture retention.
baymule
Garden Master
@bobm would barley be a fall/winter crop?
The contractors are back, they were gone to another area for a week, they brought us 3 more loads and are parking their trucks here again. As @thistlebloom said, YAY for free wood chips!
The contractors are back, they were gone to another area for a week, they brought us 3 more loads and are parking their trucks here again. As @thistlebloom said, YAY for free wood chips!
