Rain + Mulch and all the blessings it bring to our farm

1. Rainy season means free irrigation! Means SAVINGS on water bills and labor costs.👏😀

2. Rainy season means fast-growing weeds for mulching and snacks for chicken and other farm animals. Horray!!! 👏😀

Are you using mulch in your farm or garden?  

Mulching is one of the techniques we use to minimize weeds and protect the soil from erosion. We could use plastic or organic materials as mulch such as compost, dried leaves, rice straw, wood chips and many more to layer it unto the soil. 

3. If we apply the mulching technique that uses organic matter it will give us 3 benefits that we will love. 😍

     

3.1 👉    Less weeds means SAVINGS from labor cost on weeding. 

     3.2.👉   Rainwater + microbes + earthworms + other insects will help decompose this mulching and will soon turn to organic matter or humus. Hooray!! 👏😀  (thanks to lightning ⚡ soil could also have free nitrogen). 

3. 3👉   This also means SAVINGS on buying or making organic fertilizer and LESS labor cost on applying supplemental fertilizer.  

REMINDER: for newly planted seedlings, especially vegetables & herbs.

👉After planting provide a few centimeter distance from the base of the plant. When a crop is a month or more older, then this mulch could be beside the base of the plants.


👉 Avoid adding thick organic mulch on plots with newly planted seedlings because mulch will undergo the process of decomposition. Meaning, if its decomposing, it will produce heat and your seedlings could not stand that heat. Plus other bad fungi could be present during decomposition and might also harm your main crop. (Spray Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum LABS or EMAS- EM Activated Solution so that good microbes will win the battle).



4. Empty plots with thick mulch could produce leaf molds which is one of the ingredients of make Jadam Microbials Solution (JMS).

5. The use of citronella, lemongrass, and other herbs may repel harmful insect pests that stays in the soil.

6. The use of leguminous plants as cover crops and the use of its plant parts will provide additional nitrogen when decomposed. Example of mulching materials are kakawate, ipil-ipil, malunggay, kadios, butterfly tree (Bauhinia purpurea) & acacia

7. If unwanted weeds germinate on an unwanted place, pull it out immediately. Don't allow these weeds to bloom. Before flowering, pull it out and put it back to the plot. It will be best used as mulching on that same plot. Nutrients it taken will naturally go back to the soil. Although the process takes time.

8. Sometimes strong winds accompany the rain which also means many leaves will fall from trees. So gather it all color brown or green and put it on plots as mulch. 😉😄I personally like to use bamboo leaves because it takes a while for it to decompose. Thus, I don't need to frequently add additional organic matter as mulching.

9. If you will not use the plot for a long time add thick mulch. Use the ratio of 2 parts brown or dry materials for every 1 part of fresh or green materials to hasten decomposition. If organic mulch is thick enough other kinds of weeds can't grow on that plots (some weeds will survive though. But if it happens, just pull it out every time). 

👉 If these empty plots won't be planted anytime soon due to heavy rainfall or typhoon, then celebrate!  Providing thick mulch during this season will....

     a. Reduce soil erosion.

     b. Minimize the growth of weeds.

     c. After the rain, for sure worms and other beneficial microbes would love to hang out on these plots and do their job as decomposers. 😍

Here are some mulching ideas. 

Earthworm will go back & forth to the compost bin to decompose the organic matter inside it. While it defecate inside the plot. Plus the nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the roots of soybeans will be happy too, because other friendly microbes will be present in the area too. 

After planting banana, we add a thin layer of compost then cover it with dry leaves. We also add a thick layer of fresh leaves on the side, a little bit far from the base of the banana. This will keep the dried leaves on its place on a windy day. This also hasten decomposition. You can also follow this same method on your existing fruit trees. 

Shade-loving plants and other companion plants that could tolerate partial shade could also be added under the tree. Coco husk border minimizes the clutter surrounding the tree and also used to avoid damaging the small plants while using grasscutter. This will also be decomposed after a year or more so add another layer next year. 

Malunggay Tree. Under it are herbs used to make tea such as tarragon, stevia, peppermint & spearmint

Thanks for reading! 😍👍
I hope you get some ideas you may use in your garden or farm. If you have further questions you may leave a comment below or email me at chellangel16.nogreenthumb@gmail.com

References:

Kader, M.A., Singha, A., Begum, M.A. et al. (2019). Mulching as water-saving technique in dryland agriculture: Review article. Bulletin of the National Research Center 43, 147 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-019-0186-7