Lucerne Mulch

[Donna]

I have just used lucerne mulch for the first time on my raised beds, instead of the fine sugar cane mulch. There were three reasons:
1. Price - I was paying $12.50 for sugar cane and the lucerne was $10.00
2. Nutrients - Lucerne is supposed to be better for the soil
3. Water Retention - The sugar cane was a solid mat and the beds were really dry underneath

The lucerne is very different to the sugar cane, there are long stalks and lots of little green bits covering the dirt. It goes a lot further than the sugar cane - I have used less than half a bale on two beds and I think it is probably a bit thick.

It is easy to see that it won't form a mat like the sugar cane as it is more like a tangled mess of string and doesn't sit flat at all - hopefully it still works as mulch!

[Vanessa Thompson (pomare)]

and yeap dona im mad not rich........yeap i was useing a few hand fulls of mulch as i had nothing to put into the compost, as it was too wet from rain. I need to get rid of the garden bag we have for the lawn clippings that gets picked up monthly. (hubby to lazy to drive to dump and we only live 5 min up the road from it) I think its a waste of money now. (we cut the grass on the moon cycle to make it not grow and we havent mowed lawns for over 3 months now and still not ready, just needs a wip snip at a few parts) Have only mowed lawn once in last 6 months.

[Vanessa Thompson (pomare)]

Took This Down From the Main Page and pasted it here..........lol.

HAS ANYBODY got hold of DON for lucerne hay?
I would love to jump on board with someone or everyone, help cut a bit of cost for bulk buys.
How about all that need it or want it, if we all get numbers together and order in bulk, might save us all a bit of $$$$

Maybe dona our beloved trustworthy seed saver can hold all our funds until everyone has placed order and paid and do it that way or something. (maybe order the huge rolls, might save us even more and just divide it up or something?)
Hands up..........just an idea? (I need two bales and third for spare)
Nessy.

[Vanessa Thompson (pomare)]

ooo ooo keep us up to date dona, ive been wanting to do experiment like that and see what holds the water and what will let the water thru.
Its been toooooooooooo HOT and im not wanting to get out into the garden. heehee.

[Donna]

I have planted two beds so far direct, it isn't as hard as I thought to move the mulch so will see how that works. I will also plant some seeds and try to raise them to plant direct.

The beds were all extremely dry sandy soil, so have been adding a bag of mushroom compost, digging it in with a little bit of the cane mulch left on top, adding fertiliser and topping with lucerne. It is amazing how moist the soil remained after two days of sun and no water! I am trying an experiment with one of the beds and have only added the lucerne to determine if it is the compost/ lucerne or a combination of both...

Only one and a half beds to go before they are all fixed up, hopefully will get time to maintain them rather than leaving it until it is too late and becomes a major job!

[Donna]

Think I will try sowing most things direct as I am a bit time poor (understatement of the year with a newborn and a 3yo lol) and don't have a suitable area for growing seedlings at the moment as it gets full sun - the infrastructure manager needs to rig up a shadecloth for it but so far nagging hasn't been working!

[Addy]

I've been planting seedlings - I sprout the seeds in trays, then plant them out, moving the mulch out of the way, digging a hole and filling it with compost, then gently move the mulch back, around the seedlings. I did lose 2 okra seedlings - not gentle enough, and the straw broke the stems :(

[Donna]

Addy, how do you plant in the lucerne? Do you move it out of the way and plant seeds then when they sprout move it back - or only plant seedlings... It is a lot more tangled than the cane mulch, do the seeds come up through it anyway if you don't move it away?

Another comment on the difference between sugar cane and lucerne, if there are already plants in the bed it is harder to spread and takes a bit longer as you have to kind of tease it out of the biscuits, whereas the cane mulch is so fine you can just sprinkle it around.

[Scarlett Patrick]

yes - lucerne (or pea straw) is a legume and fixes nitrogen so it improves your soil when it decomposes as vanessa says. it's generally considered a much better mulch than the bagasse I think - i'd certainly go for it over the bagasse given a choice. i used to use it a lot in Melbourne where it's quite readily available.

[Vanessa Thompson (pomare)]

oh cool. ill wait till i need some more..........ive just coverd my little garden but wont be long ill need some more soon i spose. none of my pots are coverd yet.

[Donna]

Vanessa, I bought it for $10 from Don who just joined BLF and his website says during summer he has spoiled bales (fine for garden just not feed) even cheaper.