I have to agree here. I kept an organic lawn for 10 years. I used a mulching mower to put the clippings back into the lawn and used the mower on its tallest setting. The rare time I watered (which wasn't often even though I lived in Dallas with its 100F avg temps in the summer), I watered deeply - but mostly I let the lawn go dormant in the summer. None of the neighbors complained and not that I would have cared anyway. In the fall all the leaves from the trees went into compost piles and then in the spring or fall or whenever it suited, it was sifted through a 1/2" sifter, shovelled into a spreader and on it went on top of the grass.
Compost is a great 'fertiliser'. It is slow releasing and is nicely balanced in all nutrients. You don't need to water it in and you can never overapply. There are no worries from any runoff. Contrary to some misconceptions about compost - it can never get too hot - the heat is from the micro-organisms who are doing the work of breaking the organic material down. They thrive on moisture and air and they produce heat as a by-product. The more heat, the faster the breakdown. There is no need to apply heat. The heat is a byproduct, not an input to compost.. Blowing hot air through compost, is, well, a lot of hot air. If anyone is in doubt of the power of compost, try this for a summer project: sneak out to a sports field with a spreader full of compost and in huge letters, spell out your favorite team's name ( or whatever!) on the pitch and then watch what happens for the rest of the season! Compost is a natural product. As long as the source is organic, home made compost is better than anything you would have normally used instead. Steve On Monday 19 June 2006 06:11 am, DB wrote: you don't have to grind compost really fine to spread it on your lawn...break it down to about 1/2 in particles and rake it in with a wide rake. I have a one acre lot with lots of grass, orchard and garden. I only weed the garden and only mow the grass. living in the city means your lawn needs to be as nice or better than your neighbors, but that is really just an ego problem. my lawn looks just fine to me...........Your lawn probabily would look just fine to me too.............DB ----- Original Message ----- From: "robert and benita rabello" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org> Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2006 7:46 AM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Lawn question off topic > JJJN wrote: >>Hello folks, any organic lawn experts out there? I have been >>encroaching out 75% of my lawn with food plants for both wildlife and >>humans, but I still have this 25% and living in town I need to keep >>it lawn. the question is how does one raise a great lawn without weed >>killers etc? I have been wondering , can you take compost and grind it >>really fine and spread it on the lawn water it in? Would this be good? > > I don't think this is "off topic", as it relates directly to the > mentality of "dirt as a growing medium" that is so pervasive and lies at > the root of much difficulty in our society. I've actually had a "lawn > professional" suggest that I rip out my lawn and replace it with > garden. "You seem to be more successful at growing vegetables than > grass," he said. > > I've aereated my lawn this year and watered with mixture of compost > tea and "organic compost enhancement liquid". It's much greener and > healthier than it's been in the past, but this method still smacks of > replacing chemical fertilizers with non chemical fertilizers. > > It's not that I hate grass, but I'm NOT pleased with the monoculture > mentality that insists it must be of a uniform species. When we first > bought this property it was covered in grasses that were long and made a > lovely sound as the seed heads touseled in the wind. But now, I keep > the motley collection of grasses that pass for lawn on my property > trimmed to 55 millimeters. If anyone has better ideas for lawn > maintenance that will not raise the ire of my neighbors (who already > think I'm weird), please let me know. > > robert luis rabello > "The Edge of Justice" > Adventure for Your Mind > http://www.newadventure.ca > > Ranger Supercharger Project Page > http://www.members.shaw.ca/rabello/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ -- Steve Racz (03) 383 8167 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
