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Egg carton mulch. A good idea?
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Posted by lilacs_and_hyacinths Buffalo (My Page) on Fri, May 27, 05 at 13:42
| I have managed to collect a fair amount of paper egg cartons. The little egg compartments are too small for seed starting, since the soil dries out in no time at all.
So I have the idea to use them as a mulch by seperating the top of the carton from the bottom and squashing them flat. Then I would cover them with sod turned upside-down (roots up, most of the soil removed.)
I imagine that the egg cartons would be partially break down over the summer, and I plan to dig them in to the soil in the fall. By spring, I think they would be decomposed into small bits of fiber which would improve my clay soil.
Does this sound like a plan? Anyone have good or bad experience with this? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Egg carton mulch. A good idea?
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| It's cardboard, and a lot of people use cardboard boxes as mulch, so I don't see what it would hurt. It would break down by next year, and you could till it in. Any organic matter is good for clay soil, so it would be a nice, frugal way to get some. Go for it! |
RE: Egg carton mulch. A good idea?
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| With the sod on top of them I don't really see how they are acting as mulch. I just soak mine, tear them up and put them in the compost pile. I have found they dry out quickly. Maybe shred them up and put around plants. We are saving ours for fireplace starters next fall. We will put a pine cone in each egg spot, pour wax over them. Hopefully we can break them up and use for fire starters. My mom and I did this years ago and even had a powder to sprinkle over the wet wax that cause the fire to look different color when it was first lit. Gloria |
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