To mulch or not to mulch

A question: how does one reduce weeding, while naturally maintaining soil nutrients and moisture for plants and cut down on manual labour? The answer is mulch. On church farm the Horticulture team combine traditional methods and 21st century sustainable technology to create this.




In permaculture (the term given to the approach to designing human and agricultural systems) mulching beds with straw is pretty much a must to keep beds hydrated, warm in winter and protected from weeds. On the farm we mulch large scale with what looks like big black plastic rolls of sheeting. “Plastic?!” I hear you cry in horror of petroleum derived products. “I thought Church Farm was an environmentally aware, sustainable farm?” Well you’re right. Sustainability is always at the forefront of our minds, so we use a corn-starch based weed control film that is made from renewable sources. Ten to sixteen weeks after the crops have been harvested this mulching sheet completely bio-degrades from contact with moisture and the soil, doesn’t pollute and leaves no residue.



Last Friday the horticulture team laid this mulch on fourteen 100 metre beds ready for planting onions in a week to ten days time. The black sheet absorbs so much heat in the bed that it actually splits ungerminated weed seed so that when our precious plants are in they are less likely to be taken over by the weeds. The team also benefits as they spend less time weeding and more time planting and harvesting lovely vegetables for the farm and box customers. When we are finished with the beds, we simply plough the mulch back into the ground.