Pic of my veggie gardenc taken today

sorry for the unsightly shredded paper, but it is working great

Looks lovely! What a pretty jungle.

Looking good!

MMMMMMMM! LETS EAT! Yum!!

GGG

I like your shredded paper mulch, and weed suppressor, I do the same thing, but, I call it my Capitol One money. All my Free junk mail, gets shredded up daily. Looks like its working good for you! phil

What do you do to keep the shreaded paper from blowing away? We live in a wind tunnel, and when the wind blows, it blows. With my luck, it would be all over the neighborhood. Also, I know pertaining to newsprint, some of the inks used can be toxic. Does anyone know if this is the case with junk mail that isn't the slick kind?

Don't know about the ink issue, although some magazines will print somewhere if they are made with soy inks. I am interested about the shredded paper vs. wind issue, too, as we regularly get 50 MPH gusty winds around sun set. I get lots of magazines and such and would love to shred & bed them. Do they mat down if you water them well? Does that help keep them together? Any info would be helpful as keeping mulch from blowing away is a big deal here - and being in the desert, everything grows better when mulched. Some things won't grow at all without it, being generally cooked in the dirt/sand.

I put it on the beds very loosely, real fluffy. Then water till paper collapses to the soil. Here, the sun bakes it to a crust quickly. Has stayed on place very well against recent very windy days. Stays fairly moist by the end of the day underneath.

Here is the veg garden today:

Tony

What a neat idea!!!. Your veggies are tall already, I just planted mine 3 weeks ago. Looks nice. Bellie

Cool! Thanks for the info!

tony - your gargen looks great. was wondering if i could use your shredded papper method in my containers. i could either put it on top or mix it in with the soil.

I tried this in my raised beds - the shredder I have makes small 1 " by 1/4 " little rectangles. I put them down on a still evening by flashlight and watered them in good. (Gardening by moonlight is my preferred method here in the desert!) I put enough down to be about a 1 inch thick mat. The tomatoes loved it at first sight. I think the light colored paper made the ground cooler than the dark compost/mulch I had been using. The paper has since made a nice crusty mat that absorbs the water but has kind of blended together like a loose paper mache. Some of my toms are on an area that is not really level and I notice that the water has more time to sink in and does not run off as much. Haven't had hard winds, but 25-30 MPH winds have not blown it around yet. My raised beds do have sides that are a foot higher than the dirt/sand, however - provides much needed shade for tender seedlings and a partial wind break. I can see that in an "open and unprotected area" here, that it might be blown apart and around before it could be watered enough times to become like matted paper pulp... I was half way through the season when I started using this type of mulch. I will start using it at the beginning of the season next year. Thanks for the great tip, everyone.

I got a paper shredder for my birthday for just this purpose (guess you could say I am a gal that's easy to please, LOL)
So I am busy shredding all the good paper in junk mail we get every day. This was a great suggestion for a way to mulch and build soil. Thanks! Cyndie

Tony,

I love the paper mulch. I've been using wheat straw, but it does cost money. Shredded paper could be free. I like free. Thanks for the idea. This is my first year gardening in this area. One lesson I learned this year is that I will definitely have to mulch far more than I have been doing.

The toxic ink on newspapers was done away with some years ago. They have all gone to the soy-based ink now. I don't remember the details, but I think it was a Federal mandate to make the change. Not sure about the slick pages or the magazines. I don't remember them being mentioned when the newspapers had to change, so maybe they were always a different ink.

Karen

I've been using hand-shredded newspaper this year, and it seems to be working great. Not pretty, but effective, and the price was right! I just used the non-glossy sections, and everything matted down nicely. Great job on weed suppression, too.

Paper grocery bags are a great mulch. Just shred them, and lay them on the soil. Water lightly. They start to "melt" into the soil in about a week. The earth worms love shredded paper bags, and help to break them down into the soil. I use whole brown paper bags as a mulch between the garden rows. It's a perfect fit, and holds the weeds in check. It take a month or so to break down, so I just add another layer of paper bags. Works for me.

Arias,

Thank you for that info. I never thought of paper bags, but I have a lot of them saved up for "something". I definitely am going to switch to paper for my mulching.

Karen

The year is Aug 20, 2007 Where do you get paper bags, I can't think of any store in Iowa that has paper bags. You can buy lunch bags at Wal$Mart!
Phil

Our local supermarkets all still offer the choice: paper or plastic.

Karen

Ours, too, but you have to ask quick before they start stuffin' the plastic. I try to do it a couple times a year, because there's always something you can do with a paper bag!

I am so glad to see that I was able to help some folks with this approach. All I have in the garden from that original post are the peppers right now. We are deep in the dog days here in central Florida with 105 heat indices. Can't wait to start the fall garden!.

Thanks for commenting too. It was my very first post in DG. Sometimes you can post things and no one even answers. Starting to give me a complex.

Just watching the tropicals bloom for now! Maybe I should start shredding newsprint. LOL!

tony,

You and arias have made my day! I never even THOUGHT of shredded newspaper or paper bags. I already own a paper shredder that I use to shred all those credit card offers. LOL.

Karen

I used shredded paper IN my garden this year and I really think it helped to keep it light and loose. I hadn't thought to use it on top. Interesting...

Gotta love those paper shredders. Gardening in the summer and firestarter in the fireplace in winter. Just pop in a few pine cones and youre good to go!

Lovely garden. Mine's a real eye-sore, but it gets the job done!

The humble brown paper bag...Here's a cool idea.

Frost on the way? Split the sides of a brown paper bag, and slip it over the top of pepper plants. The bags will prevent the frost from "nipping" the tops of the plants, and you could possibly extend the pepper harvest a few more weeks.

And we consumers who shop Wal-Mart need to write the home office and inquire about the possibility of paper shopping bags. Nothing get's their attention quicker than a letter of suggestion.

This message was edited Aug 21, 2007 7:52 PM

Another cool idea if you have some paper bags tucked away somewhere. Open up a paper bag on both sides. Lay the bag on the kitchen counter, peel and pare vegetables, fruit rinds, right on top of the bag. When you're done, roll it up, and toss it on the compost pile.

I received some mailorder plants well packed with shredded paper. I mulched my pepper plants with the paper, wet it real good, & it didn't blow away in a storm that caused a lot of damage in the area. My pepper plants really took off after apply this mulch. I've been using thick layers of newspaper. If I could get my hands on some more shredded paper, I'd sure use it. My lil' gr-d calls it "snow". We had a few weeks of extreme heat (around 100 F) & the peppers thrived. Gave them a good soaking on the weekend. I'm thinking that the white paper helps reflect the heat & keeps the roots cool; the same way black plastic helps heat up the soil in cool weather.

Nice, healthy looking garden tony 9779. I like your border of mounded soil & plantings.

greenbrain,

Here's a tip about paper. All of us want to re-cycle as much as we can. For the past ten years I have not bought Christmas wrapping paper. It is a waste of resources, and all that dye is something I would not use in my garden or compost pile. Instead I buy rolls of brown craft paper at the Dollar Store. They also sell the little stamp pads as well. So during the holidays I buy several rolls of brown craft paper and a few pads. We let the kids decorate the paper with stamped snow men, trees, santa's etc. Chritmas morning after the gifts are opened, we don't throw away the wrapping paper. We save it, and when spring comes we either shred it for the garden or compost post, or use it as mulch around newly planted vegetables. Why spend 25.00 on wrapping paper, and throw it away, when the craft paper is so much more natural and better for the enviroment. You can dress up the plain paper with dried pods, or pinecones, and it does look very Christmasy.

Thank you Arias. I'm going to pass this on to my older-dd who is very crafty & artistic. She has been on a BIG recycling kick lately. She even shops w reuseable grocery bags. My 3 yr old gr-d would enjoy the stamping. My older dd has even installed a "toilet-sink" over the tank that allows you to wash your hands w the tank water that's re-used to flush the toilet. For real! Ok, she just walked past me & really likes your wrapping paper idea.

My younger dd is also very environmentally conscious. She plans to earn a BS in Biology & is leaning toward specializing in forestry. Funny, back in 1971-73, I belonged to a group in high school called "GASP" or Group Against Society's Pollution. We were considered odd back then.

I didn't use as much wrapping paper last year because I gave mostly gift cards & home canned pickles & jellies in reuseable gift baskets. Even the jars are reuseable. : )

So do you all have paper shredders? I'm kind of leary of them.

Love the paper shredders. My husband bought me a heavy duty paper shredder. It takes strips of thick paper bags with no problem. I also use the paper grocery bags several times before I shred them. My grocery store offers a nickel back on each second hand bag you use at the time of purchase. So that's a little savings, and I'm doing my part for the enviroment.

We gave gift cards too, and I also gave the adults bags of fresh fruit, that I put in paper bags . ha ha. The few gifts we did purchase I wrapped in the craft paper, and my family knows to save it for me. They all re-cycle too, so there is never an abundance of any left over paper. It is wondeful that your children are thinking of our future. You have taught them well, greenbrain. I love your name, does this mean you have "green" on the brain? I love gardening and growing many different vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

But, yes to the shredders. They pay for themselves in no time.

Arias

Plus, there's so much paperwork anymore that I'm nervous about throwing away. Too many horror stories about identity theft, I guess. Why take a chance when you can shred it and bed it? (a veggie bed, that is!... sorry, just read one of BDale's bad puns and I guess it's contagious!)

Gardening is my passion. Has been since I was a youngster. Any spare time I don't spend in the garden, I'm trying to learn more about it. I'd rather spend money on a new plant than new clothes. I'm hopelessly addicted. : )

Here's a photo taken in my organic vegie garden back in mid July. I grow squash, cantaloupes, tomatoes, cukes, pole beans, & lima beans vertically. I grow the beans on teepees made from 1"x1" - 8' lumber & the rest on trellises made from welded wire fence & metal posts. Trellises appear taller because I'm so short. I have 12 (or 4 rows of 3) 5'x5' beds and a row of okra on the north end. The beds are divided by mostly brick paths & a few board paths because I ran out of bricks. That's trombone squash near left. My first year to grow it & glad that I did. Got to get some pics added to plant files. These squash are huge! Squash bugs can't destroy these fast growing healthy plants though they're trying.

Wow !!! greenbrain, that is some Garden of Eden, or should I say Garden of Eating. Beautiful and lush plants you have there. All without chemicals. And you look very pretty standing in the midst of it all.

Thanks for the compliment, but I won't be showing any pictures of the interior of my home. Priorities. I can't do it all & don't even want to try.

If I had a shredder, I could clean up the mountain of junk mail on my desk & use it for mulch. I'm really thinking about getting one. Any suggestions on where to shop? I know nothing about shredders. The one I use at work is a monstrous antique.

You can usually get one on sale at Target for a reasonable price. (I got one off their clearance shelf for $7 a couple of years ago. Only 6 sheets at a time, but for what I need, the price was right!) Otherwise, I'd try someplace like Office Depot or Staples or something. If what you're after is paper for mulch, you might want to stay away from the "crosscut" mechanisms. They chop the paper up into confetti, I believe, which would be messy for mulching. The long, thin strips, although not as efficient at destroying the evidence, would probably make better mulch.

Greenbrain, The one I have is a Fellowes brand. It works really well and I shred junk mail. You have to be careful about what kind of paper you shred and how many pages. Some models will burn up trying to shred newspaper. Do a search on Google for a Consumer Reports test. You can usually find the details in a news release without having to subscribe to the magazine. Cyndie

Thanks everyone. I had no idea! You've gotten me off to a good start & I'll let you know what I end up with. My daughter's b-day is Friday. Maybe I'll get her one? Just kidding!

Yeah, my husband [ the soul of romance] bought me one for my birthday, along with a dozen roses, and a big bag of t Chinese take out. I had a fun time, smelling my roses, eating Moo Goo Gai Pan, and shredding some paper bags, and old statements. Watch the newspaper though, it gums up the blades.

Now greenbrain, you know your daughter would love a shredder, try and find one with a rebate. I have a Fellowes, and it has been a good one.

Mine is a "crosscut" shredder that makes very small (about 1/4" x 3/4" ) pieces of paper. Bigger than confetti, but still, pretty small. After a couple good soakings with the hose, they seem to mat together and not be an issue with wind. Mine will take newspaper in single sheets torn to a smaller size - close to the size of a regular piece of paper. If I try and do more than one thickness, it gumps up.

I did take a look at Target online. They have a good selection. What about safety features? I read a news article last Spring that has caused me to shy away from shredders. A 3 year old lost some fingers in one. I have a 3 year old in my household & this really scared me. Especially, since she is going through this independent stage where she wants to do everything herself. I can't turn my back on her for a second. It sounds like something that I would need to store away in the closet when not in use.