What is the best way to get a healthy lawn? Want perfect grass? Huge garden veggies? Massive trees?

Today we go seeking free fertility from one of the best possible waste streams out there. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Make sure you don't miss this opportunity to get the best fertility source out there.

In this video, I mentioned to avoid juglans species. I just wanted to explain that, because there is some nuance to it...

I wouldn't hesitate stopping by someone's house who has a giant black walnut on their front lawn and getting 40 bags off them... if... I was making leaf mould with them, or just composting them. However, if I am going to shred them and dump them all over an established food forest strip, I would recommend avoiding black walnut bags.

This is because the compost heat, and the time needed to make leaf mould, will actually buffer out and neutralize the impact of juglone chemical found in those leaves. However, putting it directly on a garden bed, or a tree food forest strip, you may have some allelopathy issues next season. And if you do it every season, well, you may be handcuffing yourself.

Also, it should be noted that Juglans species tend to make the juglone in the leaves, then transplant it to the fruit. It tends to bioaccumulate in the hulls of the nut. However, there is still a ton of juglone in the leaves, much moreso than for example in the heartwood, which would be the concern (the non-concern) with walnut woodchips for the garden. Don't sweat the juglone in the woodchips - but beware of it in the leaves. Not an issue if you are just composting, or doing a 3 year leaf mould - but possibly a concern shredding and dumping the leaves directly on plants.

Research paper on where Juglone bioaccumulates in Juglans producing trees: https://www.apsnet.org/publications/phytopathology/backissues/Documents/1985Articles/Phyto75n12_1419.PDF

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On the economics of making leaf mould....

Leaf mould prices tend to be roughly 50 bucks per cu yd of finished leaf mould. It takes roughly 50 bags to make a cu yard of it. It took me in this video maybe 10 minutes to get 50 bags (when you discount the driving time, because I was driving to the school to get the kids anyways, or I drive to hockey for the kids anyways, or go to the store anyways - might as well pick up the leaves when I go). So that's a rate of roughly 5 yards per hours worth of work, allowing for the last 10 mins to dump them all into a pile. That's a AFTER TAX (no tax) wage of 250 bucks an hour. I don't know where you guys live, but that's a pretty damn good wage - and a worthy way to spend your time.

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Music credits:
Closer by Jay Someday | https://soundcloud.com/jaysomeday
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US