Top 10 Reasons to Use Organic Mulch in Your
Open Pollinated / Heirloom Vegetable Garden

By putting an organic mulch in your Heirloom vegetable garden, you'll save hours of time each year. You should apply a layer of wood chips, grass clippings, shredded bark, sawdust, or pine needles in your vegetable garden because:

1. Mulch prevents most weed seeds from germinating and even makes it easier to pull out the ones that do come up.
2. Mulch will hold down your dirt and keep it from splashing up on flowers and heirloom garden vegetables.
3. Mulch will let you to water less often because mulch keeps the soil cool and moist.
4. Mulch decomposes slowly and releases nutrients into the soil throughout the summer.
5. Mulch encourages beneficial earthworm activity by improving the soil tilth and nutrient content. Worms also leave worm castings which are one of the best fertilizers available
6. Mulch will help prevent the freezing and thawing of the soil in winter, which can heave heirloom garden plants out of the soil.
7. Mulching helps to prevent diseases by keeping water and soil from splashing onto garden plant leaves.
8. Compost mulches can help prevent soil erosion. Soil that contains a lot of humus holds together better. When it rains, the rainwater moves easily through the spaces in between the soil granules rather than running off the soil surface.
9. Most of the ingredients for organic mulches can already be found in your home or backyard.
10. Many types of mulch are attractive additions to the heirloom vegetable garden site.