Chocolate
03 March 2011 20:44:51
Chocolate
Well, I'll tell you one thing. Shovelling chocolate sure is a lot more pleasant than shovelling sh1*. And I should know after the work I've been doing these two days.
First I watered my long border and then I mulched it with cocoa husk mulch. It is such lovely light stuff to handle and it does smell like chocolate - except slightly more aromatic. Then I watered again. The first watering is to trap moisture under the mulch (standard procedure). The second one is to make the cocoa husk stick together otherwise one big wind and my neighbour will have the benefit of my mulch instead of me.
The head gardener at Altamont Gardens swears by cocoa mulch, which is where I got the idea from. The husks feed as well as suppress weeds. In Altamont they lay cocoa mulch around their roses and give them no other fertiliser. So I am trying it.
And, in case someone starts moaning about air miles, cocoa husks are the by-product of the chocolate industry. The mulch comes from Cadbury's factories and would be dumped if not bought for gardening purposes.
The only gripe so far is that there are tiny little pieces of coloured paper and even plastic through the mulch. So I have to be like a magpie, pecking them off the top of my borders : (
I haven't finished the long border yet but should do so tomorrow. I'll then see how much mulch I have left for the rest of the garden.