I've been trying to find the right mulch for my organic flower and vegetable gardens. I've used natural hardwood bulk mulch in the past, and it seemed to work fine. When I was ready to purchase mulch this year, I had a hard time finding the stuff I wanted in my neighborhood. I opted for a bagged product called Nature's Helper Black Satin Mulch (with compost). It was quite dark but rather wet, so the color didn't overly concern me. When I spread it out and let it dry a bit I could see it was pitch black, and it appeared to be a recycled wood product. It was certified to contain no arsenic, but I wasn't sure if it was a dyed mulch or what. The darkness didn't penetrate all the way through the larger pieces, so I wondered if it was dyed. It didn't fall under the dyed mulch category on one of the manufacturer's websites (Garrick/Paygro/Tarheel Bark). I contacted Garrick and they did confirm that it was a waste wood product, but the dark color comes from an aging process. The bottom line is I hope it's safe to use on my vegetable garden.

Yesterday I made a trip to a stable a mile down the road and they have an overabundance of horse stable litter that's free for the taking. It appears to be a very fine grade of oak sawdust judging by the odor, saturated with urine and manure. After a few months of aging this would make an ideal garden and flower mulch, perhaps even a good top dressing for my lawn if I could properly age enough of it.

All said and done I think I'm finished paying money for commercial mulch products. Once I get up to speed on proper composting of stable litter I should be in business.

Thoughts anyone?