because I have lots of trees, I use shredded leaves. they're free and at the end of the season I can just till them into the beds.

dirtdigger, my yard man took all the fall/winter leaves away :-( so it's too late for that this year. He also takes the grass clippings but I asked him to start leaving them for me in a pile. Thanks for the input!

I use wheat straw. works great, no grass seed wheat that sprouts is easy to control. I plow it under in Dec. It adds tilth and good food for plants next spring. Bill

I also use mulched leaves but if I didn't have leaves I would use straw. Glenn

I use grass clippings because they are free.

This year I bought a product called Mainely Mulch. It is a compressed bail of chopped straw that has been heat treated to kill the seeds. I am very happy with it and I think I will use it every year.

It is a big square bag (like peat moss) and I got it at Agway. It is not cheap, but there is a lot in that bag when you uncompress it. I like it because it is clean, easy to work with, and the heat treatment ensures that I am not adding any seeds or pathogens to my soil.

It also allows water to get right through to the soil. Some mulches (leaves, bark, etc.) create a water repellant barrier after they dry out a little. I couldn't be happier with this product.

Makes your tomato patch smell like a barn, though, and it looks like I have a manger in my backyard. But the soil is evenly moist and the earthworms are happy.

When the worms are happy, I am happy.

Grass clippings here, too. I let them sit in a pile a dry out for a week or so first.

Conclusion: I used "soil conditioner" which is pine bark mulch shredded and decomposed with some other stuff. I hope the maters are not as picky about mulch as they seem to be about everything else. Mercy, this is a high maintenance project! And I have hardly any blooms in NC; seems like I should by now. I think I have a lack of sun problem. I might have to take up another hobby. Planted a few maters in containers on my front steps today. I was trying to keep this obsession contained to the back yard, but alas, the sun and trees are not cooperating. I could cut down one big tree which is really filtering sunlight, but it's a whopper and they want over $1000 to cut it down....so maybe I should stick to flowers in the front yard as my gardening obsession. Kinda disappointed here....maybe it's premature and unecessary, but seeing others' photos here of leafy plants with blooms and babies is making me concerned.

Thanks for listening. My name is Diane and I am a first season tomatoholic....