Oh no! Got bad advice! Weed-b-Gone on Vegetables

[philly girl]

As I said before, I have a HUGE yard, and am starting to get stuff from the new plants only a month later. So the temptation to eat that gorgeous eggplant and squash isn't as strong.
BTW, I was wondering if any of you use the mulch that some counties create and offer to residents for free? We obviously compost, but I'd like to use a lot more. I don't feel "green" buying the expensive stuff that's been shipped from Maine, but after this incident, am uncertain if I should trust what my neighbors might have included in their donations to the communal mulch.
Thoughts?

[jludtxs]

Hi, I have used the stuff from the landfill here in texas. The county picks up brush and timber from fallen trees and pruned branchesevery other month. They offer fine medium and chunky- Get the fine- it is almost dirt. The problem is that because it is from mostly rotting wood, I was spending a fortune on fungecides until I learned that if you cover the pile for a few months with plastic, the sun will cook out all of the undesireable stuff. in your climate it would probably be best to get now for next year. It is definetely worth the wait if you have the patience.

[philly girl]

That is a great idea! We will start hauling it over for next year. Thanks so much for the tip.

[The Helpful Gardener]

GOOD advice jluds. I made the mistake of using that stuff from my town and got a nasty case of artillery fungus and am still trying to clean up the soil where I used it (adding compost as mulch this year and every other from here on out until it gets back to good). Wished I had thought of that plastic, but we needed the mulch right then, and free looked good. It wasn't good, not good at all. It would be a good brown to add to compost, though...lots of protozoal, bacterial and even fungii fungal-feeders to clean it up...

HG