Decomposing (Mulch Time Lapse)

The crews that are maintaining electricity right-of-ways are back in the area.  The crews consist of a bucket truck that has a wood chipper behind it and a supervisor in another truck.  Limbs that overhang powerlines are trimmed back by a man in the bucket with a chainsaw.  Guys on the ground pick up the branches and feed them into a wood chipper.  The chipper shoots the wood chips into the back of the truck.  Once it is full, they are looking for a place to dump it.

That's where we come in.  Over the years we've taken (seriously) about 100 loads of mulch.  Tricia seeks them out and gives them our address and they come.  We've received two loads so far in the last couple of weeks.  One morning this week it was in the upper 30's.  I walked outside and saw steam coming from both of the recently delivered mulch piles.  This is evidence that the pile is decomposing.  Beneficial bacteria are breaking down the mulch pile.

These piles of mulch are a couple years old.  They don't steam anymore, but they are about half the size that they used to be.  A lot of the decomposition has already taken place.  If you scrape off the top layer, you'd see that the bottom of these piles are pretty well broken down.  Mushrooms grow in the pile, too.

In the back, I scraped off the top layer of a mulch pile from three years ago.  A three year old mulch pile has pretty much been transformed into topsoil.

I mix composted chicken litter with this and use it as a planting medium.  It's great organic matter and helps your soil retain moisture and reduces compaction.  If you see those crews working in your neighborhood, I highly recommend you going to talk to them.  It is a little unsightly to have piles of mulch in your yard.  If you have an HOA, I guarantee you it's not allowed.  Free mulch that turns into topsoil is something you want.  We'll keep taking it until we no longer have room.