Hey Bethv,
I recently ran across that Mad Mics Mulch and was interested as well. I haven't pursued it to find out more info yet. The only way to be sure of its quality is through a soil test. What I do know is that horse and cow manure is good, but not the top of the manure products, sheep and goat is better, rabbit is even better, and bird is the best. One thing to consider is the amount of bedding (wood shavings) that are contained in the mix. I can't remember exactly why but more is not better. Also, horse and cow manure should be well composted before use, though horse manure breaks down more quickly. If you want some good information on compost (and tons of other great veggie growing info) you should pick up Volume 1, 2009 of GROW magazine, put out by Fine Gardening through Taunton Press. It just recently hit the stands. I bought it about two weeks ago. A little pricy at $7.99 but, like I said, packed full of great info. The front cover photo is a close up of all kinds of tomatoes and the headline is "Fresh from your garden". I promise, you'll learn a lot.

I'm not sure I agree about bird manure; it has a lot of nitrogen but not nearly as much solid organic material as other manures. It's more of a fertilizer than a mulch, and it can burn plants.

The ratio of bedding to manure indicates the amount of nitrogen - breaking down the wood shavings uses some of the nitrogen that's in the raw manure, but the end result is a nice light material.

And I agree, aging is important, because weed seeds are a big problem with most types of manure - more of a problem with horse manure, I think, because cows apparently digest the grain more fully.

any update on this product?

I went and looked at it at Dr. Mulch in Westford and seemed really nice. I'm concerned about the possibility of weed seeds, and I was going to go get a bucketful and test it for weeds before I bought it by the yardful, but I didn't get around to that.

So I'm just going to take my chances and order it. I like to put mulch on my beds as I clean them up which I am doing now.

I'd like to try this also, but it's a bit far from me (about 30 miles). What I am trying to find is a local mulch that is organic, small particles, sort of like that expensive Sweet Peat stuff that comes in bags. But of course I want it in bulk. Unfortunately, no one in my area (Worcester) seems to have this. I'd rather not use bark mulch, but it's my only choice. I can make my own leaf mold from shredded leaves, but that doesn't give me nearly enough. Is Mad Mic the only guy making this stuff?

Steve

As soon as I posted above, I called to order and he just delivered it and I love it. I asked about pH, but the driver didn't know. He said it was tested at UMass Extension. It would be nice if they posted the test results on the website.

*After* a huge load of it was dumped on my driveway, I also wondered if it might attract flies. So far, none. That may be better than those big fat black ants that hitch along in bark mulch deliveries.

I spread it on one small bed to start and it sure looks nice plus I get a warm fuzzy feeling because it (must be?) so good for the soil.

It definitely won't last 2 years like bark mulch can, but so be it.

And they just bumped the price of it. I had last years price sheet that said $35/yd. This year it is $37.50 and that's the only product that got an increase.

Steve, in the past I have mixed bark mulch with shredded leaves and partially finished compost and even grass clippings. Its a lot of extra work, but it provides some add'l nutrients and gives a more natural look and the bark mulch doesn't pack down so easily. I probably wouldn't do it on a front-and-center bed, but in the right location its nice.

These are the distributors. Maybe the one in Leominster would cover the worcester area???

http://www.madmics.com/distributors.html

I have used Mad Mics mulch for years on all my landscape beds. I love it. It is beautiful, natural and breaks down to improve the soil. I wanted to mulch my vegetable beds and was curious if I could use Mad Mics. I found this terrific article that explains how the mulch is made and what is in it.

https://barkingdoggardens.com/2021/01/15/mad-mics-mulch-some-of-the-best-mulch-you-can-put-in-your-garden/

Now I'm even MORE impressed and am going to very happily use this mulch to improve my vegetable garden