Editor:
I read with hope and some joy that the Sunshine Coast Regional District might institute a Coast-wide free mulch program (Coast Reporter, July 4) and I unequivocally support and thank Ron Knight and the Pender Harbour Garden Club for their initiative.
For those who tried to live on the land together with all the other bugs and critters and grow their plants in real soil rather than mounds of sterile mix — those who cherish the earth — free mulch was a boon.
There was never a problem with invasive species, never chlorosis. It reduced weeding to nothing, kept plants cool in summer and frost-protected in winter. The reduction in water use was phenomenal.
There’s little help now for the backyard veggie gardener. We can’t have a chicken (at least in Sechelt). Robin Wheeler’s One Straw Society was originally for us, and the good people there are trying hard to keep her many initiatives active, but One Straw seems mainly for farmers now.
The Food Policy Network, I’m told, considers backyard growers an insignificant part of food security. We have watering restrictions, shouldn’t take much seaweed, have no tax break, and now find it difficult to get a piece of cardboard or an old sack for mulch.
Recently, severely astray, we bought at an exorbitant price something called “natural mulch” guaranteed to prevent all weeds. It contained bits of tire, metal, old gaskets and huge pieces of wood. It grew more weeds than Osmocote when we dumped it on the boulevard’s bindweed. Kind tree people will sometimes deliver a load of chip for $20, but it’s not like the old free mulch.
There will be much flack from the big boys, but each of us little guys should write the SCRD in support of free mulch.
Nancy Leathley, West Sechelt
