Confused about mulch

[ducks4you]

Planting in Compost - A Gardening Experiment - The Gardening Cook

Compost piles are mounds of nutrient rich organic matter. Generally soil is mixed with compost to enrich it. Instead of doing this, I did an experiment this year with planting in compost itself.

thegardeningcook.com

I still come back to, there is no "instant compost".
If you keep meats and fats out of your pile, everything else Will decompose, like lettuce scraps, pieces of tomatoes, rotten fruit, etc.
By this time of year in my garden, I don't have time to babysit a compost pile, which means I don't have to move any piles, even WITH my lovely Kubota Compact tractor!
I need the tractor for mowing, and This weekend, I will be putting on the bush hogger.
Therefore, I create piles that may never be moved, or I may shovel here and there to use, here or there.
Any piles that I forget about turn into very rich soil after 2-3 years, yes, YEARS.
When I first gardened on this property, a 100+yo farm, the ground tilth had been leached out. I started plants in straight clay. After many years of using compost where I grow, I have rich dirt in all of them.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Planting in Compost - A Gardening Experiment - The Gardening Cook

Compost piles are mounds of nutrient rich organic matter. Generally soil is mixed with compost to enrich it. Instead of doing this, I did an experiment this year with planting in compost itself.

thegardeningcook.com

I still come back to, there is no "instant compost".
If you keep meats and fats out of your pile, everything else Will decompose, like lettuce scraps, pieces of tomatoes, rotten fruit, etc.
By this time of year in my garden, I don't have time to babysit a compost pile, which means I don't have to move any piles, even WITH my lovely Kubota Compact tractor!
I need the tractor for mowing, and This weekend, I will be putting on the bush hogger.
Therefore, I create piles that may never be moved, or I may shovel here and there to use, here or there.
Any piles that I forget about turn into very rich soil after 2-3 years, yes, YEARS.
When I first gardened on this property, a 100+yo farm, the ground tilth had been leached out. I started plants in straight clay. After many years of using compost where I grow, I have rich dirt in all of them.

I was just looking as some brush piles I made some years ago that are below my knees now, although they were at least as tall as I am. It may be time to use them.

 

[ducks4you]

Some more thoughts...

 

[ducks4you]

My compost pile is a little stinky, but it's far enough away from the house that it doesn't matter.
I need to post pictures on my thread...maybe this weekend.
I can see pooled water and puddles where the horses travel and compact the soil AND there is no real mulching material.
ALL of my vegetable and flower beds have NO PUDDLES. I was even able to till 2 days ago--easier than pulling the little weeds in between the rows--and the soil fluffed up, instead of mucky sticking to the blades.