Module 3 Discussion Forum: Free & Low Cost Local Resources
Depending on where you live, you may have a wide variety of free materials available to you such as mulch, pallets, leaves, compost, cardboard or other materials available to you. You may have a local garden supply store which sells needed garden items, but in this forum, share sources of free or very low cost materials which might otherwise be wasted.
In many urban and suburban areas, leaves are often put out at the curb for municipal pickup where they are later composted, and this compost may be available for the asking. Likewise with street trees that are pruned or removed are shredded into mulch. Your local Department of Public Works may have these available for free.
In some areas, wood shavings from a lumber mill might be free for the taking. If you live near a stable, horse manure is almost always in great supply relative to demand. A local coffee roaster might have chaff to spare, or a grocer may have spoiled produce. A grain farmer may have straw for sale at affordable prices.
Using your local knowledge and your imagination, seek out at least two local sources of mulch materials, and/or compost or compost ingredients. For each material, find out how much it costs to obtain it, where it comes from (if not immediately obvious), and what the pros and cons are of using it at your community or school garden.
Hot tip! For Assignment 3.1 you will network with someone from a local school or community garden that you consider successful. You may want to share this information here after you've had a chance to ask them if they have some good sources of free materials for their garden program. You may inspire other students who had not considered this possible resource.
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