Mulching questions

[Mike]

Billy explained how to do this from the recent post tilted ?Any way to improve Top Soil ?

So I bought a bag of alfalfa feed pellets but was wondering if the leafy alfalfa that is sold in bags would work better. This leafy type has a quantity of molasses mixed in.

Would it benefit a patch of soil to simply throw down some pellets and spray the area with a garden hose, or would this cause unwanted bacteria/mold to form?

Thanks.

[Steve]

I think what you are describing is "All-In-One", a mixture of alfalfa, oat hay, and molasses. It's good for increasing organic matter and it might even raise the Brix, but the alfalfa pellets, which obviously contain a higher percentage of alfalfa, are better. Oat hay doesn't add much more than matter, and molasses below the soil line has dubious benefit, as well as creating a temporary nitrogen deficiency in the soil. The All-In-One makes wonderful tea though.

[Billy]

Or get a bale of alfalfa and spread that around (by rubbing two leaves together). A little squirt of sugar water will "boom" your microbe population which may sequester more nitrogen but then you'll get a "bust". No big deal but I'd leave it alone, if you do try it, let us know how it works out.

[Steve]

There's the best idea, IMO.