[BXMurphy]

I used to use clippings for mulch. They work really well, too!

Now, I'm a little more serious about my veggies and practice strict sanitation in my vegetable gardens. Anything that doesn't belong there like soil and living vegetable plants gets thrown away.

I'm just leery about having to fight fungus and viruses and bugs and stuff.

I cut my lawn often so the clippings are small and I just mulch them into the lawn.

I use a hoe once a week in my vegetable gardens. The gardens are not huge like "Farmer John" huge... Manageable. A nice balance for lawn clippings to cover it if I wanted to but I find the hoe work to be enjoyable and it keeps the garden bed from getting compacted. It's a nice effect...

I can say this... I have always had "ok" results in my garden but always had to fight one thing or another. This is my first year going all hoe and the veggies are awesome. I'm chalking it up to just churning over that top inch or so so that the top of the bed gets thoroughly bleached by the sun.

I call my top inch a "soil mulch." Nice and fluffy. Sterile. Maybe next year I'll mix in some compost.

I couldn't mix stuff into the soil in the past without having to dig in there with a shovel because the soil would set up and get compacted. Now with a weekly minor disturbance around the top, I can do whatever I like with it.

Murph