I have access to bags of pine sawdust. I already looked at the thread about sawdust which mentioned uses for sawdust used for the bottom of garden beds, however, pine's not ideal for that unless maybe for blueberries. Can anyone think of any other uses? Another idea I heard is to leave conifer shavings under the sun for a year to remove sap/resin then to grow shiitakes or other mushrooms on it.
Just to clarify, are you taking about sawdust (dusty fine particles) or shavings (tiny flat bits of wood, sometimes curled a bit)? I think the uses could vary significantly between the two.
I have lots of pine shavings and I use them for animal bedding. I'd be happy to use them to mulch plants and cover garden paths as well. I wouldn't be worried about the acidity, I think even pine needles don't contribute much to the acidity of the soil.
I do the same as Mike, bedding or mulch.
Recently I have also started using pine shavings/sawdust as the paths I walk on in the garden. It stops me from compressing the soil and after a few months I can just shovel out that aged sawdust right onto the beds (and replace it with more).
The acidity issue you mentioned is potentially a problem if you already have appropriately balanced soil Ph, but are there any areas on your land that seem too alkaline? load it up!
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You can build a stove designed to burn it. I'll embed a few of my favorite youtube examples of indoor heating stoves. For an outdoor cooking stove, it looks like you basically leave off the top and the stove pipe. Looks like they burn pretty clean, like a rocket stove, though probably not as clean as a rocket mass heater.
I have had success with the pine shavings / horse manure mix from my horses. After a year or two of composting i spread it out and plant directly in it. I've had success with squash corn and sunflowers. They don't seem to mind it as their primary soil.
Maruf Miliunas wrote:I have access to bags of pine sawdust. I already looked at the thread about sawdust which mentioned uses for sawdust used for the bottom of garden beds, however, pine's not ideal for that unless maybe for blueberries. Can anyone think of any other uses? Another idea I heard is to leave conifer shavings under the sun for a year to remove sap/resin then to grow shiitakes or other mushrooms on it.
What did you end up doing with your pine sawdust? Im in the same situation right now. I wanted to dry it and save it somehow, but there’s too much to dry efficiently and even if I could dry it, storing it would be difficult. I’m considering using it as a mulch but worry a bit about acidity. Also considering adding mushroom spawn to it as that seems like the easiest thing to do and would give us food.
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