I had a 2lb bag of the wool pellets to try out, these are normally priced at $24. They are packaged in rather smart resealable bags, so the contents are kept safe and dry if not all used at once.
resealable bag
When opened there is a slight smell of sheep. I could hardly smell it, but my husband said it was fairly distinctive. The pellets were brown and firm but are soft on the hands, not hard edged as feed pellets would be.
I'm most interested in how the pellets might repel slugs, so I sprinkled some around my freshly planted perennials: two hosta and an echinacea - both normally slug magnets. The echinacea has no additional protection, the hostas both have a cut off plant pot collar around them, which I normally find gives some protection.
Hosta (left) has plant pot collar echinacea (right) just sheep pellets
I sprinkled the pellets on fairly thickly so that there was very little visible soil between them.
One thing I was worried about was whether my dogs would think the pellets were dog candy. I have had problems when using sheep fleece as mulch in the past with the dogs eating it and making themselves poorly. Both dogs showed an interest in the fresh pellets, but there is no sign of them wanting to eat them. I'm very happy about this, since it means the pellets won't need protecting from the dogs.
Della checking out the fresh pellets
The following day it rained, and the pellets swelled up rather more than I was expecting. They fully covered the soil around the echinacea, and rose up in the collar around the hosta. It looks like they will go much further than I was expecting. I love the way that you can see the colours in the individual fleeces - you can tell these are more interesting than the average sheep flock!
Wool pellets after soaking in rain for a day.
colour comparison of soaked and dry pellets
It is too early to say whether the pellets will protect the plants from slugs (which is my greatest interest) however they are clean and easy to apply. It looks like they will go much further than I thought they would - just a couple of handfuls are plenty to fully mulch a single plant with a four inch barrier. I love the authenticity of the fleece colours - it wasn't just boring white sheep that made up the flock that provided this wool! Hopefully my hosta will survive the growing season unmolested by slugs - and the pellets ought to gradually contribute to the fertility and ultimately growth of my plants.
Overall I like the pellets as a mulch, and am looking forwards to trying them as part of a soil mix in a potting compost, and as protection for my carrot seeds too.
That's a lovely elegant design Matthias. I like the lack of moving parts - nothing to seize up!
Do you find the knob is getting hot? I Think that the wooden knob (although it looks nice) might not be durable.
That's a great comprehensive article for people in marginal fig areas - thanks M.K. for posting the link. I don't have a fig yet, but I know that people do grow them successfully in my lattitude.....
Wool Pellets are an ideal choice of fertilizer for sandy soils. Because it is a slow-release type fertilizer, it breaks down slowly over the season. This helps combat nutrient leaching often found in gardens with sandy soil due to rain or excess watering. In clay soils, wool pellets retain structure while breaking down slowly, improving aeration.
Because wool both retains moisture and improves aeration, Wool Pellets make an excellent, sustainable source of organic material to use in soil blocks and seed starts in place of peat moss. Peat moss takes thousands of years to generate, while sheep are shorn once or twice a year.
When used in potted plants or grow-bags, wool pellets make an great option for reusing potting soil. Potting soil can exhaust its nutrients over one or two seasons, making it a costly option to replace the potting soil every one or two years.
Try mixing wool pellets with older potting soil to renew it's vitality. You can add fresh compost worm castings to the potting mix to enrich it with microorganisms and help break the wool down faster.
Anti-slug Fortifications
As an added bonus, wool pellets make a great slug deterrent! The easy-to-arrange pellet format makes it fun to add fortifications around your plants and discourage slugs from feasting.
Hi Spencer! I seem to remember that I found them pretty easy to germinate, so I would be inclined just to plant them outside. Incredible vegetables suggests for best germination sowing them in a tray of compost, putting them in a bag in the fridge for 7 - 10 days, then put in a fairly warm place (20 Celsius).
There is a certain amount of pleasure one can get with knowing how much one saves by mending or making do. Or like not buying a lottery ticket - a win every week!
I too don't like the acronym. I don't feel I am missing out.... Maybe we can make an acronym out of THRIFT? - The Happiness Received In Frugal Tastes
Not full of stuff, but nice details like the moon on the bench she is sitting (while borrowing), wildlife and flowers integrating in the garden, a house that looks like it has evolved rather than being built....
Ben Brownell wrote: a more locally evolved set of designs, techniques and stylistic touches that are well suited to a specific climate/eco/cultural context. In essence, there should be many different PC aesthetics, based on where you look on earth and who's invested the time in refining a distinctive yet practical look that holds up well enough to become relatively standardized.
Yes! The permaculture aesthetic would follow the functions required and the materials available in the locale. So stone, cob, wood, thermal mass or through ventilation according to the local climate (and culture).
Thank you for sharing your detailed design.
Keeping the birds safe would be my #1 issue too. We have escaped American mink here which can devastate a coop....
You say that you wish that you had a roof on the run - is that to keep the chicken dry outside, or for another reason?
A graduate scientist turned automotive engineer, currently running a small shop and growing plants on Skye: turning a sheep field into a food forest.
