Ground up a bay tree log with my mower; ground up sycamore leaves w/old mower

[Matt Gruber]

So, 5-10 years ago post beetles killed 6 bay trees in the woods next to my house. These were big trees that would be expensive to remove, and too dangerous for me to try to cut them down. So past 2 years they have been falling down due to rot and gravity :lol: The 1 i feared would hit my house, just wimped out and fell in pieces. :thumb:
So i found a way to combine my 2 hobbies; cross fitness and growing vegetables. 1st try i used a hatchet to chop up 2 feet of log. i dug a hole, and put in the mulch, then top sand with a little 8-8-8 near the top, and put in a tomato plant 8) it is growing fast But it really was not fine enough
I was a little sore after the hatchet job, so as much as it was good exercise, progress was too slow. Decided to try the mulching mower yesterday. Got 6 feet of 8" log and attacked it with the mower. Blade is now dull arm NOT sore. Used a fan grille as a screen, and divided it into 2 piles, 2 gallons of mulch and 7 gal of potting "soil". This fall i plan to mulch 20-50 barrels of sycamore leaves, add them to a ground up tree, and make a bed for growing purple sweet potatoes or ?

 

[markz]

Rusty nail(s) hammered into the trunk will rot a tree out fast!
But be careful, dont want it to fall someplace you dont want it to.
Ratchet Straps or a tow strap and a winch/truck can help make it fall in the direction you wanted it to.

 

[Matt Gruber]

Sharpened the blade + the one on my old mower that i kept in case i could think of a way to use it.
Have 2 ideas:
1. make a super bark/wood rot mulcher- took off the front wheels so blade comes within 1/2 inch of the ground. This may prove to be too low, so i have some smaller wheels which would get it plenty low enough, and allow it to park/roll easier. Engine is tired, but should do it as long as i go slow. I don't want to trash my good mower.
2. Make a 22" brush cutter, sort of a huge weed wacker. The lot next door has huge weeds; if i could chop them down in a spot, i could plant Okra or ?
Plan is to cut off the front 8" of the deck so blade is exposed Again with smaller wheels moved back, since the old mount would be cut off. Should chop them right off :lol:

 

[Matt Gruber]

they say leaves are better than logs, as a mulch. since i have 2 sycamore trees, i have lots of leaves starting to fall. i ground up my 1st pile, and yes it was too low. so i raised it up an inch and added the missing 4th wheel.
The carb is so old it has a mixture adjustment; opened it up 1/2 turn and it now has decent power 8)
primer doesn't work, so i drilled a 1/2" hole in the top of the air filter lid to fit a funnel (to put in some gas for start up)
old mower now works pretty good 8)

 

[Matt Gruber]

as a test i put some leaf mulch on 1 spinach and 1 tomato plant. with tile on top so it won't blow away.
gave 2 spinach 1/2 tb 8-8-8. not a test. this works for sure 8)

 

[Matt Gruber]

will be trying it on 2 anemic tomato plants tomorrow; no composting!-
i cut up 4 peels, put them in a jar of water. will give this water tomorrow, with the scraps on top of the mulch.
https://thefrugalchicken.com/10-ways-to-use-banana-peels-in-garden/
anyone do this

 

[Matt Gruber]

old mower worked good :thumb: was hard work for me too took 8 pulls to start, and took some muscle to move it back and forth over a big pile. took 15 minutes. pulse got up to 140(now 69) and yes i was working that hard.
next time i'll try it in the rain. too much dust did wear a cheap mask. not all that much mulch, considering the size of the pile.
not seeing any improvement w/ banana peels.
BUT, i have seen my pre wash dish water work decent past 5 years. the ferns i give it too have not needed any fertilizer in 5 years, the others need it most every year.
Not sure it is worth the effort to grind up leaves, etc. But, i'll try most anything once.