Gardening with quilting scraps
03-29-2011, 03:47 PM
#51
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 853
Comon sense would lead me to think that yes cotton would break down as compost but would take longer than some other things.
I am always leary of putting strips and threads out where something might swallow them and it would get caught on their insides. But, I used a thin piece of baby yarn to tie up a clematis vine and within two days "something", most likely bird or squirrel had cut it into pieces and taken off with some of them. I found that amusing.
I am always leary of putting strips and threads out where something might swallow them and it would get caught on their insides. But, I used a thin piece of baby yarn to tie up a clematis vine and within two days "something", most likely bird or squirrel had cut it into pieces and taken off with some of them. I found that amusing.
03-30-2011, 12:02 AM
#54
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: England
Posts: 2,365
Originally Posted by McQuilter
I've not done or heard of that; but I love throwing my tiniest of scraps (thin, thin strips) and my thread scraps from embroidery out in the front yard for the birds. I have bushes around the side of my house and they nest in there in the summer and I can see my threads interwoven in their nests.
03-30-2011, 04:44 AM
#56
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PROFESSIONAL Longarm Quilter NW Indiana
Posts: 3,398
Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
NOW, if I thought a mole might eat the fabric and choke to death, I would stuff the holes with my very best scraps....
but since there is no guarantee he would eat it, I just dug out the beds 3 feet down and put chicken wire down and an organic landscaping cloth, then filled the beds back in...darn moles....
but since there is no guarantee he would eat it, I just dug out the beds 3 feet down and put chicken wire down and an organic landscaping cloth, then filled the beds back in...darn moles....
Here's a quick search result:
http://howtogetridofmolesinyouryard.com/
03-30-2011, 10:09 AM
#57
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Posts: 2,616
Originally Posted by SusieG
Now is also the perfect time of year to put your scraps out for the birds to build nests with. We feed the birds all winter long and in the spring rather than putting suet in the suet holder put in your scraps. :-)
03-30-2011, 03:31 PM
#60
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Central Washington State
Posts: 5,997
I am assuming that if you are talking scraps, you are not talking about pieces bigger than a few inches, and no long strips - - the strips/strings would definitely cause problems for a rototiller, however, if the one person who composts (piles, waters, turns) is correct, even those will break down.
Considering the process of gardening, the "chemicals" in fabrics are probably the least of your concerns.
Newspaper ink has been vegetable based for decades now, so a good friend to the soil. As a matter of fact, if you have ever read a book "Lasagna gardening", you will see that she absolutely uses the newspapers WITHOUT tearing them into teeny pieces even ... and, they still break down.
The "solution to pollution is dilution" .... you put your fabric in the ground, you water the soil, the heat of the earth starts it breaking down, the water you use to keep your garden growing continues the "dilution" process ...
it really is all common sense ... birds have no reason to eat fabric unless you soak it in something the birds want to eat ... I watch them pecking around in my cow piles all of the time, and they seem to be quite capable of finding one little gnat in a plop of poo <wave> or, maybe that one piece of grain that didn't get digested in the manure or horse pucks ... they won't eat your fabric!
Considering the process of gardening, the "chemicals" in fabrics are probably the least of your concerns.
Newspaper ink has been vegetable based for decades now, so a good friend to the soil. As a matter of fact, if you have ever read a book "Lasagna gardening", you will see that she absolutely uses the newspapers WITHOUT tearing them into teeny pieces even ... and, they still break down.
The "solution to pollution is dilution" .... you put your fabric in the ground, you water the soil, the heat of the earth starts it breaking down, the water you use to keep your garden growing continues the "dilution" process ...
it really is all common sense ... birds have no reason to eat fabric unless you soak it in something the birds want to eat ... I watch them pecking around in my cow piles all of the time, and they seem to be quite capable of finding one little gnat in a plop of poo <wave> or, maybe that one piece of grain that didn't get digested in the manure or horse pucks ... they won't eat your fabric!
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