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I have put out 2 bags of sawdust as mulch for our plants and they seem to be doing fine.

Forrest

Gene Howe wrote:Did you know that during WWll, the Navy experimented with making a carrier from sawdust and Ice? They actually built a 3/4 version just before the end of the war. It was impervious to torpedoes and bombs. Stronger than steel.

I suspected that you might be yanking our collective chain, Gene. But a quick Google search turned up this article from the Royal Navy Museum, which provides some interesting details.

So rjent, get busy!

[quote="BuckeyeDennis"]I suspected that you might be yanking our collective chain, Gene. But a quick Google search turned up this article from the Royal Navy Museum, which provides some interesting details.

So rjent, get busy! ]

Unbelievable!

I'm on it!

Here is more information about what is called "Pykrete:"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete

Pretty amazing stuff.

Dennis, would I ever pull your chain? Never!:D

[quote="BuckeyeDennis"]I suspected that you might be yanking our collective chain, Gene. But a quick Google search turned up this article from the Royal Navy Museum, which provides some interesting details.

So rjent, get busy! ]

Gene Howe wrote:Dennis, would I ever pull your chain? Never!:D

I knew you weren't pulling our chain Gene, Mythbusters did a story on it, and made their own boat in Canada (or was it Alaska?) Made the boat out of wet newspaper, and it worked just fine. (Until it melted.)

steve

Besides the processed 'woods,' I recall that some types of domestics (and probably imports) aren't so good for mulch at least in large quantities. Walnut might be one of them.

Don't use pine or any conifer or treated, or glued wood for smoking food.

I cut a lot of oak and walnut and have been spreading the oak saw dust behind the shop where I have stacked a bunch of mesquite logs.
Yesterday, I was on a monthly goat head hunt. For you lucky folks who don't have experience with goat heads, they are a particularly obnoxious weed whose seeds are numerous and tri lobal with each lobe so sharp that they will pierce bicycle and other tires as well as thin shoe soles.
Any how, The oak sawdust didn't prevent the growth of the goat heads but, where they are normally a vibrant green, the ones that came up were a sickly yellow. And, no other weed even tried to grow.

Where I spread the walnut dust, NOTHING grows. Many of our neighbors own horses and won't take my dust because they say either one will harm the horses' hooves. So, I quit offering.

Mine goes into my compost bins. It takes wood longer to rot and breakdown, but it will make compost.