A Hands on Experience:
When experiencing things for the first time, it always gets you to think about the what if's and the very real possibilities. In this sense a simple exercise like picking up days old cuttings of grass from a golf course locally, can stimulate thinking in the direction of sustainability and regenerative ideas in agriculture.
Just a thought:
Imagine if every time a large entity like a hotel with a golf course, a plantation type resort or just a local business or community council and their playing field were to discard of organic items just as in the case of grass cuttings. The little things that we generally consider to be meaningless can bring much needed value to a farmer, that has to sustain himself through subsistence agricultural practices.
The Value and Benefits of the Mulch Factor:
The core value of mulch is the way it enhances soil by increasing organic matter. Mulch feeds the beneficial microbes and organisms in soil, which crave the carbon-rich material in mulch. With this better soil biome comes improved water infiltration and aeration. This also helps plant roots to get more air, water and nutrients, which are essential elements needed to thrive and develop.
When the soil ecosystem is improved, this makes for healthier plants that are more disease and pest resistant. This helps you to spend less time and money treating problems, and can also reduce the risk of having to completely replace plants that are failing.
Enhancing Water Retention and Preventative Measures for soil erosion.
Mulch acts like a blanket in this case. It serves to protect the soil from erosion and also assists with regulating the soil temperature. It also helps the to soil retain water. This means plants in your garden and planting beds are gaining these benefits.
Since we live in the tropics (our climatic conditions here in the Caribbean) the weather heats up. Mulch conserves water by maximizing the benefit of your irrigation system or amount of water given to crops. It can even prevent the need for additional watering because mulch increases soil porosity so it can better accept and retain water.
So the next time you pass by your local playing field, golf course, or even open savannah and you see the piles of grass cuttings spread across the area, remember the value and contribution of such organic matter. Hopefully seeing the value of what is normally and traditionally a 'refused' item due to beautification and upkeep of property, would spur us all on to do some more 'picking up' of organic matter and get us even more curious and knowledgeable on such facts.
Finally, during periods of lack of usage due to the "lockdowns" why not make this 'refuse' available to farmers, and other agricultural practitioners here on the island?
This is something positive that can come out of the pandemic with empty hotels, leisure centers and other recreational spaces.
So... If you see me on a Golf Course its not because i'm golfing......