I bought some bags from my local garden centre back end of last year and when I opened them up to mulch the smell was awful. Had it been an animal smell great but mostly smelled of creosote. When I went back to complain I was told that the animals bedding had probably been changed. Needless to say I won't be going back. Currently looking out for a local supply from a farm. Nor so easy these days though.
Frensclen. It depends where you live of course. I pay 50p a very large bagful, got to pick and choose the ones I can actually lift into the back of my estate car. I can have one or the lot left outside the fields with a tin for the money. Nearest is half a mile, the furthest about 4 miles. If I'm going in the right direction I usually pick up a couple of bags on the return journey and bung it a bit at a time into my compost bins in between layers of everything else I chuck in them. I also keep an eye out for someone moving small flocks of sheep if they've been feeding them in the field. The sheep all gather round the troughs so there's usually a patch of ground well littered with hay and droppings and bits of wool as well which I offer to tidy up (much to the surprise of the shepherd . But they have to dispose of it which usually costs them let alone the time to do the job. All, as they say, grist to the mill.
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I bought some bags from my local garden centre back end of last year and when I opened them up to mulch the smell was awful. Had it been an animal smell great but mostly smelled of creosote. When I went back to complain I was told that the animals bedding had probably been changed. Needless to say I won't be going back. Currently looking out for a local supply from a farm. Nor so easy these days though.
Frensclen. It depends where you live of course. I pay 50p a very large bagful, got to pick and choose the ones I can actually lift into the back of my estate car. I can have one or the lot left outside the fields with a tin for the money. Nearest is half a mile, the furthest about 4 miles. If I'm going in the right direction I usually pick up a couple of bags on the return journey and bung it a bit at a time into my compost bins in between layers of everything else I chuck in them. I also keep an eye out for someone moving small flocks of sheep if they've been feeding them in the field. The sheep all gather round the troughs so there's usually a patch of ground well littered with hay and droppings and bits of wool as well which I offer to tidy up (much to the surprise of the shepherd
. But they have to dispose of it which usually costs them let alone the time to do the job. All, as they say, grist to the mill.