Converting invasive organisms into environmentally safe resources always has me excited...this is great stuff! FA can already be made into potting medium, and I'm sure there's a great use for Asian Carp, too...if we could simply selectively harvest them.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
TJ, can you share info on using FA to make soil? I put in many hours of back breaking work raking out FA and putting it in piles. I fine that it is too tightly woven together to break it up for mulch. I've let it dry out for a year and still find it so tenacious that you almost have to hand pull it into smaller fragments. My tiller can't easily deal with it and I feel like I almost need a forestry tool like a bobcat mounted rotary brush shredder or something.
I thought it would be as easy as throwing it in a compost pile and turning it but I get pretty stymied with my particular FA mats.
I spread mine out on shore and allow it to dry, when I collect it with a rake I find it's very brittle and easily crushed into good medium particulate. I think it's entirely possible different species of FA will possess different characteristics. For instance, the "horse hair" FA is far more dense and strong than other species I encounter on the pond throughout the year. I'd believe it may resist efforts to manipulate compared to other less resilient species.
If efforts to render FA into potting medium is laborious, I'd recommend simply using the FA as mulch for gardens...it serves as an amazing weed mat and and believe as it decomposes it's injecting beneficial nutrients into the soil like N and P.
As many of you know I already make lump charcoal from scraps around the farm for BBQ use...I am interested in learning how to make lump from cattails...didn't look too difficult.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
I must have horsehair FA as mine is so stringy and interwoven that even after drying it is tough to crush. I may try to just get dried clumps down as garden mulch or find a better mechanical shredder.
I got a free old school 3.5hp push mower left at our house so I might just continue to 'mow' the algae pile and see how that works.
I spread mine out on shore and allow it to dry, ....
I do the same thing except I pick it up before it's entirely dry. If I don't, it often shatters into pieces too small to easily pickup. The FA I've harvested in the past has all gone to the compost piles but, I think I will try using it as mulch some this year. I can see where it would be an excellent weed barrier. I like the planting media idea as well. I might try mixing it 60/40 with some good black dirt.
Pull it out and spread on bank to dry. If trying to load wet it is heavy and back breaking. But if you let it dry too much it gets brittle and breaks up. I use a pitch fork and at the right moisture it will handle about like hay.
I compost it. I have a pile that is hay and cow manure mixed in from where cattle were fed. This is old and well composted. I just layer the FA in this mix and let mother nature do the rest.
I spread mine out on shore and allow it to dry, ....
I do the same thing except I pick it up before it's entirely dry. If I don't, it often shatters into pieces too small to easily pickup. The FA I've harvested in the past has all gone to the compost piles but, I think I will try using it as mulch some this year. I can see where it would be an excellent weed barrier. I like the planting media idea as well. I might try mixing it 60/40 with some good black dirt.
Bill apply the FA as mulch when it's still somewhat damp and pliable like you noted, it will lay very easily, almost like laying down a wet blanket around your plants and in the rows.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
I wonder if a person put some wet FA in molds like done in the above video with an open bottom so the moisture could get away if a person could make fire starter bricks out of the FA.
I have never tried to burn the stuff dry but it sure looks like it would.
Bill apply the FA as mulch when it's still somewhat damp and pliable like you noted, it will lay very easily, almost like laying down a wet blanket around your plants and in the rows.
Thanks TJ. Any problem with smell when the FA gets rehydrated from rain or watering?
No, but I think FA smells wonderful, so I may not have noticed. Also, I don't water my garden in the traditional sense, I use only watering spikes and 2 liter bottles. This encourages deep root growth, saves significant water by allowing me to use water collected in my rain barrels, and also helps prevent weeds from germinating as the majority of the garden is bone dry without the benefit of moisture throughout. Another benefit allows one to deliver any fertilizer directly to the roots of the plants via the watering spike method which is super efficient [fish emulsion, epson salts, etc.].
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Also, I don't water my garden in the traditional sense, I use only watering spikes and 2 liter bottles. This encourages deep root growth, saves significant water by allowing me to use water collected in my rain barrels, and also helps prevent weeds from germinating as the majority of the garden is bone dry without the benefit of moisture throughout. Another benefit allows one to deliver any fertilizer directly to the roots of the plants via the watering spike method which is super efficient [fish emulsion, epson salts, etc.].
