I am a cardboard addict.

That’s my truth.

Since starting Mahaba Farms- a sustainable, low impact, human-powered urban farm- I have identified innumerable uses for what most people consider trash: cardboard.

Everywhere I look, I see opportunities to source more of this useful by-product of American hyper-consumerism. An overflowing recycling bin gets me more excited than I care to admit- LOL. Before I know it, my car or collapsible cart are full of clean, dry cardboard from which I have removed all plastic tape & labels.

My seemingly endless supply of cardboard finds its way to the farm week after week.

Of course, there is the typical gardening use of sheets of cardboard as a tarp to smother grass & weeds. I’ve done my share of tarping with cardboard, but my favorite way to repurpose cardboard is shredding it for use in planting, mulching, composting & worm bedding.

Once shredded (using a cross cut shredder), the cardboard can easily be spread at the base of plants as mulch. The cardboard holds water, protects the soil from sun exposure & breaks down over time; adding organic matter (carbon) to the sandy soil, feeding the plant & soil microbes.

In my experience, the cardboard decomposes more quickly when shredded (compared to sheets or torn cardboard), so makes an excellent addition to the compost bins. The worms love to nest in the shredded cardboard, as well as eat it.

My all time favorite use for shredded cardboard (so far) is to add it to the planting hole when transplanting fruit trees.

The shredded cardboard slows the movement of water through our sandy soil & allows the plant roots time to uptake more water. Additionally, as the cardboard breaks down, carbonaceous material is added to the soil; bulking it up & improving the water retention.

I could go on about my cardboard obsession… I’ll likely remember more ways I use it after I publish this newsletter. Cardboard is under-rated & has been an invaluable material at Mahaba Farms. I will continue to champion its use as a means of diverting waste from the landfill, while providing a free, beneficial resource to a farm/garden.