I put another 3" layer of cedar chips around my trees a couple weeks ago, but my beans weren't high enough to put mulch in the vegetable garden.

Thanks to some nice rain and warm weather, it's time.

As you see, for now I'm using grass clippings. Grass clippings are abundant and free -- qualities I really like. I prefer to use compost, but I was not good about stirring my pile this spring and it's not ready yet. I had the right mixture (4 parts brown to one part green), but I didn't get in there with my pitchfork and give the pile some oxygen.

Now, I'm adding more greens and shredded newspaper to the pile and it will take some time for that to break down. Plus, look at this little beauty growing out the side. Do I really want to disturb a tomato plant? I wonder what variety grew.

Some people say that you don't need to stir compost, that the worms will do their job well enough. And I might test out that theory this year. I'll add my new items in holes dug into the working pile. Maybe the worms would like a fresh banana peel once in a while.

How about you, are you a "stirrer" or a "piler?" Or maybe you have two bins where you can let one work and add new items into the other. What works for you?