So I bought the book, Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening, and it's exactly what I was looking for. Simple, clear, straight to the point. A real how-to. Very practical and very specific. Love it. Other books are filled with theory and deep scientific matters that go completely over my head. I mean I just want to grow some tomatoes, not earn a PHD in Chemistry, you know what I mean?
Now I was wondering, I saw that native tree trimmings was marked as a very good mulch. I think I recall Malcolm Beck talking about them in his book Lessons on Nature, something about animals eating the ends of branches and that were was some sort of good protein or something in there for them, and this in turn is good for the soil as well. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, my wonderful city I found out, on their website, will drop off 15 yards of this free mulch. That seems like a bit much, and more than I need. So it got me thinking and I had just read this article here:
http://smallfarmersjournal.com/follow-up-on-phosphorus/ I'm in Central Florida, and the soil is basically pure beach sand. I feel like I'm on the beach here, and even got my little Ford Ranger stuck in the soil/sand here, heh.
Could I use all of that mulch as a source of Organic Matter (OM) to add to the beach I've got going on (pure sand), as a good soil amendment? As opposed or in addition to manure/compost/cover crops?