Use of pine needles in your Organic Garden

Question
What do pine needles do? We have many pine trees and an over abundance of pine needles. They make nice coverings for the ground and keep
in moisture (In Alabama that is important.), but do they make chemical changes in the soil?


Answer
Pine needles are good for your garden! They are best if you can chop them up finely - with a hammer mill, or perhaps several times through a chipper shredder. And if you are thinking of growing your own seedlings, or would like to build and grow in Grow-Boxes, pine needles make a good substitute for sawdust, peatmoss, perlite, etc.

Jacob Mittleider has used them many, many times - always with good success. He has even grown seedlings in STRAIGHT PINE NEEDLES, just to prove his point that they are not harmful.