Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Easy Gardener all natural jute burlap shade cloth for the Shiitake Shrooms!

So in the mini-forest - there is about 50% of sun blocking from the tree leaves. I need about 80% of sun blocking - so also I don't want plastic shade cloth or "blankets." I noticed a local big shiitake shroom farm uses black "blankets" as shade cloth - pretty sure they have to be plastic. That's just a lot of plastic that is unnecessary to use. We already are breathing in microplastic all the time as it rains down from the sky now!

People say this natural shade cloth is too expensive but the key is to buy bulk size - so get the 48 feet roll - not the 24 foot roll. 24 feet is $15 while 48 feet is $20.

"Jute" is the name of the plant or fiber used to make burlap, hessian or gunny cloth. Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibers, and second only to cotton in the amount produced and variety of uses.
So Bangladesh traditionally grew Jute as their national "trade" commodity but the British colonialists instead enforced growing rice instead of jute. The problem being that their regional ecology was suited for growing jute.
 The suitable climate for growing jute (warm and wet) is offered by the monsoon climate, during the monsoon season
Jute Field in Bangladesh
People use the leaves as an ingredient in a mucilaginous potherb called "molokhiya" (ملوخية, of uncertain etymology). It is popular in some Arabian countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria as a soup-based dish, sometimes with meat over rice or lentils. The Book of Job (chapter 30, verse 4), in the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible מלוח maluaḥ "salty",[2] mentions this vegetable potherb as "mallow, giving rise to the term Jew's Mallow.[3] It is high in protein, vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, and iron.
https://jobescompany.com/brand/easy-gardener/ is based on infamous Waco Texas!!

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener-3102-Natural-Burlap-3-Foot/dp/B000HQOGCK?th=1

One of the reviews claims it's not 48 feet but rather 48 inches! No - it really is 48 feet long roll of 3 feet wide burlap.
 58 people found this helpful
Really? It's blatantly the wrong information!
Great product and price. No strong formaldehyde odors like with other brands.
It might be treated with something but I can't really tell - it could just be the natural oils of the plant - that's what I think. Jute probably has some terpenes in it.

Sure enough - this over 100 year old book says Jute is not cellulose but more like lignins and aromatic compounds. Amazing.

Oh I guess they treat it with chlorine - and that's why it's yellow.
 The jute fabric is treated with sodium hypochlorite containing 0.6% available chlorine at pH6 and at room temperature in a covered jigger for 6 ends
 So it's very minor treatment.
It also smells horrible--a very strong chemical smell which, actually, deters me from wanting to use in my organic garden. God knows what chemicals are in this stuff.
No - the smell is not that strong - only the WHOLE ROLL has a faint smell. But then females have a stronger sense of smell due to stronger oxytocin levels. Anyway - this "smell" is only from that minor chlorine treatment.
 Worked well to protect plants and mushroom logs over winter.
 Ah ha! I'm not the first to use it on mushroom logs....

Exhaust Chlorine Smell - TDIClub Forums


My car also emits a smell reminicent of being at the pool. I personally chalk this up to newer diesel engine/exhaust designs
Well now we know why this comment was made!
 Came with a strong diesel fuel smell. I hope the deer don't like the smell.
The person thought the chlorine fumes were diesel fuel fumes!
 Production is concentrated mostly in Bangladesh, as well as India's states of Assam, Bihar
 Sure enough...

https://www.gardenista.com/posts/landscape-cloth-burlap-jute-netting-burlap-fabric/

So there's half a dozen different Jute gardening cloth companies - importing it all from Bangladesh probably.

The marketing confusion is that "burlap" is usually a tighter weave and sold at craft and textile stores - for making clothes or curtains, etc. Below is craft burlap on the right - it is 10 ounce weave whereas this Jute is 7 ounce weave - on the left.

So people get pissed buying this outdoor Jute cloth - expecting some "craft" use - and it's marketed as good for "hundreds" of craft uses! oops.

So the US uses the word "burlap" when in fact the word "Jute" is more accurate for this product. If the above is the SAME Jute - it's obviously wrapped TWICE around those containers - otherwise it's a "craft" Burlap - being wrongly marketed as the same Jute.

When I search Jute shade cloth - images - hardly nothing. Burlap shade cloth - lots of images.
Don’t use burlap in place of shade cloth for vegetables as a solid piece. It is fine for creating shade for people or pets but not for plants. Be careful how much heat it traps under it if it is located too close to humans and other animals. Plants are green and need sunlight for photosynthesis. People and pets don’t need as much sunlight.
 Nor mushrooms! But again burlap is not a thick weave - or I mean JUTE!!

or Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation for Log-Based Shiitake ...


PDF
Series of photos taken of the shiitake operation at the Green Heron Growers in Panama, N.Y.. (Steve and Julie ... To date, most forest cultivation of shiitake mushrooms has been conducted ... necessary to protect the logs with 80% shade cloth or pine boughs during the winter. ... shade cloth is ideal, but burlap will suffice.

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