I have a tree on the place that sheds "needles" like a pine tree. It's called an Australian Ironwood tree. Because of the dense mat of needles, nothing much grows under one of these trees. But it makes harvesting these needles quite easy.
Why harvest them? Why not? It's a useable resource that my farm provides. And it's renewable, to boot.
I usually collect a trashcanful whenever I need them. So what are they use for?
While there can be many uses to choose from, I opt to use them to line the chickens' nest boxes. The birds accept them with no problem. And they don't eat them, as they do grass clippings. They don't kick them out as they do wood chips. They actually appear to like them. It keeps the eggs cleaner as long as I refresh them after each rain. Yes, the girls can muck up a nestbox pretty quickly with mud after a rain. It sticks to their feet and I haven't been able to convince them to wipe their feet off before entering their house. Hey, they tell me that's what the pine needles are for! Ok, ok. I'll just give you fresh ones after each rain. I'll go get more for you. <<<sigh....slave to chickens>>>
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