[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks Beverley,

I planted them in the corner of our fruit bed yesterday and promptly watered them in with tapwater instead of the rainwater I had specifically collected (I’d blame the enthusiasm of my 5 year old for using the hosepipe for this mistake but to be honest my ageing brain means I make these kind of errors all on my own…)

I’ve learnt from the links above that I should have planted 2
different varieties, so it’s back to the garden centre for me…

CP

[compostpopeParticipant]

You can also google “Orange pippin fruit trees” for lots of useful info and varietal comparisons aout all sorts of fruit trees. Also very helpful after sales service.

CP

[compostpopeParticipant]

Hi Cleansweep and once again thanks for reading and replying to my posts.

– Can you expand a bit on your response?

Hope you have a great day, and that your weather (wherever you are in the UK) is seasonally appropriate. It’s gone a bit cold here in Switzerland which is more normal than the very long warm spell we had up until last week.

CP

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks Cleansweep.

All things being equal I’d definately take both but the pony poo is available now, and more importantly – free!

Great point about the risk of Aminopyralid which I’d forgotten about. I assume the risk is low in this case as the ponys belong to a anthroposophic setup (which I perhaps mistakenly think of as “organic plus”). I will have to check up on the source of food and bedding for the ponys.

I suppose my main question was whether the compost produced from either the cow muck or the pony poo was better to use than the other. That might be something to do with your reference to beer which sadly now living on the continent I drink very little of – oh for a pint of Black Sheep in a Dales pub on a summer evening!!!

[compostpopeParticipant]

It sounds like a good setup Derek, have a good summer turning those heaps – good to know there is someone out there that shares my obsession!

CP

[compostpopeParticipant]

What depth of manure do you have?
Is it pure composted manure or a mixture of things?
What have you planted already?

CP

PS – Don’t panic, remember gardening is fun!

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks once again Derek, I feel more confidemt about composting pony poo.

I wonder whether your heap cooling in the non-grass cutting season is more to do with lower ambient temperature and/or less frequent turning than the lack of grass – the poo should have enough Nitrogen to heat the heap… Do you insulate your bins and turn regularly in the winter?

CP

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks Derek.

How hot does your compost heap (the first one in your reply) get?

CP

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks for your input Charles. It had’nt occured to me that I might be inadvertantly supporting the local slug population – though I had planned on mowing off the top of rye grass in spring and adding it to my compost heap, so there might be less on offer for them?

As you suggest I might do a bit of both, and additionally cover some with Phacelia rather than rye grass as the Phacelia will die down over winter leaving a clean surface on which to spread the compost….

[compostpopeParticipant]

Hi Richie

I would cover the manure on your new beds with black polythene – I think it will encourage worms to come up to the surface and break down the manure on the top to a finer tilth.

Good luck with it!

Compostpope

[compostpopeParticipant]

Hi Leif

Last yearI bought the Nutleys 12cm deep root trainers from Amazon and used them to grow some sweet peas. They survived their first year intact and I had no problems using them.

Does anyone have experience of using them for broad beans? Will they be deep enough?
What depth should they be sown in 12cm root trainers?

CP

(That’s 4 and a quarter inches…)

[compostpopeParticipant]

You could do both! – sow most outside and a few inside to plug the gaps in the outside rows where a few inevitably fail to show. It might also spread your cropping season.

[compostpopeParticipant]

Covering beds with black plastic to warm the soil prior to sowing was recomended by “Gardener’s Question Time” on Radio 4 within the last few years, though I have never tried it myself…..

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks for the replies.

I don’t have access to manure, hence the question about growing in partially broken down autumn leaves. One of my concerns is that it might attract slugs…

[compostpopeParticipant]

Finally I think I did it…

[Author]

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