[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks diggernotdreamer, I already use my own “personal activator” and all my kitchen kitchen and garden waste in the compost heap with the municipal shreddings and don’t know of any pets willing to donate their beds.

The only thing you’ve suggested that I’m not using large amounts of is grass mowings (these I spread around the fruit bushes as a mulch). Do you think a mix of just grass mowings and shreddings (plus personal activator) would make a good compost to spread on my beds??

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks for your detailed reply this morning – I missed it whilst submitting responses to Charles and Ros. You are right – it does take a bit of getting used to but the effort is well worth it.

Your response contained lots of really valuable information – particularly good was reading which green manure crops you’ve found work and your estimates regarding space devoted to them. I wonder if you could clear up a few things for me?

I’ve looked in an old HDRA catalogue for rye seeds – do you use “Hungarian grazing rye” or “annual ryegrass”?
If you are not digging in the roots of the rye grass and the alfalfa do you simply cut the stems off at ground level and let them die off or pull them out or smother them with another layer of compost?
If you cut the alfalfa twice – when do you do this?

Thanks again

Compostpope

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks for the reply Ros

I have collected leaves in the past and agree with you about the improvement in soil structure, but I found that you do have to collect a lot and I don’t have enough space to store the volumes needed to make enough to cover all my beds….

Compostpope

[compostpopeParticipant]

Thanks for the reply Charles.

I’ve been reading through your wonderful website a bit more and I see that on weed-free ground a layer of 6 inches of compost is not necessary. I appreciate your comment about the probable lack of organic matter in my soil – sadly the previous allotment holder was famous not for his use of compost but for his heavy use of artificial fertilisers and herbicides (hence the lack of weeds!).

I will concentrate what compost I have by spreading it on in 3 inch layers on as many beds as it will run to this year, then replenish these beds next year with a layer 1 inch thick whilst I put thicker layer on the beds that received none this time. I hope the thicker layers of compost applied now will mean that I have a soft enough layer for planting in the spring so that I won’t have to resort to any more fork-waggling!

The council here supply shredded and partly-composted organic material for free. It’s coarse, brown, full of short bits of chipped twigs and not at all like the fine, soil-like produce of municipal composting that I used to get back in the uk. It’s meant for adding structure and volume to the compost heap and it makes very good compost very quickly. I don’t think it would be suitable for putting direct onto my vegetable beds as I dont think it will break down enough and I doubt it has much nutrient value as it is. I can get unlimited amounts of this stuff for free, so if anyone has ideas about obtaining greenstuff to put with it in the compost heap I would be interested to hear from them – I’m considering growing green manure crops for adding to the compost heap – is this a good idea? which green manure crop would be best for this?

Thanks once again,

Compostpope

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