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They also said the other week that blighted foliage should be binned instead of composting it. What rubbish.
Runner beans are perennials so wouldn’t be a problem staying in the same bed. You could cut them back to ground level and protect from frost and they will grow again the following year. A lot of rubbish is talked about compost making and as once been a compost advisor I find it annoying. Most diseased material will break down in a compost heap as it becomes food for other bacteria, Heat is only needed to break down seeds.
Hi Don
I prick mine out, 3to5 into 9cm pots and grow them on. This is the size of bulb planters, so when I plant out I use a bub planter and drop the contents into the hole.Hi Rhys
when you add grass clippings to a heap of manure you are adding more nitrogen to the heap. In so doing you are unbalancing the carbon nitrogen ratio in favour of nitrogen. By adding cardboard it increases the carbon content which needs to be significantly higher than nitrogen. This is one of the main faults in compost making, most people add too much nitrogenous material.Hi Don
If you made without using water by compression then it is ok to useYears ago the HDRA brought out a book on bed gardening. It gives the spacing and layout for planting the different veg. I just use the in row spacing.
Hi If you made the comfrey tea by pressing it will keep a long time, but if you made by soaking in water it won’t keep.
When you harvest potatoes and parsnip you are only loosening the soil not turning it over as you would when digging in a green manure. Using no dig I have never had to dig my spuds out. The potatoes are laid on compost and then mulched throughout the season as needed.
Don
don’t forget that we are a no dig group. So growing a green manure and adding to compost heap is better than digging it in. Normally green manure is grown on land that is not in use for the time being and would be bare soil which is not what you want.These are not a new tool. They have been around for many years and I started using them over 25 years ago. They have a lot of advantages over plug trays. Even before the blocker came out growers used to cut grass sods into squares, turn them over and sow and plant into them.
Hi Martin
They are a very good way to grow seedlings. There are plenty of videos on you tube to show how to use them. Eliot Coleman is a big advocate of them. http://soilblockers.com/ this is the site of the manufacturers of the soil blockersRemember that when farmers plant their potatoes, they hill them up straight away, no waiting for the haulms to come through.
Mine haven’t set yet either. It’s still a bit early so I’m not worried.
I sow 5 peas in a 9cm pot then plant out at 6inch intervals.
It’s always been advised to build a compost heap with a minimum size of 1 metre by 1 metre. This helps to retain heat better.