[WelliesParticipant]

That is exactly the case. My wife, Ruth, told me not to because her mum was told by her gardening friend that it wasn’t a good idea.

I shall combine two heaps that have shrunk but not ready to turn and start another heap tomorrow.

[WelliesParticipant]

Good information.

[WelliesParticipant]

IGNORE MY PREVIOUS COMMENT!!
My thought until today was to get woodchip to decompose quickly I was dragging a lump of dead rotting wood from the hedge and blitzing it through our wood chipper.
I have now found honey fungus here and that has thrown up alsorts of questions.

My thought now is only ever chip good healthy wood and leave anything that is dying or dead.

[WelliesParticipant]

Hi Charles / All,
A friend and i collected four builders bags full of leaves off a tree lined road near us. They are very full and stomped to squeeze as much in as possible and pretty heavy (I guess about 200kg each bag).
Can I just leave the leaves in these bags to make leaf mould? Can I just add a plastic or cardboard lid and leave them? We have swept up quite a few worms as we went along too so they have a worm population started.

[WelliesParticipant]

Thanks Charles.
I shall leave the ones that fall in the no dig beds in situ. I have loads of leaves to come from a local church and cemetery. I am still cutting grass from our blueberry area and orchard so have plenty of grass cuttings so will keep building up compost heaps as much as we can.

[WelliesParticipant]

I would love some alkaline compost. It might help with my very acidic soil.

[WelliesParticipant]

I forgot to say the soil and brambles are all stired up into a tangled heap that is difficult to pull apart. Pulling the brambles out might be the painful but best option. I was wondering if plonking the big heap in an area that will not be touched for a year and covered will result in composting of the brambles or propagation of loads of them?

[WelliesParticipant]

Hi Charles,
I have decided I will create the bed shape and path shape in soil and then cover as much of the area with plastic as I can.
In the early spring I shall drag the plastic along exposing the ends of several beds. I shall apply compost to the exposed ends of the beds and cardboard on the paths. Then plant in the beds. I shall slowly drag the plastic along as planting space is required and compost is made. I think if I expose, compost and cover about 1.5 metres per month I should get the whole area going within about 18 months.

I have a deal going with the local electrical store. On Fridays I go and collect their cardboard from mostly new upright fridges and freezers. We got a good load today. It is too wet to use now so i am storing it until the spring where it will be used on paths.

I have got a “new” mower for £30 off a friend. It mows wet grass very well so I have been grass mowing for compost today.

[WelliesParticipant]

Thanks for the reply.
I think I will raise the beds a little as I level the soil out. As much as anything it will make it so I put the rocks on the plastic where the paths will be and I only walk where the paths will go. It will also capture some of the rainwater if I do it along contour.

[WelliesParticipant]

Hi Ari,
I shall give them a go. I scoop up any muck each morning before I milk our cow. I shall try a fairly thick layer and see if it is enough to keep her from getting wet. She likes to do huge wees in the middle of her shelter so absorbancy is maybe an issue…. but if the rushes drain better than the straw maybe it might work out fine. I shall try it.

[WelliesParticipant]

Margaret. I think it is great that you are a complete beginner at 71.

[WelliesParticipant]

Cherry,
Those little fruit flies seem to like wet along with their fruit and veg so maybe things are a bit wet and maybe acidic with apples turning to cider turning to apple vinegar.
I don’t know the bags you mean. I would sprinkle the bags out onto my big heaps and disperse it with quite a bit of straw to get it drier and air into it.
If the fruit flies are living in it then it has nutrients and bacteria food worth saving.
My 2p worth

[WelliesParticipant]

You do get the garden waste from people like my mums partner. He loves to spray and spray the garden with every known weed, moss, mould, fungus, insect and bug killer, then mow and rake it all up and then take it to the council green waste pile.

That is why it isn’t getting added to my compost.

All those tubs, boxes and bottles of chemicals sold at garden centres and diy stores must end up somewhere.
The manufacturers say they break down and disperse but I am not convinced.

[WelliesParticipant]

I sort my prickly stuff into two piles when I am clearing areas.
One heap is brambles and pieces of thorn bushes (hawthorn, blackthorn etc) which are an odd shape so are awkward to feed into my big domestic wood chipper. This gets burnt and the ash and charcoal used.

The other pile is straighter branches of thorn trees and roses and the rest of the hedge branches. This all goes through the chipper, nasty thorns and all.
This goes in the compost or just as a mulch. The thorns are not a problem.

[WelliesParticipant]

I was wondering this too.
I would like to save the seed from our pumpkins and squash but was told that if I grew them together they would get cross pollinated and the saved seed wouldn’t grow true.

You could use hazel sticks for your supports. Find a farmer with a hedge like ours with hazel that was cut a couple of years ago and has now grown thick long stems. These work well, and then I fire them through the wood chipper when they get weak.

[Author]

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