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Didn't Monty make composting difficult!

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  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Definitely Autumn @AnniD otherwise there would be nowhere to put all the bits from the lovely harvest and subsequent clear up  :)
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I find that my own compost is fine for containers. I only use shop bought for seeds.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Thanks @ZeroZero1 and @herbaceous. Herbaceous , you make a good point about making room for more stuff, both my bins are full at the moment, so it may well have to be autumn this year ! Thanks again  :)
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    edited August 2018
    It does seem a bit pointless setting aside the space for compost all year if all you can use it for is a spring or autumn mulch.

    I’ve got a turf stack and got a leaf mould unit as well. Apparently these can be used for potting next spring.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If you've got loam from your turf stack and leaf mould, then combine it with your garden compost (home made) to make a potting medium (potting compost)
    as here  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/8565586/Monty-Dons-peat-free-compost.html

    That's what Monty's doing when he describes his mix every time he pots something up.   :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I don't just mulch with 'my' compost @Tin pot there's usually enough left over for topping up pots, planting stuff in autumn and so on. Enough gets made over winter to pot on in spring when necessary but never use it for seeds. Learned my lesson the year I had more tomato plants than beetroot in the tray  

    Wish I could make leaf mould, anyway generally reinforce 'my' stuff with a bit of BF&B and it seems to work. Still weeding tomatoes out of the onion patch though!
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    If you've got loam from your turf stack and leaf mould, then combine it with your garden compost (home made) to make a potting medium (potting compost)
    as here  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/8565586/Monty-Dons-peat-free-compost.html

    That's what Monty's doing when he describes his mix every time he pots something up.   :)
    Thanks - looks like it might be worth keeping going then :)
  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    Newbies FYI : The problem with using your own compost for seedlings is that even though it looks seedless, it isn't. When the seedlings come up you may get a lot of weeds too, in the mix. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    My garden group in Belgium had a wide variety of gardeners from a couple of experts with a hectare of land to 3 Asian ladies with smaller plots and a huge learning curve re plants and seasonal activities in Europe.  The couple with the huge plot make their own compost all year and use it in their veg plot as they know what's gone on it but they buy in a lorry load of council compost for their ornamental beds which include trees and shrubs, perennials and bulbs.  He spends December and January barrowing it around and then they go on hols before the garden really gets going.

    We were there for a visit one April to see the bulbs and spring blossoms and one Asian lady who had yet to grasp the late autumn mulching principle asked how he managed to get all the compost so neatly round every bulb shoot and all the spring flowers..........


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Yes, thank you @ZeroZero1 wish you told me that several years ago    
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
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