There is an argument that if you mulch too soon, the nutrients are washed out of the soil
Yes. I don't know if it's true either, but I was pondering that re the timing question. We're getting bugger all rain so it's not a question at this point.
I've settled on Thompsons for March 5th.
I suspect this is going to be more complicated than I first envisioned. Ho hum. Let's hope it's not the day when all the rain arrives in north London. 🙄
I'm going to continue to pick collective brains here....
I haven't figured out how many tonnes to order yet or how many people will join, probably 15-20 neighbours. I'm wondering about how best to accurately divvy up the one tonne bags. Each dumpy equates to roughly 18 x 50 litre sacks. We could try to divvy by weight and find a scale. Or we use an empty 50 litre bag - fill and decant that into barrows. Each neighbour pays per bag or per kilo.
Some neighbours are getting their own dumpy bags in the same delivery, on the same lorry, dropped at their house.
I'm paying for everything up front (which is how our collective ordering works, and why it works); they pay me back; we split delivery costs. So I don't want to be slap dash about doling out soils - I will probably end up paying for any margins, I don't plan to do that. I don't want the thing to turn into a big head ache.
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I find it interesting that a ton of with Thompsons is £50 and a
ton of compost is £100 - fully double. (Yes, I know it's not
exactly a ton or exactly a cubic metre). I guess when you buy either in
bags from a nursery, the price differential is not so great, it seems.
But the processes behind the sale products are radically different.
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The definite upside is that it's made the group seriously consider their beds and their soils. It's prodded them to discover more about how they work. Over the two years of our group, lots of people have got serious about their gardening, now that they have support and excited green friends to jump around with.
I ended up using a lot more than I expected, spreading it around 2" thick on my beds. I had ordered 2 bulk bags (2 cubic metres - I guess maybe 2 tonnes), spent a week stressing that it was way too much, then used it all on just two-thirds of the area I had planned. I've just ordered a third one.
For what it's worth, I paid £85 per bulk bag, but that's with free delivery, from Gardenscape who are on the Kent/Sussex border. It's lovely stuff, seems well rotted (smells more earthy than pooey) and very little in the way of foreign objects in among it - just the odd pebble.
I suspect we all end up using way, way more compost and manure that we think we will; esp new growers who might think they need a few litres. Should I build in a "sigh" allowance to the order? Probably. 😆
I collected about 80 ex-compost bags last year from the locality, then gave them to a local allotment, who snapped them up. I'm kicking myself now, but they took up a lots of space. Ho hum.
I think you'll end up using a lot more than you all think too Fire. Well, I do anyway even if it's spread thinly. I have raised veg beds so it's more economical.
Do you have one of those big plastic trug things? You could use that to measure (or weigh if you have suitable scales) and then tip into people's own bags or barrows. If you knew or could work out its volume, that might help with the calculations too. Couldn't be done in advance though so you might have to get them to turn up at staggered times.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I think I'd be inclined to go by volume to avoid any potential issues (it might be wetter and heavier towards the bottom of the dumpy bag if they've been a while in transit and the top has dried out, for example).
I can't think of any ordinary domestic scales that you could stand a large bag or trug on and still see the reading. There are platform scales with the display on the end of a wire that vets use and old-fashioned doctor's balance scales with the scale on a tall post, but I imagine either would be expensive.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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For what it's worth, I paid £85 per bulk bag, but that's with free delivery, from Gardenscape who are on the Kent/Sussex border. It's lovely stuff, seems well rotted (smells more earthy than pooey) and very little in the way of foreign objects in among it - just the odd pebble.