There was a great lecture this evening by Fergus and he mentioned that they use wool as standard for but said not much on how. It would be interesting for him to do a whole session on the composting methods used a Dixter. He says they use a lot of locally available green waste. They used to use a lot of ex-mushroom compost but is no longer readily found close by. Wool is locally sourced and is cheap.
I personally add clothing to my compost bins, mostly wool and cotton, but on the whole I do it because I can, not for adding nutrients. I do sometimes get wool packaging. I have attempted to use these strips to insulate the compost bins from the outside - making a kind of jacket for the bins; but have not added much fleece to the inside.
We have sheep. We began with Soays which naturally moult, then added a couple of others. Our flock now is mostly mongrel, but has achieved a degree of uniformity. Most of them are brown or black, with a few white ones that we try to retain. The ones that moult shed their fleeces in dribs and drabs across the fields and those bits soon disappear. Those that don't moult are shorn and I use the fleece under the trees and round the currant bushes as mulch. The colour makes it almost invisible and it helps reduce some of the weeds.
I compost hair clippings and (lots of) cat hair, and also scraps of cotton fabric and old cotton clothes and rags that used to be towels etc. I cut off the seams and stitching because it's almost always polyester thread that doesn't rot down. I don't have wool clothing because it itches like crazy, even the very expensive stuff like merino and cashmere, and even through a layer of other clothing but if something came with wool as packaging, that would go in.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Many people on here champion Sylvagrow as one of the best bagged composts you can buy. This is fair enough, but not as satisfying or environmentally friendly as making your own of course. This raises the questions why is it so good and how do I make my own compost as good as Sylvagrow? Well some clues in this vid here:
Charles Dowding has done a lot on composts so read his books or watch his vids. He is continually trialling his own mixes V bought ones so plenty of pointers there.
Still lots of people think that throwing manure on their gardens is a good thing, this vid explains why it's not. Remember you are gardeners, not 1970s farmers:
I use fleece for mulching containers and in the compost heap. Recently noticed Sheep Wool Pots are being offered for sale - no size given so difficult to know whether they are for pricking out or the next stage. 20 pots for £16. Has anyone tried them ?
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This raises the questions why is it so good and how do I make my own compost as good as Sylvagrow? Well some clues in this vid here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=073K-DwH5k8
Charles Dowding has done a lot on composts so read his books or watch his vids. He is continually trialling his own mixes V bought ones so plenty of pointers there.
Still lots of people think that throwing manure on their gardens is a good thing, this vid explains why it's not. Remember you are gardeners, not 1970s farmers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rkhpuHFgQg
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Has anyone tried them ?