Decreasing fertility of growing land

[Ricard with an H]

I feel guilt because I think its mean, I was allowed a few barrows full. Just enough to make me ask for more and was told they wanted to scatter it over the grass as fertiliser and they already said they don't agree with the use of fertiliser on their grass because it grows fast enough as it is.

They are taking the mickey ? Yes ?

I don't care.
I don't care.
I don't care.

[Pa Snip]

Stop getting worked up, its just a load of ****

Shame its going to waste but heyho, it's theirs to do with as they please I guess.

[Primrose]

When we moved into our first home the garden contained a rotting shed, behind which was the biggest compost heap I've ever seen reaching up almost to the eaves of the shed roof. We dug it out and dug it into all the borders. It must have raised the soil height everywhere by about ten inches but the following year I grew the best tomatoes and climbing beans I've produced in my entire vegetable growing life. The guy who sold us the property didn't have a clue about anything, especially the value of the stuff just lurking behind his shed. (He didn't have a clue about decorating either. He had stuck all his wallpaper on with woodworking glue !)

[Ricard with an H]

You 'sort-of' described the neighbor hanging on to the compost heap I described. They don't understand its value and I would gladly buy them a 25 kilo bag of fertiliser suitable for grasses in exchange for their compost heap. They don't do gardening, they tend an established garden they got when they bought the property, he cuts the grass of the lawns and she wanders round looking and poking a few weeds. A few times a year they pay someone to clear overgrowth of some of their lovely perennials and pull out weeds.

That's it, I think there should be a new law about harbouring useful compost, not using it and not allowing the neighbor who looks after your cat when you go away. Should I write to Theresa May ? Or does she have a minister responsible for composting ?

I almost forgot, the reason this compost is so good is that they have a lot of dead leaves to clear during autumn.

[Geoff]

Should I write to Theresa May ? Or does she have a minister responsible for composting ?

I think that would be David Davis who has been appointed to the new cabinet position of secretary of state for exiting the European Union - or "Brexit secretary"

[Elaine]

I think they're stingy.....

Our plot neighbours had huge compost bins full of good stuff. (we thought)
About two years after we took our plot, having used our supply from the previous year, we were chuffed when our neighbours said we could use as much of their compost as we wanted. We duly had about 16 barrow loads and applied it to a couple of beds...some dug in while double digging, and some laid on top over winter for the worms to deal with. We rubbed our hands with glee.

However, the following spring we had an amazing crop of thistle,dandelion, goosefoot and other stuff. We couldn't believe it! It took us ages to weed all that lot, before we could plant our crops.
We watched with horror, as they pulled out weeds and tossed all the seeding weeds right into their compost bin....another bed, they didn't bother weeding, just got the rotavator out and dug it all in. A few weeks down the line, they were moaning about all the weeds they had amongst their brassicas....
Talk about a scotch prize....we didn't take them up on their kind offer to use their compost any time we liked, ever again!

[Ricard with an H]

Yes Elaine, stingy is a good description.

I always-always-always nurture my neighbours though it doesn't always work and I end up shooting myself in the foot, neighbours is a massive subject. Another neighbour who was part of a local action group against wind turbines was miffed when I explained as gently as possible that I wasn't quite sure where I stood on the issue and would like to take a back-seat. She added my name and address to the list of complainers so I ended up being named as a complainer. I don't respond well to being instructed, I'm fairly bright and am able to represent myself I'm most situations. Some people don't like that.

Back to fertility, presumably none of us get enough composted material. At the very least most of us don't get enough. My best move when I started kitchen gardening was to create the comfrey patch and to grow borage in all places where it taking over doesn't matter. The borage farming is only in its second season, next spring I will sow the saved seeds onto a wildflower patch though the borage leaves don't grow fat and green unless it's fed which of-course invites other invasive plants though my test bed showed lots of flowers and the invasive weeds struggling.

If you can grow enough borage and comfrey to keep adding it to the compost heap it helps everything rot down much more quickly but it does take up a lot of space if you grow it for that purpose.

Where my last two dales-type compost bins stood I raked up the earth and scattered a few saved flower seeds, Wowee. What a result, trifids. The earth in this position is mostly sub-soil disturbed when the developers of what was a farm robbed all the top-soil, just shows that there is always hope.

[Westi]

I have two pallet compost bins, one being filled & the other resting / finished. Both have been encroached by naughty weeds as they are in a corner of the plot, the front compost by the neighbours overgrown weeds that seeded & the back one by the stuff in the hedge row.

My question is how can I use this safely without introducing the weeds? If I just put it down under the black plastic they will just sit dormant & rampage in the Spring when uncovered. I was thinking of taking a barrow full & blow torching it but will be a long winded exercise. I know about peeling off the plastic & waiting until the weeds come up then re-covering, but tried this & still got overwhelmed by weeds when taken off again, although the first weed seedlings had died. I know both bins are fertile - full of nettles & a massive flying ants nest in the back one turning over the soil for me.

Any ideas? Westi.

[robo]

Westi, the old way I believe was a sheet of metal over a fire throw the compost on the metal and leave to simmer

[Westi]

Thank you Robo,

That will make it easier to do more at a time & I have the equipment to do that. Would be a shame to just leave it.

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

I tried a version of this Robo, in two places alongside each other I lit a bonfire of carefully chosen dry material so the fire would burn hot. The idea was that the underlying seed bank would be burned or at least the viability disturbed. It didn't work, I hacked up the first few inches of soil to form a seed bed and to mix the ashes into the soil.

The seeds that I sowed were mostly annuals and described as wildflower, the only seedlings that grew into plants on one test bed were red campion and others that are prolific here. The other bed had borage sown and that did grow along with other weeds that survived the fire.

I know I'm repeating this story but you may have missed it.

[Westi]

Hi Richard

I think it only works when you place metal over the top of your fire and put the soil on that. Soil BBQ really!

Westi