Selfsufficientish.com

Hi there,
Congrats on your allotment - I've just got a much sought after allotment near my home too - Woo hoo

I've been saving 2 litre soft drinks bottles for closhes when I transplant my spinach and brocolli seedlings into my allotment in a while. It's overgrown and I'll only get a few bits in this year but found the idea for the closhes in the HDRA Encylopedia of Organic Gardening. I like the idea of reusing stuff.

Can't help much with compost heaps as we don't keep one due to rats and our poultry; although I black bag up the rakings from the run and leave it to rot down in the bags (not much help to you though, sorry )

I'm sure the only organic or weed killer free way to get rid of weeds is the back breaking kind

Best of luck with your new project.

Lynda

For compost try the local council who will sell you those Dalek type bins at reduced cost. I have one but could use another. They have a little door at the bottom to shovel out the goodstuff and are rat proof. All you have to remember is to keep stiring. As the bins have no bottoms lots of worms come up and do most of the work for you.

Lyds wrote:For compost try the local council who will sell you those Dalek type bins at reduced cost.

My local council supplies those - I got a small one from them about 9 months ago. I moved it to a different part of the garden a couple of weeks ago (just lifted it, and then scooped the contents into a barrow) which gave me a chance to turn it all over. But I was disappointed in how un-processed most of it was. I'm guessing that the bin is too small for any heat to build up. It's also small enough to make regular turning a problem.

It came with a kit of bits that included a bottle of compost accellerator, and a book that said don't bother with compost accellerators. However, having seen how slow it is, I might just give it a go.

My compost is in a smallish 'dalek'. It doesn't produce perfect compost but the results work well enough as a mulch. Once they've seasoned a bit on the surface, I'll then dig them into the next bit of ground I turn over (discarding any chunks that are too large).

I'd rather be getting beautiful, black, crumbly compost but you have to make do with what you've got! If I had more space, I could leave it for long enough to go further in it's metamorphosis but, having just the one bin, sometimes I have to be content with clearing some space for the next bit of garden or kitchen waste.

Wulf

Muddypause said:

It came with a kit of bits that included a bottle of compost accellerator, and a book that said don't bother with compost accellerators. However, having seen how slow it is, I might just give it a go.

Have found that the best accellerator is wee, dilute 1:4. According to my compost book (Composting for All by Nicky Scott £1.95) its the cheapest and best. Fresh seaweed is good but I also swear by fresh cut valarian which grows as a weed here in Devon. I pick bunches of the stuff from hedges and walls and make a complete layer a few inches thick.

I don't dilute wee, just bucket and chuck it!!! Guess it gets diluted anyway when we water (properly!) the compost. It's great having an outside loo - the potting shed and a bucket!!!