Posts Tagged ‘compost’

Horaah! My brown bin has arrived!

Thursday, July 16th, 2009
brown compost bin for roadside collection and recycling

brown compost bin for roadside collection and recycling

I’ve been waiting years for East Riding of Yorkshire Council to include us in the roadside composting scheme, and today my brown bin has finally arrived. I do already compost at home, and have 1000l compost bins, but I don’t have a shredder to shred the hedge clippings to include in my compost bins, so I have to drive to the local recycling depot and deposit in the green compost bins, it just makes a mess of our new car, and with 300-400 foot of hedge, which consists of hawthorn, blackthorn, bramble, elder and privet there are alot of hedge clippings.

Thank you East Riding of Yorkshire Council, this is part of their Target 45+ recycling scheme. See here

I’m so excited, I’ll go and cut the hedge now, and fill up my brown bin for the first roadside collection. (yes, I don’t get much excitement in my life!)

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Cheap Multi-purpose compost

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

When you use as much compost as I do, (I’ve already used 500 litres of homemade from the compost heap and now it’s empty) it’s always nice to be able to find a cheap bulk supply of multi-purpose compost. I’ve been visting the local independant garden centres, chains and DIY stores, the best deal around seem to be 3 (three) 75 litres bags for £12, of one brand of the other. I then  notice this offer from Wickes, 4 (four) 75 litres bags for £11.74 (which makes me think, I think the garden centres are ripping us off, because the bags would have been marked up with £12 before the VAT cut to 15%!. So four bags were dumped into the back of the car. I thought it was a good deal anyway.

Wickes Multi-Purpose Compost

Wickes Multi-Purpose Compost

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Slugs the size of pigs!

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

I suppose there a bit like Marmite, not that I ever eaten a slug! You either love them or hate them. These are the size of pigs, I found them hanging around my rootrainers , whilst I was sorting out my flowering plants for the borders. I grow most of my plants exclusively in rootrainers. This year I’ve had very poor germination from Nasturtium majus Milkmaid, the Nasturtium majus Black Velvet I’ve planted I’ve had 100% germinate, but the  Nasturtium majus Milkmaid have been very poor, I think I would be lucky if I’ve got 32 plants out  of 256 seeds planted. I thought it could be because I’ve switched from a peat based seed compost, to non-peat based, to save the peat bogs, but then the Nasturtium majus Black Velvet have been planted in the same conditions. So my mix of black and white plants my struggle again this year in the border, last year Nasturtium majus Milkmaid germinated but turned out to be red and orange Nasturtium majus. I may report the batch numbers to the commercial grower, just to check they’ve not had a major failure!

Tiger or Leopard spotted slugs (Limax maximus)

Tiger or Leopard spotted slugs (Limax maximus)

 I did think it could be these slugs I found…Slugs the size of pigs!

Tiger or Leopard spotted slug (Limax maximus)

Tiger or Leopard spotted slug (Limax maximus)

but I found no seed stalks, where they’d been eaten, and I’ve just not seen any seeds germinate.

Tiger or Leopard spotted slug (Limax maximus)

Tiger or Leopard spotted slug (Limax maximus)

I quite enjoyed photographing and watching these slugs, that I didn’t have the heart to murder them! I’ll probably regret it, as they’ll be back eating me vegetables. So I left them out for the birds!

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Compost frame (After)

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

(sorry folks got distracted, the Chairperson of the newly formed Allotment Association came to collect some of my Tomatoe plants!)

After some cutting with the jigsaw, hammering of nails, and stapling here we have the new lid.

Compost Lid

Compost Lid

 

it sits on top of the composter

Composter

Composter

 

I’ve recently dug out over 500 litres of organic compost, which has been used in the garden. Here’s a picture of compost corner.

 

Compost Corner

Compost Corner

Two plastic composters made from recycled plastic, and a 1m x 1m square wooden composter, the wood has started to rot, so this will need replacing in the next year or so.

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Compost frame (Before)

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Compost Frame with Angus No.1

Compost Frame with Angus No.1

This is a little job, I’ve been meaning to do for a while. The lid on my composter broke a year ago, the cooking apples on the tree above the composter, fell and broke the black pvc on the compost lid. The result of this was the compost has been getting too wet and too dry. So armed with a Black and Decker jigsaw, hammer, staple-gun and nails time to fix.

Compost Frame with Angus No.2

Compost Frame with Angus No.2

Compost Frame with Angus No.3

Compost Frame with Angus No.3

Oh, and Angus (the ginger cat in frame!), decided he was going to help as well! In the background is an old whiteboard, I no longer use, that I’m going to recycle to nail to the lid, so the apples don’t break the black PVC when it ages!

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First Earlies

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

I’ve planted out my First Early potatoes today in exhibitor bags, and dug out over 216 litres of organic compost from the compost heap to fill the bags. I’m a little tired!

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