Topic: compost from scratch

[Hugh_Jones]

Did someone mention Runner Bean trenches?  One of my favourite subjects.  Two spits deep at least - mine was dug out to 3 feet.  Runner beans absolutely love things like half-rotted weeds, newspaper, cardboard, old wool flock mattresses, old woolly jumpers etc. (wool provides a slow but very long term supply of nitrogen in the soil as it breaks down).  Prepare your trench now, mixing in all the above stuff into the soil, adding generous handfuls of bone meal as you go (up to 6ozs per sq. yd in total).  Do this to about 6 inches below surface level, then mix your well rotted compost into the last 6 inches.  Then leave the trench to mature until sowing or planting out time.

Runner beans also love manure, but too much of it makes the beans all twisty and bent - they`ll never win at the local show and they take much longer to slice up.

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Ummm...Hugh...ummm...what's the depth of a spit please?   I'm guessing one spit is a spade depth.   If so, I've got problems in that just over a spade depth, and I'm into very heavy "white" clay.   Do you have any advice for that situation please.

[Ceri]

Always assumed myself its a spade's depth - but.... I happen to have a spit which is a longer narrower shape than your usual spade.  It has a curved surface and tapers to a narrowish curved edge - its well over a foot long, so let's hope a spit is not a spit's length or we'll all be digging forever.  However, if you can get a spit they are great for deep excavating of horrid clay - we used ours in our very clay garden when digging out for a stone pathway - having permanently bent two really strongly made spades!

[Hyacinth]

Hey, Ceri, that's interesting. Didn't know that such a tool existed. Is it very old or recently bought?

Colin, I meant to the depth of 2 spades and I battled the clay too. Couldn't do it now, but it was worth it. Never needs doing again..buy in the Radox and do a bit at a time. Wish I'd known there was a 'spit' tool when I did mine. Cheers!

[Palustris]

The long narrow spade was originally designed for digging drainage ditches. They are still available from Farm supply outlets. We dug one up from the Wood at the bottom of the garden. One day I will fit a new shaft to it.

[Doris_Pinks]

Have spent the morning shredding paper, junk mails etc. ;D  I know shredded paper will go in the compost, (newspapers, plain paper) which is why I borrowed an electric shredder, and had great fun doing it, (Got a bin bag full!)  but the question to you all is, can the glossy paper go in? Will it break down ??? Have to say a great way to get rid of all that wretched rubbish I get through the door daily! (Also sister had £600 charged to her credit card by someone so getting rid of all stuff with name address on etc!)
Dotty P.

[Ceri]

Hi, firstly, you can get them at B & Q etc., except they don't call them spits anymore, drainage spades or some such name.  

Secondly, made a couple of lovely (I hope) bean trenches this morning, layered newpaper, seaweed, veg peel and grass cuttings, all watered, covered in soil and stamped down - then got called to work - yaa boo sucks - on such a gorgeous day as well!

Ah well - am going with child and husband to pub for an hour - mainly to tire child out for an easy bedtime!  See you all later

[Palustris]

Shredded glossy paper will break down, just more slowly than say newspaper. However highly coloured printed paper may contain heavy metals as part of the coloured inks. Take care.

[Hugh_Jones]

A reply to Colin......

I`m afraid I`d gone to bed before your query, and I`ve been busy outside all day. Hence the late response.

A lot depends on the pH of your white clay.  Although most clays are acid, some white clays are strongly alkaline, so do a pH test on the clay itself (not your top soil).

Whatever the result, you have to dig out a trench down to clay level - take all the topsoil out completely and stack it on the side. Then you need to break up the clay with a fork, at the same time mixing in all the materials I mentioned before, the heavier the clay the more stuff you need to mix in - newspapers particularly (don`t bother to seperate them, dig them in whole), bvut avoid the colour supplements as they take years to break down in the soil.  The thick layers of newspaper, even before they break down, will provide channels for the bean roots to go down which they wouldn

[Hugh_Jones]

Sorry Colin, for some reason the board decided to post in mid sentence.  Contd.....wouldn`t otherwise have, and as they break down to a rich `chocolate cake` like residue they will keep the clay open.

The point of the pH test is that if your clay is at all acid, as you break up the clay you can add Calcium Sulphate (gypsum) to it at the same time at the rate of a good 8 ozs to the sq. yd which will increase the colloidal properties of the clay, but will not quarrel with any of the other stuff.

If your clay is neutral, use only half the rate of gypsum, but if your clay is alkaline don`t use it at all because although runner beans like a certain amount of lime, adding gypsum to an already alkaline soil may take the pH level beyond their normal tolerance.

With clay subsoil like yours I would definitely try and get hold of an old wool flock mattress and dig the contents into the clay. Because it breaks down so slowly it will cause a `honeycomb` effect of little blobs of compost remaining in the clay for years, increase the level of colloids, and provide slow release of nitrogen which will help to maintain the colloidal effect.

[Doris_Pinks]

Thanks Eric, will keep them to a minimum, best idea I think to put them in the council recyling and let them deal with it! I shall just stick to the "normal" stuff! :)
Dotty P.

[kenkew]

I keep getting error 'Please register' over and over although I have done! So this is really a test posting. I started a new plot last year, 200 sq metres. Had one seasons growth out of part of it and intend to open up more ground for next year. I have 4 compost bins of which 3 are full. I have just taken down a row of climbing runner beans, they make an excellent base additive for a compost heap. (If this post works I may be back!)

[summergirl]

Getting to grips with what I need to be thinging about.  I have a garden compost but will be planning on having a lottie one (or 2)
 as well.
I think I can put weeds in.  Is this right?  Seems a bit odd to me, do they really break right down?
Also, someone once told me that you shouldn't put potato peelings in a compost as it steals nutrients from the other composting materials.  Has anyone else heard this?  Do you believe this?
Still waiting to go and pick my site - can't wait!
Thx  SG

[aquilegia]

Summergirl - you can put most weeds on, but not roots of periennial weeds, or weeds with seed heads or flowers on. (although some people do put these on anyway). certain weeds such as cooch grass should not be put on at all.

I put all my weeds into a rubbish bin and when it's full I top it up with water and leave for three months. Then put the solids on the compost and the liquid can be used as a liquid feed. Bob Flowerdew recommends this method.

[summergirl]

Thanks Ceri - I think I'll give that a go. 
SG

[summergirl]

Compost is my topic of the day, so another question if you'll bear with me.
I use a wood based cat litter - can i add this to my compost (not the poo).
Hadn't even thought about until I read about pet bedding.
Thx

[oubykh]

Okay, nothing to do with compost...

but has anyone else noticed that all the posts before today say at the bottom 'edited jan 1. 1970'  !!!!
not quite sure the internet was going then let alone this website!!!

[abarton6]

I was wondering the same thing - is there a risk of disease ??

Alison B

Compost is my topic of the day, so another question if you'll bear with me.
I use a wood based cat litter - can i add this to my compost (not the poo).
Hadn't even thought about until I read about pet bedding.
Thx

[john_miller]

Wood, neat or 'processed', is mostly composed of carbon. Carbon is not a nutrient for either plants, bacteria or fungi and may actually tie up nutrients as organisms processing it use them. Adding too much to compost may impede it's decomposition.
Cat feces can pass on both parasitic nematodes and toxoplasmosis. Humans can become infected by both. The symptoms are minor, but irritating, except in those with compromised immune systems and pregnant women where major health problems can occur.

[supersprout]

Thanks so much for the star tip about coffee grounds  :)  :)  :)
I have just collected my first bag of mixed coffee grounds and biodegradable paper from the Starbucks next door ;D and they are delighted it's going to be put to good use! A real win win. The amount they have is surprisingly small, so I have asked to pick up the entire week's output every Saturday afternoon.  :P
Lots of peeps recommend as an anti-slug measure spread over beds, and I see from the threads they will be good filler for the compost heap too.
Is there anything I should watch out for  ::) if my compost or beds are receiving a high proportion of coffee grounds, like acidity?  Are there any veg you know that wouldn't appreciate the bounty from the Guilty Bean? ???