Topic: Our site getting into composting

[antipodes]

Last Saturday there was a visit by people from our site to another site where they are in full swing of composting and organic gardening. They got a talk on how the allotmenteers should ideally be gardening, in accordinace with our environmental charter (as we are dependant on council land, our association signed an eco-charter with the council). Unfortunately I couldn't go but I was rather pleased to hear that the message was exactly spot on regarding the way I (try to) garden. Basically they said:
What goes on the plot stays on the plot,
Everything should be composted (even noxious weeds which just need to rot before being added to compost),
Mulch and cover as much as possible to save water,
Even wood and hard stem waste should be chipped and used as mulch or composted.

So I feel rather vindicated!!! Now we must decide whether to force everyone to have a composter or to have a common composting area (but that means someone will have to organise it and that will be a pain).

unfortunately in France, green ideas seem quite behind, and recycling and composting is not yet the norm. I saw lots of plots with completely bare soil during the heat wave, baking in the sun and the person going down to water every day (water paid for by everyone)... I mulched and only watered a couple of times a week during the hot period.

How is composting perceived on your sites?

[Digeroo]

Quite a few people compost on our site.  The plastic daleks are available cheaply through local council.  Probably 50% of the plots have two per half plot.   But lots of people do not.  Many take their weeds home and put them in the recycling, burn them or chuck them in the hedges, (which is great because it feeds the nettles which end up in my nettle 'tea.')  I have two daleks per half plots, though one has leaves in it.

Very few people mulch, it might be only 2 out of 50.  Very few feed their soils, some source manure.  Only a few dug a trench for their beans'

I like the principle of what goes on the plot stays.  I add to that by trying to replace more than I remove, after all I do remove the crops. 

Wood is something of a problem.  Hard stems I just bury.  Even the sprout/corn stems disappear.  I planted some strawberries on top and there seem to really like it.

Just seen I can get two more bins for £20 (subsidised) which is great.  I will have two more.

I am not sure about common compost.   There will be differences about what goes in and who gets what comes out.  I am not sure you can force people to have a composter.   

I tend to 'feed' noxious weeds to my rhubarb.  I try to keep seed head out of the bins. Seeds of fat hen and cleavers (goosegrass) will survive composting.   

I never seem to have enough compost.   I also have a saying:  This years weeds are next years crops.

[Unwashed]

I have a feeling that communal composting would come within the purview of the Industrial Emissions Directive and whatever legislation incorporated that into French domestic law.  It doesn't mean it's impossible, but it does create some red tape that you might not want to tangle with.

I'd also be cautious about communal composting unless it was managed really well so that soil, other non-compostables, and toxic stuff didn't get into the compost, and also so that the heaps were turned effectively.  I've seen sour mounds of weed-infested clods posing as communal compost heaps and that's not helpful.

You also need to consider the fire risk with moderately sized heaps - I had a large pile of woodchip (7 tonnes) which was heating to runaway temperature and I've had to rake it out to calm it down - you wouldn't want a big heap to self-combust.

But I'm with you, composting is the natural answer for allotmenteers.  I scorch everything for a few days and that soon kicks the life out of the pernicious weeds, and I shake the soil off well so that the the vegetation can rot.

[Ellen K]

On our site, most plots have bins of some sort but less than half are in active use.

Weeds and their seeds as well as stuff like club root and blight are the usual reasons for non-use.

As I have zillions of weeds anyway, I dont bother too much about that but do leave out the worst seed heads and diseased plants.

But it's another thing on the plot that needs attention and as wee have a skip service (for now!!) I can understand why people don't do it.

[Mikeakabigman]

Almost everyone on our site has a compost heap of some sort.
This is the first season that I've been a plot holder(from early Jan), so had no compost to use for this summer, but one of the first things I did when developing my plot was to make a three bay set of compost bins.
They are made from recycled pallets, has a roof and is lined with old carpet, so I have complete control over the process.
I've already filled one with Rabbit hutch waste obtained from my daughter who keeps lots of Rabbits, this is rotting down nicely as I write.
The second bay is filling  rapidly with kitchen and plant waste. The third bay will be filled soon with Horse manure which I will get free from local stables.
I did have a trailer load of very well rotted horse manure delivered for a tenner but this went very quickly.
I should add my soil is on very heavy clay, only a foot below the surface it is totally solid, so I need as much humus as I can get.

[antipodes]

I love your bins Mike!
Unwashed, regarding rules, as this is provided with the council go-ahead, I can only imagine that it is legit :-) I add that teh council used to come and take away the "green" waste (loads of it!!!) but as they are no longer doing that, the waste must go somewhere. In our town now you cannot dispose of green waste so easily and must dump it at the dump.As most of us live in flats I can't think what will be done with it if it's not composted??  So when I say "force people to have a composter" it will be either that or they must dispose of it outside, themselves, and I can't imagine most will want to.

However the thought of diseased waste does concern me, perhaps we need to have a bin dedicated to that which we could leave an extra long time, or which would only get put on the flower beds around the site? I will bring that up.

Some woody bits are tricky, like tree/shrub trimmings and prunings from stuff like roses or berries, I am forever scratching myself of those which have failed to compost. Also I would love to have some chippy stuff as mulch!!! I agree that most actual veg stems, even cabbages, disappear if you chop them up.