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I'm really struggling to find a decent peat-free compost. I know the "compost" sold by the DIY stores is absolute rubbish. We don't have any proper garden centres near us. So I'm looking for a reliable brand I can buy online for delivery.
I don't think anyone said that using peat will ruin the earth - it's a straw man argument.
A Victorian 'recipe' for seedling and young plant compost is sieved garden soil mixed with well rotted leaf mold. Mole hill soil would do the trick mixed with leaf mold. The leaf mold has good water holding qualities akin to peat.
If you have an Aldi supermarket near you then I can thoroughly recommend their normal compost and their peat free compost. The former is like black silk to the touch and the latter is probably the best peat free I have found.I think it was something like £1.99 for 40litre bags, I can get 10 bags in an Aldi trolley!
Even the best non peat compost is inferior in my opinion (not just Aldi's) and I'll never use it again - regardless of who sells it.
The question asked was which peat free compost one used and a good source to buy it online.That is what I answered, any discussion of the rights and wrongs of using peat are irrelevant to the original question.
I use New Horizon and Vital Earth but this year have been making my own in preparation for next spring. My first hot composting batch consisted of cardboard and shredded paper, with dock stems and loads of weeds; and we sieved it and started using it 31 days later. If you really want a true peat free compost and cheap; make your own. Pile all your weedings and choppings from this autumn and winter with cardboard and shredded paper, into piles and turn them every week. By spring you will have not only peat free compost, but free peat free compost.
sorry to have sparked a row!
Quote from: aquilegia on September 12, 2013, 11:46:48sorry to have sparked a row! A bit of debate is always a good thing if people are polite (which they are here!) - indeed it can be very useful at times.