Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Grumpy Git on February 17, 2005, 11:08:05
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Can I put any waste veg/fruit/food stuff on the heap? or should I avoid things such as Truffles???
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Send me the truffles - in whatever condition!!
Get your local council leaflet - helpful & not nationwide.
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Rum truffles? ;D
Almost everything goes into my heaps except meat, fish, bread and pastics/man made fibres. Paper goes in, card if thin and well wetted, all veggie waste, all garden waste, hair clippings, tea and coffee grouts, egg shells, sea shells (altho they really don't like to rot down!) and the contents of mine and Ava's bladder when nature calls and we are at the allotment. ;D
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i've started putting the fluff from the tumble dryer filter in my compost, plus the excess fur from my long furred cat once brushed! also toying with the idea of the contents of the vaccuum, but not sure about this, as it ends of with a lot of coal dust from the fire. ???
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I throw on anything as long as it will not attract rats or foxes, so anything meaty or artificially processed (like sweets) is out.
Certain fungi will help decomposition, although the wrong sorts will create further problems if the heap cannot get hot enough.
Loz
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I avoid putting on capsicum seeds as they don't decompose, also potatoes as they start growing! These might be OK on a very hot heap but not a cold heap like mine. Coal dust is a bad idea since it contains excessive amounts of sulphur.
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What about cooked vegatable food scraps from your plate that may contain gravey etc. ???
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I don't put out any cooked food or meat in case it encourages rats.
Also I don't put any citrus on it as I read that the the acids are bad for the micro-organisms which break it all down, and this slows down the composting process.
Did also hear that any food containing yeast is a no-no but I can't remember why. That all goes on the bird table anyway.
However, everyone seems to have their own ideas about what should or shouldn't go on the heap. I suppose it makes a difference how hot your heap gets, but my little heap is cool, so I tend to err on the side of caution. But really I suppose that as long as it's biodegradeable, it'll all rot down eventually.
EJ - never thought of tumble dryer fluff before. Can I also put on Mr Dumpling's belly button fluff? It looks the same. ;D ;D
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Have to say I'ver heard the exact opposite about yeast -so the lees from the winemaking go straight on.
Jeremy
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Some very interesting things there to add. :)
Started off now with an old Rain Butt. ::)
Bottem contains Old Leaves then damp Newpaper
now building up with old Veggie peelings.
What else is good.....Egg Shells Cardboard Thin
Tumbledyrer Wool Fluff. ???
Greetings Take Care Tulip-23 Mike.
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Do you guys put paper/cardboard with coloured ink on - I've often wondered how toxic the inks are...??
Also I can get access to as much bracken as I can be bothered to cut: is it worth the trouble?
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like Emma Jane I put everything on my heap, all veg waste (don't have meat as I'm a veggie) all stuff from garden and lottie, leaves (large quantities go for leaf mould instead ), contents of bladder when on lottie, cat hair, nail clippings, tea bags.....only things I don't put on are couch grass.....(although I'm convinced it will get there on its own! ), and bindweed as I think it would grow and take over.....I collect all my kitchen waste...but not cooked food..and take it when I go to my allotment
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Yes to all that & more - but, as I mentioned, it's not so much what you choose to put on but, rather, if you have a conscience, what the Council ask you not to put on.
What decomposes well is a different matter, & is much to do with common sense & how you manage the heap.
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so on a similar theme - what can we do with the growing couch grass pile as we clear our plot?
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so on a similar theme - what can we do with the growing couch grass pile as we clear our plot?
Make a deep pile of it, cover with some other material to a depth of about 8 to 12 inches and then cover the lot with plastic, either clear or black.
Couch hates to be burried and will die off if it is. The heat generated by being covered in plastic will also help speed things up a bit.
Jerry
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Try visiting http://www.hdra.org.uk/organicgardening/gh_comp.htm for full advice on composting
(A google search seems to answer many of the basic questions raised on this board)
Phil
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Jerry's solution to the couch grass problem sounds a bit strenuous.
Just putting it into black plastic bags for 6 weeks will cause it to turn into a black guey mess that can then be put on the compost heap with no loss of nutrients.
Phil
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Jerry's solution to the couch grass problem sounds a bit strenuous.
Phil
I can understand what you mean Phil but it works well for me. As I dug out couch on my new allotment last spring it went into a barrow and then tipped in a corner. This was a mix of rhizome and soil. Covered it with soil and annual weeds and left it over winter.
I have now taken the cover off and it has all broken down nicely. Some of this has been spread back on the beds the rest will left in a pile, some well rotted FYM mixed in and a couple of pumpkins planted into it.
Jerry
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Google, Phil? Indeed, but not so much fun!
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Tim,
Agreed, but where a request for information that requires a page or too for a full answer, a quick Google followed by requests to the board for points of clarification or personal experience (esp yours!!!! grovle, grovle) will probably give the questioner and fuller answer.
Phil
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OK, so think some of the pile will just cover, rest of the pile (we have A LOT) will cover with manure now, then plastic, then plant pumpkins through the plastic.
Its basically all the clearing from out plot, I reckon it's 80% couch covered (eek) So we have heaps of rhizomes, leaves and soil.Thanks!
And I agree goggle isn't as much fun :) But also agree broad questions are difficult to answer without typing an essay.
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One of the many books I have said that you can put vegetable oils (deep frying) in the compost. Then, there are erm.. other sorts of compost that I don't fancy putting on the edible produce beds but the Centre for Alternative Technology put on their flower beds.
I did find a website that had something good to say about couch grass - rhizome tea or something like that for fungal diseases....
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s the reason cooked food can't go on just because of rats ?
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question regarding seeds:
have been having quite a few squashes over the last couple of weeks. and put everything on the compost heap (which is cold). will the seeds rot, or sprout? or will they sprout then die off when realising there is no light? also, other seeds (peppers, fruit etc)
i am using one of those bottomless 'bins' - black with a concealed air vent in the lid.
thanks
svea
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It's too cold for squashes to germinate at the moment so they will rot
Phil
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But if like me you will still be working your way through your squashes as spring presses on, I reakon they will sprout. I have had stray pumpkin plants grow in my compost heap in my garden but usually that is late summer when I have started using the fresh squash, so of course, they don't come to anything.
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I have just inherited a second lottie which is full of couch grass....I am busy digging it up.....can I cover it in ordinary grass clippings (I have a friend who has a seemingly endless supply) and then cover it with plastic, or I have lots of spent hpos ,will they do?
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I've had several squshes sprout in my compost heap and some in vegetable beds after spreading the compost. They germinate when it's warm enough for them. Ones in the compost heap were very pale and leggy.
I've also had a few tomato plants germinate in my flower beds!
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Tomatoes in flowerbeds - tomatoes have pretty yellow flowers. How about lettuce in the lawn (this was 15 years ago, but we didn't let them grow to full size, perhaps i was too busy playing badminton with my brother and the goldfish (don't ask!!!))
spent hops - oooo now I think there is something about that in a number of organic gardening books as a fertiliser...
Citrus peel is ok on the compost heap, but not too much.
Pauline Pears compost book (HDRA thingy) says you can compost farmyard manure, stable manure and bedding, pet manure and bedding, coffee grounds, veg peelins and kitchen scraps (including food leftovers - best to avoid meat and fish as can attract undesirables), fruit skins, dead flowers, citrus peel, veg scraps and crop residues, spent tea bags (I sometimes use leaf tea!), nettles, grass mowings, weeds, torn paper and cardboard, conifer clippings, wood ash, natural fibre fabrics, decidious hedge clippings, eggshells. Use only manures from vegetarian pets, such as rabbits and guinea pigs. Regarding urine (wonderful source of nitrogen and potassium)- too much on the compost heap can raise salt levels and inhibit worms.
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Multiveg ;)
THanks More information
for my Computer Gardening Diary 8)
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The HDRA has a "How to compost" page at http://www.hdra.org.uk/organicgardening/compost_pf.htm with all the items that MV listed plus more and information on on building hot or cool heaps, hints and tips and frequently asked questions
Phil
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A while back I shoved 2 large bags of pigeon poo on the heap. I was worried it might go rancid - so have been mixing it regularly with kitchen waste.
But it has started to smell of ammonia. Would mixing in straw help?
Thanks,
Sarah.
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Pigeon (and all bird) muck is a very good accelerator, being a concentrated source of nitrogen - which when too concentrated escapes as ammonia.
Mix the droppings in well with the other compost ingredients, cover to keep in the heat and keep out the wet, and it should result in rapid composting (even at this time of year)
If it's still smelling of ammonia then add something with a high carbon content such as copped straw (which will need wetting) or torn up cardboard or the remnants of the herbaceous plant foliage and mix well
Phil
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I have an unlimited supply of pigeon manure but it has lots of seeds in it. How can I deal with this as I believe a certain illegal substance can be lurking in there, and I don't want kicking of my plot for growing pot?
Rosemary ;)
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By illegal substances I take it you mean hemp? If so it is not used so much in the feeding of pigeons as it tends to send them a bit wappy in my experience. Also they cannot fly in straight lines!! ;D
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Hemp is put in cockatiel food which is why mine used to hang upside down whistling "down the dustpipe" (Status Quo) ;D ;D
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What is wrong with this website when a girl can't type cockatiel? It comes up as thingytiel.
It doesn't exactly scan now does it? Tt. I'll have another go. .......
c o c k a t i e l. Let's see if this works ... ;D
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ha ha. Yes it did. I typed the offending word with spaces in between to kid the offending words checker thingy ;D
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I can't believe any seed would survive the rancid conditions of my compost heap at the moment. Thanks for the advice about the heap - I'll definitely mix in some wet straw and cover it - hope that solves it.
sb
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Imix my pigeon poo with scrunched up newspaper and leaves and it seems to work well.
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A couple of thoughts unsaid so far?
I don't add any
- brassica roots (leaves and chopped stalks are fine, but not the roots, to control/prevent club-root)
- potatoes, their foliage and haulms
- and, if you've white rot, any onion family stuff? Guessing this one.
All best - Gavin
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Hdra's book seem to think that blighted potato foliage/haulms are ok, but not the tubers. However, in the compost displays at Ryton, there were potatoes growing...
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What about cooked veg? You know, the stuff that kids leave as it's yuk !!!
Surely I can chuck that on too.
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I do Grumpy, along with the fluff from my (new ;D) tumble dryer. I bung almost anything on, I do avoid meat for obvious reasons, but you know, I already have meeces living in the heap and they are there for the veggies and the warmth, I am sure if ratty and chums were hungry and cold, a veggie filled compost heap would seem like paradise!
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Re tumble drier fluff. I put it out for the birds to collect for nesting. I pop it into hollow bits in trees and things so it doesn't get wet. Aren't I considerate :)
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You are wardy! Very good idea!
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I would like to know why some advice about compost heaps say you should not put lawn cuttings on after using fertilizer and weed killer on the lawn. Other advice says it is O.K. if you leave it more than 6 months. Any ideas or info. please.
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Do you want weedkiller in your compost heap? Perhaps there would be traces on the lawn clippings... Am happy to have daisies in my lawn (and they are in flower now :) )
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I like daisies in my lawn and snowdrops and daffs, oh and crocus
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My heap is mostly dried out long grassy weeds, from when the plot was strimmed when I took it over. I have added some veg scraps from home, it is pretty low in green stuff. Have also put some paper, newspaper and cardboard on it. I know it's winter, but it's still pretty slow I think.
Last sunday, while I had some helpers, we picked a small shopping bag full of nettles to chuck on top, in the hope that it gets the heap going :) Have also put my name on a pile of grass clippings at my In-laws house, will get them down to the plot this weekend I hope.
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When can I shift my heap ? I also have mices and don't want to be responsible for evicting them and making their babies homeless. (despite the fact that they have decimated my seedlings in the past)
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If you're going to wait for the furry creatures to move from their nice warm dry bed then you'll have to wait a long long time!!!
Be hard hearted and do it now!
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I got a great big new compost bin from the council (£15) and when I'd got a big bloke to put it together I fiiled it with manure. I watched an allotment prog the other day and there were rotting manure down in small plastic bins and then making growbags and potting compost. So I thought I'd give it a go as I have masses of it. Hope it works
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;D Snap ;D I got one too! dunno how they work ::) do you have to stir them up every so often ??? Mine looks like a "Darlek" (remember them Dr Who) with a lift off door at the base :P ;D
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Roy The dalek like small ones heat up very fast in summer and you'll soon have some lovely compost. I stir mine regularly (well, I tell a lie) not very often ;D I've got quite a few of them now at various stages of development. Last year we had our lotty open day in early May and one of the allotment chaps had it filled up ready and he put quite a lot of grass clippings in it and it heated up like mad (even in May) and by open day it was steaming and he made a hollow in the top and invited folks to put their hand in to feel how hot it was. Folks were queuing up. Sad innit ;D
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Last year we had our lotty open day in early May and one of the allotment chaps had it filled up ready and he put quite a lot of grass clippings in it and it heated up like mad (even in May) and by open day it was steaming and he made a hollow in the top and invited folks to put their hand in to feel how hot it was. Folks were queuing up. Sad innit ;D
;D ;D ;D Thanks Wardy Tee hee I have this vision that reminded me of a vetenary sugeon aiding the birth of a calf :o ;D ;D ;D lol
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The best way to "stir"(except for the effort involved) is to lift off the Dalek and refill it from the contents, mixing them as you go, this introduces lots of air which is required during the hot phase, You can, to good effect repeat this as oftena s once a day. Once the hot phase is finished, leave it for the worms to complete the transformation
Phil
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If and when I'm feeling energetic I fork it out into the wheelbarrow, mix it up and chuck it back in. :)