Monday 19 September 2016

Composting Brainwave

 
 
I had a bit of a brainwave a couple of weeks back. 
 
 I was busy weeding in the veggie patch when I sat up to straighten my back and have a little break, like you do, sitting back on my heels and surveying all the work still to be done I glanced over at the compost bins.  We have three, built together out of old pallets on the side of the veggie patch handy for the patch and the tunnels.
 
Now the grass and weeds growing all around the bottom of the compost bins was longer and lusher than anything else growing on the veggie patch and it made me think.
 
Why not build a smaller version of the compost bins and site it in the middle of each of the raised beds in turn.  Leaving it there for a while for the grass trimmings and all the other contents of the bin to start leaching their goodness directly into the ground where I will be wanting to grow next year.  The compost when it is on it's way to  decomposing nicely can be added to the main bins and then the little bin can be re-sited onto another raised bed.
 
The soil on our veggie patch is very poor, after all it was once part of the main paddock and has only ever been used for grazing for animals and growing grass, and of course it drains downhill so any goodness gets washed downwards with any heavy rain, so the more we can do to feed it and pull up the nutrient levels for growing vegetables the better. 
 
We'll see if this little brainwave is a good one in the years to come if the quality of the soil improves ... but in the meantime it can't possibly do any harm.
 
Sue xx
 
 
 
 

13 comments:

  1. I read somewhere about putting in some wide plastic tubes with 1 cm holes drilled into them, standing on their end, half buried, maybe 2' into the ground with 1' sticking out. Kitchen or chopped garden waste goes in, saucer and stone put on pipe as a lid, then the worms take over, compost it and move the compost in and out the holes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would work too, but I prefer a bigger top bit for the masses of greenery going in, and of course for emptying the lawn mower clippings into. I think a narrowish pipe would drive me mad after a while.

      Delete
  2. A real case of 'fortune favours the prepared mind' Sue - hope it works.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds a great plan. Let me know how if goes. Mine are just growing nettles!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nettles = rich soil and a source of liquid feed...

      Delete
  4. That's the principle behind the keyhole beds with a central composter, so it should work very well.
    When my new compost bins are built I'm going to plant sterile comfrey around the bottom to make the most of the nitrogen that leaches out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I had a similar brainwave. Now I just make heaps on any bare patch of garden. Saves effort moving it from garden to bin and back. And sometimes I dump the worm farm castings on the heap to help work through it all. Sounds like a great permaculture 'observe and interact' moment!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had a similar brainwave. Now I just make heaps on any bare patch of garden. Saves effort moving it from garden to bin and back. And sometimes I dump the worm farm castings on the heap to help work through it all. Sounds like a great permaculture 'observe and interact' moment!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a very good idea. I bet you could even market a special small moveable bin.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our raised beds good do with more soil enrichment, might copy this idea!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now turned off for this old blog of mine. Thank you for reading the posts, I hope you enjoyed them. xx

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.