Hi Charles, I was wondering if it would be alright to use moldy straw in compost. I had a brief attempt at digging out the bindweed but soon discovered the roots were a solid mass of about a foot thick so realised I was wasting my time. I’ll try to source some other soil for the base. Fresh manure is organic matter, so far so good, but compared to compost it contains less living organisms such as fungi, and its nutrients are more water soluble. Hello David and that is an interesting problem. My only worry is that the compost in remaining beds waiting for planting in the spring are still very black and heavy, the more i read the more i am concerned that the beds made with this need something extra to help break up the clods. Hi Charles – after years of producing anaerobic muck, I discovered your wonderful website and have a new approach to making compost, and to no dig gardening.
Having just shredded a load of laurel into my compost heap, I see that in your Veg Journal you state that evergreen leaves cannot be composted. We have access to the waste from our Municipal vegetable market. Wood ashes in the compost! Having got into gardening and your no-dig methods during lockdown, having some successes and a lot more in the way of ‘learning points’, to put it kindly, this weekend I tackled the forlorn contents of the compost daleks we inherited when we moved in to our house in North Somerset 11 years ago. Is it possible to create a mini-version within a pot that makes no contact with soil? Which brings us to the value of transforming manure and other wastes, into compost. putting a roof over the bays? Big money is behind the fertiliser industry and money funds science. The native soil in my garden is quite heavy with a high clay content so I am turning it all over to raised no dig beds. Perhaps I just need more green to fire the heap? The initial large amount of compost is a good investment for years to come. I hesitate to add them to my (100% organic) compost heap. I have learnt so much from you. So, on the allotment I’ve built a series of 5 x 1 cubic metre bins out of pallet wood, with lids and removable fronts.
I saw that you put leeks leafs in compost pile. I recently moved to a larger piece of land for some privacy, and will be establishing my garden using no-dig principles. Or set mousetraps. Less concern over proportion of green/brown but more concern about managing wetness and air pockets – with shredded paper and something like composted bark or pieces of stem to create air pockets so it stays aerobic without turning. I’m thrilled to be starting a no dig garden. *Charles says, I doubt this. Also you can put cardboard under the pallets before installing them, and then it’s easier to pull out the weaker regrowth. Two years ago in late May we lost fifteen old growth trees (mostly maples) to a series of tornadoes. Add your garden waste as it happens, in level layers rather than a mound in the middle, to have uniform spreads of different materials as you add them. Hi Chelsey and we use a rotary lawnmower to chop tree leaves, because they do break down when in smaller pieces. I am trying to make home compost for the first time inspired by your approach. It’s like having a new pet to care for. Hard to assess your manure question but it may be ok if no new rainfall enters. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, it’s impressive! A sort of big dig, then forget digging later! We are clearing the site ready to cover – plan to do no dig. Give it a ago anyone if you have doubts Your see the returns and feel less aches no digging, lo.l I think it’s the Americanisation of the world unfortunately. I think these bags make great impromptu composters and worm holders.
If you discover many dry lumps, add a little water, or conversely add some dry paper if it’s soggy. Main reason I suspect is that your heap is not quite big enough to hold the core heat. They are working fine, temp about 50-60degree. I remember hearing that horse bedding could possibly contain residual de-worming medicine (I think it was actually Highgroves’ head gardener) that stays in this bedding material for years and is therefore detrimental to the garden’s worm population. I am really excited about my no dig garden.I cover my plants with fleece cover as little pests are eating the chard. Goodbye to fruit this summer. Please advise . But I’d also added a couple of layers of 3month old wood chip which came from loppings off a plum tree. I noticed last year I planted cabbages straight into this and they barely grew… I assume this is due to it not being proper compost. Is that the right thing to do? That would mean you have to make a pile away from the beams so you could fix them in place. Hello Charles, I’m a huge no-dig convert and would love some advice from you! Thank you! See you soon Victor. With the next pile I build, I’m going to try standing some cardboard up in the bin along the sides to reduce exposure to the air and increase moisture. This book addresses the issue of climate change risks and hazards holistically. Climate change adaptation aims at managing climate risks and hazards to an acceptable level, taking advantage of any positive opportunities that may arise. Thank you for sharing your wealth of experience and I find your videos calming and invaluable! Would the same be true for holly as well with regard to slow decomposition? Have done something wrong? Hi Charles. I take deliveries of such compost and measure temperatures of 60C, even though the appearance is ‘like compost’, black and crumbly.
So very logical. Our soils are much poorer than yours so I’ve been finding I need a bit more compost than your recommend (and of course also an additional surface mulch to deal with our summer heat waves and less regular rainfall pattern!) I always make sure my composts get some rain in the year and it rots down well. It’s fine to hoe the weeds out but in some beds we sowed parsnips, carrots in late March. The pile about 0.4 cubic meter originally got up to 65c ,turned it a few times and then it cooled it’s about a month old.
Hi Charles, I’ve recently gotten into gardening and think I’ve watched all your YouTube videos already. I have access to worm compost and wonder if I can use it on it’s own to start a no dig garden bed. Blight spores for example need living plant tissue to survive in, hence they die in a compost heap, and likewise in soil. It all ends up back on your plot to help grow veg. I’ve sent it to I think 5 localish horticulture groups. Ah Gail this is so sad. It seems that as long as I exclude light from them they will eventually die? Tunnels are not sheds. This was discovered only in 1996, by a scientist Sara F. Wright while working for the USA Agriculture Research Service. I feel like I’ve spent my life promoting organic and lately more No-Dig, outside of the establishment, without much impact until recently. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. Large woody roots have a lot of stored energy, so best dig out the main stem-root of say brambles or bushes, and the top, fat part of docks (rumex). You are a premium compost maker! I am following your advice as much as I can.
We are in a small suburban garden without much space for storing different wastes. There are no discernable weed roots and vegetative matter has completely disintegrated into a crumbly slightly greyish soil texture, with plenty of worms throughout. I thought of this as I read your article as it seems that the fungi will grow better and stronger with less disturbance. A Utah couple who moved there in 2012 gave us a breakdown of how they live on a $2,330 monthly budget. I have been making compost for most of that time. They seem to allow drainage, they can be moved around, instead of turning you can haul up a corner or side and give it a shake (or turn the compost within it). I wonder if it could be to do with the sawdust, hard to say without seeing how much you used or the kind of wood, but it sounds like the nutrients are not getting to your beetroot, and seedlings are somehow compromised in their growth, which should be fast. Such visibility and easy removal are advantages of no dig with compost on the surface, instead of incorporated. Hi Neven, and for my homemade compost about one third is imported, varying through the year, I am always looking for wastes. Hi Charles, Hi Charles, I’m just not sure whether to scrap the two cubic yards of compost I’ve imported or to go ahead and use the compost. She said that the thought of weeding a huge area was off putting whereas the smaller raised bed had fewer weeds and was something that put her under less mental strain and she could easily cope with it. And yes- they are hard as rock ! I’m intending to ask the builder to rip out all of the Ivy and some bamboo that is encroaching on what I call “My Little Forest” which has a natural Spring cutting through it, so I can plant an edible perennial forest undergrowth. It accounts for perhaps a quarter or more of soil carbon and exists for decades in undug/untilled soil, unlike most of soil’s short lived, non-mineral constituents. While I was ensured it was ready to use, it still smells a bit and has a temperature of around 35 degrees centigrade.
Most of my veg patch is covered having laden it with rotted manure from a next door livery. So to clarify- GOOD to add to compost? I’m hoping the bag will be flexible enough as the plant materials and horse muck rots down that I can manuipulate it via the handles. Simon, You can indeed Simon, no worries about which plants. I also agree about traditional organic which is pretty baseline. That makes complete sense. Do these go direct on the allotment or do I need to compost first? I have a local coffee roaster that is happy to give it away by the bag, and it is unusual in that it is a dry green. However you may need to put 6 inches of the soil at the base. I keep a pile of shredded branches near to the summer’s compost heaps, for adding to any large additions of grass mowings and fresh leaves. My two cents worth and for a next step is to locate an organic landscaper who could possibly provide you with additional ‘greens’ to augment your household and garden supply. Thanks Anne. Not sure our allotment will ever be that tidy!! Hello Charles, Hi Charles, you website is brilliant, as are your videos and advice. Then I started mixing old sitting manure into fresh and adding greens and lots of comfrey and got well over 145F. This is much healthier for dissipation of any harmful organisms, compared to the more anaerobic conditions when compost is dug in. Helen. I then periodically rolled and upended it from two locations in the garden 6/7 yards apart. Thank you! I’ve been growing my starts in my greenhouse and I’m ready to get my peas seeded and potatoes in immediately. My 2 year experience in gardening still can’t help me in learning how to deal with rats on the allotment. Nine months later the straw has broken down into a nice loamy substrate. so my first plan is to put down cardboard and then a few inches of my new material as a mulch. However, the compost was not finished breaking down before I created beds (though cooled off, it doesn’t resemble humus as this point…I’m thinking another turn and a few more months would have been prudent.
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