Compossibilities

With plentiful biological life in our soils, there are endless possibilities. In our gardens, with endless compost come endless possibilities!

Many of an organic gardener’s problems can be solved with more compost. Too many weeds competing with crops? Mulch with compost. Too dry? Add more compost. Not enough fertility? More compost.

I could go on. And on and on. I really love compost. How do we get to having plentiful rich organic matter, though? Here are some approaches.

Darlek*

Exterminate… Veg scraps and junk mail, pet rabbit bedding and leaves. Chuck it all in, in moderation – darleks need a balanced diet just like us. In a year, it’ll be good enough to use on the veg beds. *Darleks are those common plastic compost bins you get, often supplied by councils.

Hot pile 🔥

Make a big pile, keep it damp, turn it to add more oxygen. It can be ready quickly, in under a month. Good for mulching. Watch this video from Geoff Lawton for lots of details.

Vermicompost

Let the worms do the work, by giving them all the food. And nice bedding. Get rich, black compost and nutritious juice too. Good for pot plants and hungry veg seedlings.

---

These are just some of the options when it comes to making compost. Each form comes with many creative variations. There’s no need to spend much money, the microbes don’t mind. What’s important is that we make compost, to feed the soil food web, which feeds us. And reduces waste!

We’re planning how to create our own compost for the coming years. We’re looking to trial a Johnson Su bioreactor (not as futuristic or complicated as it may sound), maybe bringing it into a polytunnel to add extra heat. More about that in the Spring.

In the mean time, we’re starting seeds in Melcourt seed and cutting mix. 100% peat free. We don’t need to use peat and we never will.

New offer

Now, we can also offer delivery of Melcourt Sylvagrow peat free compost, within 10 miles of Belper. Check the details on our homepage and place an order to get your hands on (in?) some beautiful compost this spring.