Ryan, a founding member of Earthed Up! is a signatory on a joint statement from hundreds of organisations and individuals. You can read the full statement at: https://peatfree.org.uk/2022/03/joint-statement
Switch to peat free compost to save peat bogs & combat climate change. And push for others to do the same.
The statement starts: “Continuing to extract, import, export, and sell peat as a product is indefensible.”
No peat in our own gardens
We don’t have peat anywhere in our business. There’s no place for it. We encourage you to take the same approach and support you in doing so buy offering quality peat free compost and potting media for sale, at very competitive prices. We also deliver locally to Belper, Derbyshire.
All our potted plants are grown in Melcourt growing media made from composted wood fibre, woodchip and coir. We are adding small amounts of biochar for some plants. In the gardens, we use sawdust, woodchip, our own compost and vermicompost, aged horse manure, seaweed feed, and other plant extracts.
This is not enough. A huge problem remains. Which is why we are supporting the Peat Free campaign calling for tough regulation at the highest level, with urgency “UK Governments must act decisively and bring about a speedy end to the retail sale of peat for horticulture – there is no time to waste.”
How we can all help
We also believe that other local businesses and councils must change and adapt their product ranges and growing practices.
If you are considering buying potted plants, ask if they contain peat. If you are somewhere that sells peat based compost, ask why and let them know about alternatives.
We are one of many nurseries across the UK that grow peat free – we appear on a list of over 100 compiled and shared by Nic Wilson.
Do your local council use peat based compost in their hanging baskets and planters, do they buy in plants grown in peat? You can use democratic processes to hold them to account for this and demand change. We ask that you write to your local representatives asking for a blanket peat free policy. All the more justified if they’ve already declared a climate emergency!
We can also choose to focus on what is in our compost and soils, hence plants and food. Are we sequestering carbon there rather than exporting it to be ‘someone else’s problem”? Are the soil microorganisms diverse and healthy? Are we intercepting waste streams to create garden spaces that provide for us and wildlife? Woodchip, biochar, green manures, fermented liquid feeds, and vermicompost are just some of the ways we feed the soil food web in our gardens.
In these times we find ourselves in, amidst climate chaos, there is the possibility to regenerate systems. To repair and rebuild, from the ground up. And in doing so create beautiful abundance. Or we can choose to carry on with our destructive ways.
Earthed Up! 