A day off work meant we could have a few hours on the plot. It felt reasonably warm and the sun even shone for a bit.
 |
| Terns flying overhead |
There was a lot of birdlife, particularly the kestrel, robin, terns, pheasants and pigeons. Also the red kite was swooping and calling; It was beautiful.
 |
| We pulled up the remains of the sprouts - these parts can't be composted, they'll take too long to rot down. |
We spent a few hours sorting out the compost bins. We took all the soggy compost from both plastic bins and mixed it with dry cuttings, plot clearance and lots of recycled cardboard from home.
 |
| Just part of the mix |
After a good mix it completely filled one bin (which can be left for a year) and the remainder went in the other bin.
Plot 7 is beginning to look like it's getting ready for planting but there's still a lot to be done. The ground is still so wet, far too claggy to walk on really. We're hoping to buy our spuds tomorrow as more rain is due so we won't be on the plot.
Belinda.I was doing the same thing in Friday's warm weather.Carted three barrowfulls of herbaceous waste from the garden over to the allotment and managed to fill two "daleks" ,mixing in some of our endless supply of fresh horse manure.
ReplyDeleteFollowing a fellow plotholder's example I now cut up and split the brassica stems and add them into the mix.While it will probably take a long time to produce crumbly compost I'm hoping to at least get it to a state where it can be used to add more fibre to my clay soil.
I bought my potatoes a couple of weeks ago as they were selling out at the best local supplier.Trouble is that they then seem to chit too quickly, before the soil is dry enough to plant up.
Thanks for the note, Shinny.
DeleteWe may try splitting and composting the stalks but need a sharper knife - they certainly are tough! I like the idea of making a walking stick from them, but these stalks would be rather too short.
We take our spuds round my mum's house to chit. Still not convinced that chitty is necessary but you're right they arrive in the shops too early for chitting time and planting.
I'm hoping the windy weather we have had will have speeded up the drying process as we still have some clearing to do.
ReplyDeleteIt's snowing (wet snow) here today, so the ground's in for another soaking :-(
DeleteWhen we put sprout stalks on the compost, we usually use a biihook to chop them into small pieces. We chop on old pieces of pallet. There is no trouble with the rotting down. Seems like someone has given you the same advice.
ReplyDelete