Still trying to catch up with the materials left for composting over the lockdown in Leicester. It is a slow job as most of it needs cutting into shorter lengths and is entangled in knots. It also includes a couple of rows of peas complete with string. This means that it is being cut into longer than recommended lengths  of about six inches as these can be turned without too much effort.  As most of the material being added had dried while waiting in the reception bin a layer of manure  and another of comfrey was added as an activator.   The bin in  the picture took too sessions to reach this level  the  last addition  being three days ago. The temperature  was 63^oC,  pH 5.6 and moisture off the scale as it was given a good soaking  to avoid it drying out in the hot weather. The bin was covered with plastic and the front by cardboard  (pulled down  in the photo) This will beused as a brown layer in the next bin and will be easier to tear having got wet if the rain comes as expected. This bin was filled after the photo was taken and will not be turned again  unless the space is needed.

As most of my composting is undertaken using a range of conventional aerobic compost bins, I only use my Bokashi for treating  cooked food waste so that it can be added to a conventional compost bin to complete its progress to mature compost. I do this as it requires less effort than finding space for a trench or remembering where I have dug post-holes to bury the pre-compost.

The latest batch of Bokashi pre-compost has matured and was ready to transfer to the compost heap this week. It has been added as a layer to the bin shown and was covered by ordinary Greens and Browns as the bin was filled.  The bin has been filled so that can manage with being turned only once or twice as due to a build up of waste due to the Corvid-19 lockdown I may not have time or space for weekly turning.

If you have cooked food waste but are using a dalek bin I can recommend using Bokashi to convert the cooked food to a form in which you can compost it.  

We have two new compost bins coming onto the Stokes Wood Allotment Demonstration site this week

The first is a small tumbler the Meridin  by UPP suitable for those with small gardens or just courtyards. This bin  consists of two 70 litre chambers which can be turned independently. As it is made of plastic it may not be rodent proof and is  unsuitable for composting cooked food , meat  dairy etc  Tumblers work best when batch composting batches of organic material so it is best to fill 2/3rds of the first chamber with a mixed load of Greens and Browns approximately 1 part browns to 2 parts greens.  The bin is turned 5-10 times on filling. After two or three days the contents should have heated up  and will then need turning every 2-3 days. As this is a small bin the moisture will need checking during dry weather with water being added to keep it moist. The compost should be ready within about eight weeks.    

This bin will be brought into use this Wednesday and  can be seen on Wednesday mornings, subject to Covid-10 regulations/guidelines, when the compost site is open.   

The photo shows our new baby next to the Mantis tumbler

The www.carryoncomposting web page on the uses of compost has been revised. It now includes  information on compost as a mulch, in the vegetable and flower  garden, round trees and additional suggestions for professional gardeners.

Mulch  Compost makes an excellent soil improver and will over the years, make the soil easier to work and lead to a better soil structure. 

 Vegetable Gardens.  The "dug in" variation of the surface mulch is  favoured by many vegetable gardeners when the mulch is spread and then dig it into the soil in the autumn before planting in the spring or early summer. Digging in will bring the nutrients and humus into the root zone of the plants.

 Flower Beds The compost can be applied as a mulch and left on the surface where digging in would damage roots or bulbs.

Trees Used as a mulch round established trees  compost can provide essential to a soil which otherwise may be neglected.

Square Foot Gardeners, Use compost as a soil amendment by adding a handful of compost each time anything is added to the bed and work it into the soil top layers. New seeds can be sown in the newly enriched soil.  

Compost Use by Professional Gardeners

Planting Trees and shrubs   Composting is the ideal material to use as backfill when planting trees and shrubs

Nursery Beds  Home compost can be mixed with soil to make a growing medium with good water retention properties and  organic content suitable for nursey beds.

Erosion control  Compost offers a good means of controlling  erosion when the soil  surface has been damaged during landscaping

Compost can also  be used to make a  Liquid Feed and as a component when making seed and potting composts.