Replies to This Discussion

PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance on July 24, 2011 at 21:15

Plenty of space there to compost your green waste!!!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Brown on July 24, 2011 at 22:47

i'll take some more recent photo's as ive built 3 more composters on there1 is full of upturned turf 1 is full on general green waste and the 3rd has moss in it, the moss treatment says it needs to be composted for 6 months which would mean i could spread it november time. my rhubarb is at home. i struggle with composters as i cant build them big enough, when i took on the allotment in 2004 it was thick orange clay and up to this year ive only really grown potatoes on it and added compost to it but this year i spread about 6 inch layer of horse manure to it and straightened up the edge of the path with the scaffold planks that you can see. the shed was built by me using old pallets as was the bench infront of it.

• ▶ Reply

PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance on July 25, 2011 at 6:13

I make my compost bins out of straw bales. Very insulating, dont last forever but can be added to the heap when rotten. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mic Watson on July 25, 2011 at 10:13

My wife applied for an allotment last year so we are currently on the waiting list , thats a 16 YEAR waiting list lol .

 

 Problem we have round here is loads of allotments in the area but also loads of pigeon fanciers who just stick a loft on the land and nothing else which even though i like pigeons is just a waste of land ..

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Brown on July 25, 2011 at 15:47

there are pleanty spare on our site, last year there was a huge gathering of members and they cleared all the spare plots and strimmed the weeds down so they looked more appealing to prospective tennants. there are still loads of empty plots, i dont mind because theres one by me with an apple tree with gorgeous apples.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by pete on July 26, 2011 at 16:34

 

  Good on you for having an allotment Matt - the places Karen and me work the bigger %age are on crappy soil and time is limited so we usually get our best growing 'fix' down the plot – good to hear you're a keen composter too, especially as you're on clay – us gardeners can make such a lot of valuable compost created from our own produced green waste – the more the better!

 Some folk on our site do 'green manuring' – we've never done it but last year we broadcast Phacelia tanacetifolia - (sold for green manuring) - we let them grow and fight it out with the weeds but this year I let just one plant go on to flower..

   ...and it's covered a square meter – the thing is, the other day I saw a zillion bees on it.. (a rough guess:) which can only be good for all our allotments.

 

..you can get 250g from Moles seeds for £6 - enough to 'green manure' 250 sq m. we also get yellow Tagete seed by weight from Moles (10 times cheaper than Thompson and Morgan) which we grow every year.

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Brown on July 26, 2011 at 19:57

i havent tried green manure yet, i have 2 packets someware in the cupboard under the stairs that i bought a couple of years ago, i can't pass on the free compostable green waste when it is of so much use to me one of my composters is 6 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot and is a solid block of part composted leaves and grass clippings i usually dig the compost in part rotted so i can free up a composter. in warwickshire the council run a part subsidised home Woodchipping service £20 per hour and the chap comes with his truck and will shred what you want and leave the chippings behind in strong bags, i done a job a few weeks ago and had them shred a pile of conifers and i used it to top up the paths on the allotment i had so much ive put a minimum 6 inch layer on top of the 3 or 4 inches that was already down.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gary Orton on July 28, 2011 at 18:19

Went down my allotment last weekend to find that someone had dumped 2" of topsoil all over it. Went there again yesterday and the same thing had happened. The plot thickens.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Brown on July 28, 2011 at 20:50

i put a complaint in to the chap that runs the allotment site a wile back as a goodwill gesture when i'm up there with the mower i dont just do my path i do several paths and one of the shared paths that leads to mine had been littered with stones, bits of glass metal objects etc along side where someone had been clearing part of their plot and i didnt see them but i certainly heared them, its a good job i use a mower with a naff blade! i have a bucket in the shed that i keep bits of rubbish in and when its full i bring it home and tip it into the wheelie bin.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion