composting
We devote much time (and space on the plot) to generating organic matter to enrich the soil. You can never get enough!
We have a comfrey bed that is cut three or four times each year to produce potash rich foliage for composting or mulch.
We have a bay for horse manure that is rotting and will be ready to be used after two years of degrading.
We have a second bay in which we store leaves in the autumn - again taking two years to decay.
We have two 'New Zealand' boxes for collecting compost. This is ready for use as a mulch within one year.
We have several bales of straw that have been left to rot. These are incorporated into the compost bins to increase quantities of compost produced.
And, as I have already posted, we now have a compost tumbler that will speed the rotting of kitchen waste.
The only thing missing is a wormery - ideal for producing highly enriched liquid feed.
We saw the benefit of this constant soil enrichment when preparing the ground for overwintering garlic. Plenty of worms and lots of organic matter within the soil.
1 comment:
Rob,
You're always an inspiration. I think I'll go cut all the comfrey leaves that have spread around the Sprouting Wings greenhouse at the Garden and put them in our compost bins at the Food for Thought garden. I'd snag them for my own bins, which are woefully sparse after a summer away, but...
We're planning to grow winter greens this year as a demo in an unheated hoophouse -- it should be a interesting experiment. We're in such a great climate with sunlight available, too, to be able to do that.
I've been reading Elliot Coleman's The Winter Harvest Handbook, and he talks about how good the market gardens were in Paris and London in the mid-19th century and on (partially because of horse manure and hot beds in the winter).
Anyway, I need to get my comfrey patch established. I did have one enormous plant last spring that I put to good use.
Cheers,
Lisa
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