It's Saturday,

Enjoy your weekend Dungy, it's a bit wet and miserable where I am, but I'll be out in the garden later. Taking the parents out for lunch first, then going with them to the dreaded supermarket!lol

I'd choose the garden any day Dungy, shopping is on the same list as ironing, only to be done when neccessary and always allow someone else to do it if they offer.
Its sunny but very cold here, grass needs cutting but still have gammy leg so I'm trying to ignore it, now that is hard.... No plums here this year, not a sign of any blossom although the apples should be very good, Brynner and Morgan are going to be very disappointed come August as they also help themselves.....

Hi compost user's,
Im one of these people that do listern to the gardening world experts "but i dont always do as they've said,
two points i feel may help both Louisa and and anyone else who's finding compost a costly buy,

I buy basic cheap compost by the bag load ie 4 at a time as the norm, and then depending on what i want to plant or grow in it depends on what i add to this very basic compost ie fish/blood/bone etc etc,
A lot of feeds and added fertilizers in some compost are not always needed for some plants etc and over feeding is the same as over watering it'll do the plants no good what so ever, So why buy compost with fertilizer in it that some of your plants wouldnt use?

Now ive said in the past about using a lot of modern tools ie strimmer's/power wash / chain saw's etc and ive been told these are big boy tools!!!

So at the risk of again sounding like another big boy toy "but infact one thats cheap to buy these days and very handy for making your own bulk compost is an electric small cement mixer"
,
I bought mine many years ago and all i use it for is mixing sand into basic compost and adding what i feel the plants need for it to grow well ie blood/fish/bone/ sometimes powdered lime, leave mold etc.

It's a tool that really makes the job easy and its finished product is as it should be "all the verious items well mixed".
As ive said ive a 2 acre house garden plus the gites smaller garden and from next year the field to turn into an allotment,
& gardening is my full time hobby, That and my car,

So maybe im a little keener than some people ref the "big boy's tools" but its like a lot of things in life if you want quality you have to use the best products to get the best results and listern to the the people who are sticking their necks out when it's their living who say No they wouldnt do this or that!!

I had a hip re-placement two years ago, i didnt doubt the team who did the opp, they are the experts and i know thats what they do for a living, im walking around without pain thanks to what they did and their expert know how.

So ive found in the past fresh compost is best for growing plants on, re- potting on plants ,

Old used compost in my garden is used to add to the outdoor flower beds and well worked in.

But as we all will agree its yours and my gardens we're talking about and we should all do what we feel is best for our way of doing things,
Gardening is all about learning and any gardener who say's he/she know's it all is only fooling them selves.

Remember what i said once before!
It took an army of very skilled tradesmen to build the "TITANIC" and it sank,

One keen DIY,er built the "ARK" filled it with animals two by two and i think it's still floating about,

"WHo did the best job of building a floating craft"??????

Have a nice one folks (it's sun shine here)

If I have to go to the shops on a Saturday or Sunday I almost lose the will to live lol ,I try to plan the weekends menu and get it all in on a Thursdayor Friday .

If you wan't cheap compost, do as dungy says except buy plain peat and get hold of either vitax q4 fertiliser or any of these

http://elixirgardensupplies.co.uk/gardeners-shop?category_id=&page=shop.browse&keyword=elixir&limit=20&start=140

as your base.

I would never dream of adding anything to a cheap compost. It's not the fertiliser in it that's the problem, it's the other rubbish they use to bulk it up.
The problem with adding NPK fertilisers, ie, fish blood and bone is that you miss out on trace elements.

The other important bit about compost and using it for different plants is the make up of the compost, not what fertilisers it has present. That is where additives are useful, eg, grit, sand, vermiculite, sterilised garden loam.
All you do is make up your basic mix using various combinations of the above.

Dungy, I love the way your response is longer than your blog!lol

Hi scrumpygrat,
You cant buy peat anymore it was banned as the peat bogs have been used to much,

The home made compost is not of chemicle build up, its main content is caused by the humus in the compost and its this that gives the compost its value,
If your going to use compost for the greenhouse its then i buy the cheap base compost and add the fertilizers and the basics if needed such as sand, lime etc.

The true value of lime is greatly missed by a lot of gardeners because they dont understand or learn its true value,
Ie the centre stone in fruits such as cherry is made up of lime, slugs wont go near a limed plot, lime when added to to a compost dressing is a very worth while additive.

But peat was banned two years ago here in france and its not used anymore in the compost bags.

If you add lime to compost then use dolomite of lime.
Especially good for tomatoes.
There are plenty of places in the UK that sell peat. Mainly mail order.
It is a fallacy that peat bogs are over used. Less than 30% of what is available in the world is farmed, and more peat goes into power stations than horticulture.
I very much doubt humus is present in any compost. Humus is the result of many many years decomposition of plant material and I cannot see recycling plants that provide material for compost makers being that efficient. Maybe it is different in France.
The nearest thing to humus available to put into compost is Nutrimate...something I use for all my plants when I set them out in the garden, and in my home made composts There is one compost available over here called Humax original that has it pre mixed.
The major compost producers over here still produce proper peat based composts. It's only the stuff in garden centres and the like that sell rubbish. People brought up on reduced peat composts will probably be happy with them as they don't know anything different.
Going back too lime, it's use is to raise PH so I wouldn't recommend adding it to any non peat based compost as the majority of plants prefer slightly acidic soil. It's OK for peat, because that in it's natural state is very acidic.
Better to use calcified seaweed...you get all your trace elements plus calcium.

Hi scrumpy,
REF peat and only maim order,
you will not find peat in the normal garden centre in the uk or france infact any of the EU countries,

Now ref all this peat bogs getting low and only the power stations getting what there! that still is'nt putting any on the shelves for the average gardener,

Humus,
is in every compost bin thats got rotting waste, it's the rotting material and whats passing through the worms etc thats making the humus in the first place,
Have a google and read up on humus and how it works and you'll understand a lot more,

Now ref Lime and compost! What about lime going directly on the soil?
Most farmers who have 100's of acres to plough and lime are using the lime direct onto the soil not compost.

You dont have to wait hundreds of years for trees etc to rot down before humus is present, its there from the time animal manure/plants etc start to rot and the bacteria off the worms produces humus as they live off the rotting materials.

We cant go against what the powers to be say when they say we're not getting anymore no matter why its
been decided,
in this case it's peat not long ago it was creosote salt,"as we new it" a sub has been introduced but its not the old tar oil based stuff we once used."
and the EU is a powerful ruler and they've banned peat.

I know exactly what and how humus works and rotting plant material eventually turns into humus over a period of years in the soil. Humus is the end result of the decomposition process. As you mention google, here is a quote confirming what I say, and why composts made from recycled material can be dangerous if not properly controlled.

""Mature compost is still organic matter and can be used when your planting instructions request it. Organic matter that hasn't decayed as far as compost shouldn't normally be used directly on plants because the nutrient balance and pH can get all out of whack as it decays (too much nitrogen in fresh manure, or nitrogen depletion as woodchips decompose) and because it may still contain toxic substances (fungal diseases, weed seeds, or toxic bacteria).

You are right, humus has no nutritive value. It's also impossible to get hold of since it can't be manufactured. It also can't be produced from decaying organic matter in a reasonably pure form on any sensible timescale. Lastly, we don't know exactly what humus is chemically so while you may find stuff sold as "humus" or "humates" or something similar, its buyer beware, you really have no guarantees about what is in the bag.

Humus is good because it has extremely high absorption abilities. It can hold and release water and nutrients as needed. It also improves the physical structure of soil so that it is crumbly and aerated instead of a nasty clay mess or an arid beach."

As to lime going on to soil, depends what you are growing . If you want potato scab then apply lime.

As to the EU, the sooner we are out of that the better.
You are probably right that it isn't sold in garden centres anymore thanks to them. Yet the suppliers still sell tons and tons of it. That gives an indication of how much it is still valued.
Peat used in horticulture is actually the top layer of peat bogs, and this layer cannot be used for power. Therefore, it is not being depleted by horticulture....you can't use it for anything else so you may as well use it. Tell your MEP that next time you see him and get them to check the facts before banning things.

Perhaps you could tell us what goes into French Compost?

QUESTION ASKED ,
what goes into french compost,

If your talking about the vacuumed bagged stuff?
Again EU, controled the same as england and all other EU members,

As for the french countryside home made compost such as i and thousands of both friench and ex-pats english who live here use!
In the countryside around here are mostly farms and cow /pig/& HORSE Manures are used to help speed up the rotting of both house hold waste, including grass cuttings, leaf mold/ Even the contents of the vacuume bag, /fruit, and poultry All these are well used in the making of compost "both hot & cold compost.

Liquid feeds include that from the under ground drip tanks a lot of the farmers have under the manure storage grills, this is used as both a liquid feed and silage?
The small sized gardeners are well into compost making and the use of verious plants such as comfrey, nettle and a hoste of other greenery are used via the liquid making.

Ive made my own compost for many years using most of the above listed items and ive not died yet,

But again as ive said many times, it,s my choice to grow my own and pass on as much as i can to those who want to know,
Ive little or no interest in what the power stations burn and why,
again ive no interest in paying delivery charges for getting "whats been banned 'peat" via mail order,

Well ive not long arrived home and now its time for a nice salad, all home grown "except the eggs" and all from my own compost with the help of the worms and their humus,
This last lot of compost was in the making for approx 9 month.
So its now 26° the patio table is full, the wine cooled and the sun roller cover opened out, so no more to say except
Be good and try to enjoy the "Garden" and all its got to offer.
Regards Dungy.

Think you are getting confused with compost heaps and compost bought in bags for plants.
No way I'd use stuff from the compost heap in home made composts, unless it was at least 2 years old, and even then it would need to be mixed with something else.

Hi scrumpygrat, No im not getting confused,
And im not talking about humus in vacuumed packed bags,
Ive 4x compost bins and all are in verious stages of the compost making and all are for out door use,
My greenhouse compost is made via the cheaper bought compost "not peat" and then the verious needs for verious plants are added by myself mixed well using my own cement mixer and then used, "not stored" but used as fresh as i can produced it,
As ive said, 35 years of gardening and ive took the subject very serious and learnt,

The older methods the victorian gardeners used "i try to use" and humus was their much used methods of growing.

Can i ask, do you have a garden ? And if so what size and what do you enjoy growing ?

Perhaps you should check my blogs for your answer.

I've a good sized garden at home where i grow the dahlias and sweet peas, and a few carrots

At the allotment I grow potatoes, carrots, onions, beetroot, cabbage, swede, all grown under home made cloches except the potatoes.
I used to grow more but having had both my knees replaced in the last 4 years i've cut down a bit to just the basics...easier to look after.