Members' Meeting 26 March 2008

Kelvin Mason: Recycling in the Garden and Composting

Whoever thought that composting could arouse such laughter? OK, so it was also the Club’s Spring Show, but thanks to Kelvin Mason’s light touch and reassuring unfussiness at March’s Monthly Meeting, lots of members and guests enjoyed a fascinating talk! For those of you who’d like to be reminded of what he said, here’s a brief summary.

Why recycle your garden and kitchen waste?

1. Because you are recycling the nutrients produced by your garden
2. You’re making organic matter
3. Using it will improve your soil
4. And it’s good gardening practice to do so.

In fact composting is a very ancient activity and has been practiced across the world for centuries. To get decent compost for your garden you need:

1. Air – Plenty of it. Too much green stuff with not enough air (like grass cuttings) will produce a slimy, smelly mix because it encourages the anaerobic bacteria, rather than the desirable aerobic ones. You need to mix in lots of air and in the case of grass cuttings, add carbon (e.g. cardboard) as well, to redress the balance.

2. Water – The heap needs moisture to break the material down but too much rain cools it down and washes away the nutrients.

3. Material – You need a mix of green and woody stuff, i.e. nitrogen (leafy green stuff, kitchen waste, etc) and carbon (brown twiggy stuff, cabbage stems, paper and cardboard, etc). Don’t add any meat, fish or cheese or you could attract vermin. The bacteria will come up from the soil and start feeding and breeding (which is what generates the heat!). As material is added the bacteria move up and get to work on the next layer, and the worms move into the cool, moist layers below.

4. Heat – The bacteria will see to this, but don’t site the heap in too much shade, and keep off excessive rain.

5. An activator – Ideally this should be added every six inches or so. Any nitrogenous fertiliser such as Fish Blood and Bone will speed up the process. Nettles and comfrey are excellent; seaweed if not too salty; rabbit and pigeon droppings; partly rotted horse manure; and of course urine!

6. And a container to put it all in – the bigger the better, preferably at least 1mx1m. It can be made out of anything and doesn’t need to be expensive: metal; brick; wood; breeze blocks; straw bales; chicken wire or pallets. Compost tumblers work by letting lots of air in which speeds up the process but are expensive. Ideally the heat in the heap should reach 60C to kill diseases, perennial weeds and weed seeds, but a cold heap will work OK if you don’t include any perennial weeds. The container should have a lid to keep heat in and too much wet out, which can be made from, for example, carpet, metal, cardboard, etc. Site the container where it’s not too shaded, and not on concrete (so the bacteria and worms can get up into it).

Turning the heap – Ideally you should throw everything out of the heap and then put it all back in again, thus turning it, but Kelvin admits that he never turns his heap! He reckons that if you turn it, you can get usable compost in the summer within six to eight weeks; 16 weeks if you don’t.

By the end of the summer it should all have sunk down. Don’t worry if you don’t have perfectly fine compost (you can always sieve it if you need to!) but it should be dark brown, crumbly and sweet smelling.

Worm Composting
He also described how to make your own worm composting container. Put a dustbin in a frost-free shed. Drill holes in the bottom for drainage and add three or four inches of course silver sand. Then a layer of plywood with holes in it, then the worms and the vegetable material. Put a layer of newspaper over the top to keep the light off. Don’t add too much stuff at a time. Wormcasts are an excellent natural fertiliser and if your worm composter is well managed you’ll end up with very good quality compost for the garden.

What else can you recycle in the garden?
Polystyrene can be broken up for insulation or drainage in pots; CDs can be used as bird scarers; plastic cordial bottles with their bottom cut off can be used as a mini-cloche or used upside-down for funnelling water to the roots of plants, or cut into rings for keeping slugs off plants; jars are also useful as mini-cloches; toilet roll holders make excellent root trainers; polythene bags are useful for enclosing seed trays to keep the moisture in; you can use supermarket food containers as seed trays (make holes if you need); washing up liquid bottles are useful for squirting on aphids.

Before you throw anything away, ask yourself: Has it got another use?

Spring Show Winners, judged by Kelvin Mason
The tables under the window in the Catholic Church Hall looked very attractive with all the entries laid out and Kelvin spent a long time deciding on the winners, which are:

Class 1: Daffodils or Narcissi
Jennifer Hunter with her large yellow daffodils, which were absolutely perfect. Joan Powell came second with her double peach and white frilly ones. 

Class 2: Bowl of Bulbs
Tim Gover with his pot of full of lovely small daffodils. Gill Stainer came second with her one miniature daff in a pot. 
Class 3: Any other Spring Flower
Jennifer Hunter  with some gorgeous pink Hellebores. Angela Fry came second with her red ones. 

Class 4: Flowering Shrub  
Ann Magrath  came first with three stems of a striking white Tree Heather. Keith Fry came second with a pretty little Corylopsis.