A great way to keep warm in the garden through the cold months is to work your compost,or rather make your compost work for you. I guess it’s a little like the Chinese proverb about the woodman getting twice the heat. In this case you get the warmth from the turning and digging,and then the ground rewards you with healthier and better crops.
On the demo plot we have one black plastic compost bin. Ideally I would like 2 more bins so that I can turn the contents more often speeding up the process of rotting down without adding fresh matter on top.
Compost bins vary in price and style. The wooden slatted types allow the air to pass through therefore speeding up the rotting process. These are often home made using old pallets and you are quite likely to see the tops covered with an old bit of carpet,this helps keep the heap warm. Plastic dome types (or daleks as I call them) have the advantage of absorbing the heat,especially the black bins,during the summer and holding on to it. In the winter though they can become a frozen block which is impossible to work with. There is also the added advantage that you control the moisture content. During very dry summers you should carefully add water to the bin,a compost bin that is overly wet will cause your worms to leave home!
Here are some ideas to help you get the best out of your home composting system.
Position your compost bin where you can easily access it for adding to and emptying.
Consider positioning the bin in a sunny part of the garden,the heat from the sun will speed up the rotting process.
Add layers of green material,e.g. grass cuttings,kitchen waste,rotten fruit etc and brown material,e.g. small twigs,winter stalks,leaves,cardboard/paper,sawdust.
The more you turn the contents the better the end result.
Chop up large pieces of kitchen waste before adding to the compost bin.
If you can,add either comfrey or seaweed. They collect and store nutrients and on decomposing will swiftly activate your compost.
Do not compost meat and fish kitchen waste,thorny prunings,diseased crops such as blighted potatoes and tomatoes.
I would recommend getting the HDRA book ‘Compost’,by Charlie Ryrie. ISBN:1856751171.
When I was a student gardener I was told that December is the traditional month for digging. This is because it’s usually cold and digging keeps you warm,that’s what students are there for! But the method in the madness is all about the action of the thawing frost which breaks up the lumps of soil that are on the surface after digging,leaving a finer tilth (soil texture) that is easier to rake a couple of months later.
In my recent years of gardening in the north Highlands I have found the December ground too frozen for doing anything,so my digging in the manure and turning compost has often been delayed till March. March is when I (and you) would expect the ground to be warming up and ideally I would be thinking about raising plants to put in the ground – so I have a lot to re-learn about gardening in the warmer climes of Linlithgow!
If you are buying manure of any type (cow,horse,chicken) the most important thing to find out is that it is well rotted. At least 3 years is in my opinion beautiful! You will know that it is well rotted because it won’t smell like you would expect it to! I have often heard well rotted manure being compared to chocolate –you can make up your own mind on that one! It will look dark,be of a crumbly texture,be light and safe to handle – though I would always encourage you to use gloves and wash your hands after dealing with any type of manure.
Well rotted manure of this age is hard to come by,but it is possible to get it locally. If you can only get manure that is fresh then consider digging it in the ground as early as possible,i.e. as soon as the ground becomes available around autumn. This will give the manure 3 to 4 months to rot down before planting starts in spring. If the manure is dug down well enough,the roots of the baby plants planted in spring will not come into immediate contact with the manure. Do the same the following year because the action of digging in new manure will bring last years manure to the surface,by this time it will be rotted enough for the crops and their baby roots to benefit from.
Ways of using manure.
You can dig manure into the ground,my thoughts are that this helps the worms within the manure to stay warmer (don’t know if this is true) and that the action of the soil warming up from March starts the rotting procedure direct in the soil. Digging the manure into the ground means that you are working the soil structure and reducing compaction. Leaving the manure on the surface as a mulch is also fine,the worms will work it down into the soil and as it is well rotted there should be little chance of weed germination. The best time to mulch with any material is when the ground is not frozen,or in spring before the weed seeds start to germinate.
Here are some benefits of using well rotted manure or home made compost in your own garden:
Contains worms and other micro-organisms that break down the soil and improve growing conditions.
Adds to the soil the nutrients that the plants need.
Improves the soil structure and helps reduce compaction.
Provides micro nutrients that will help keep soil born diseases away.
Recycling kitchen waste = free,wonderful,nutrient rich dark soil.
