So out of interest some volunteers from Shropshire Master Composters went to have a look around the farm near Oswestry where some of the garden waste collected by the Council ends up. This is run by a very nice chap; farmer Jones. He kindly gave us a personal guided tour and explained how it all works...
First we create the waste, by mowing the lawn and doing some gardening and put the contents into our wheelie bins for the Council to collect.
All the garden waste then gets taken to the farm and weighed on the vehicle weigh-bridge.
The vehicle then drives round to the tipping area where the entire back of the truck lifts up and allows all the garden waste to be tipped into a big pile.
This material then gets shredded down in a massive industrial shredder to create a less coarse mixture which gets put into big pyramid shaped piles called 'Wind Rows'.
 |
These windrows get turned regularly using a tractor to aerate them and they start to rot down and get very hot in the process. As the picture below shows the temperature probe in the middle of heap is over 60 degrees! That probably about twice as hot as your home compost bin will get to, and thats why its such an efficient and rapid process.
After a couple of months the waste is looking much more like what you would expect compost to look like; brown and earthy. At this point he moves the compost indoors for its final maturation period.
Once its cooled down and stablised, it can be spread onto the farmers fields. The resulting product is an excellent soil improver which not only looks the part but is certified to the PAS100 national composting standard.
In fact its so good that the whole farm is now using compost only and does not need to rely on artificial fertilisers any more.
Be very careful about putting this on your garden it has a PH of around nine. I used four tonnes on my garden and it destroyed everything it touched. I am desperately trying to reduce the ph of my Veg plots down to below 8 and finding it very difficult. In addition the 'soil conditioner' sucked every ounce of nitrogen from my soil so I have to use high nitrogen grass fertilizer to get anything to grow.
ReplyDeleteSoil texture is howeever perfect
Be very careful about putting this on your garden it has a PH of around nine. I used four tonnes on my garden and it destroyed everything it touched. I am desperately trying to reduce the ph of my Veg plots down to below 8 and finding it very difficult. In addition the 'soil conditioner' sucked every ounce of nitrogen from my soil so I have to use high nitrogen grass fertilizer to get anything to grow.
ReplyDeleteSoil texture is howeever perfect
Dawn whitley.
ReplyDeleteWe have used this product for nearly ten years and have never had a problem with it. We have introduced it to many of our clients who had sub standard soil. Used in the correct way it is fantastic. We never lay it more than two inches thick at any one time. It is then dug into the borders, veg beds etc when they are weeded or planted. This is a Soil Improver not a soil substitute and should be treated as such, to help improve texture and workability. Granules fertilisers, liquid fertilisers are used when necessary as in any garden if you want the best from plants. If filling a raised border or veg bed a mix of soil, sand and soil improver should be used.
Dawn whitley.
ReplyDeleteWe have used this product for nearly ten years and have never had a problem with it. We have introduced it to many of our clients who had sub standard soil. Used in the correct way it is fantastic. We never lay it more than two inches thick at any one time. It is then dug into the borders, veg beds etc when they are weeded or planted. This is a Soil Improver not a soil substitute and should be treated as such, to help improve texture and workability. Granules fertilisers, liquid fertilisers are used when necessary as in any garden if you want the best from plants. If filling a raised border or veg bed a mix of soil, sand and soil improver should be used.
Gardens are likely to be left unattended throughout the off-season and this leaves time for plants, weeds and bushes to be overgrown. Free garden waste disposal
ReplyDeleteTrees are also the determining factor in many cases where you are trying to sell a home. Instead of trying to sell your home by making a lot of improvements, such as new carpeting and tile, plant trees. Hop over to these guys
ReplyDeleteA sturdy and tough plant can withstand better, adverse gardening conditions. Hence, if irrigation is not carried out regularly or there is blistering sunshine, sturdy plants are able to tolerate the vagaries of nature much better. Light dep greenhouse
ReplyDelete