Busy with baby
Been a busy few weeks. My wife has gone back to work after her maternity leave and my daughter has started nursery. This adds lots to our daily routine but I think we are actually settling into one now. I have also been ill with a cold(manflu according to the wife!).
Anyway I was watching Gardeners World a few weeks ago and Monty Don explained the ins and out’s of making compost. The thing I had’t know was that you need to turn the compost to help break down. As I have to cone shaped plastic bins this isn’t that easy. As part of my winter/spring preparation I have managed to urn one into the other. You are supposed to do this every 5 or 6 weeks - I am not sure this is going to happen!
One thing Monty does say is that you can never produce enough compost. About a years worth of food scraps covered about a 5th of what I would have liked it to cover. To that end I have started adding more paper to the heap to try and create more compost. A compost heap is a great way to get rid of shreddings from when you have shredded bank statements etc. More secure than putting then in the dustbin too! A load of paper I put on the heap last year is now helping my plants grow. since I have been adding more paper I have noticed that the recycling bin seems a bit emptier which is good.
He also mentions green manures too. I have planted some field beans in one of my patches to provide this in the Spring.
If you still need to buy compost for your garden I have found a great place if you are in the Bournemouth/Dorset area. ECO recycle green waste to make variety of composts, mulches and other bits and bobs. It’s not too expensive either. This is where I topped up my supply this and no doubt will be dropping by there again in the Spring.
Usually in terms of growing veg Winter is a no-go for me but this year things are different. Apart from the field beans mentioned above I have some Spring Cabbages waiting to be planted out and I last week I planted some broad beans. A while ago I planted some garlic too so hopefully we will get some early produce in the Spring.
Strangely even with the baby I seem more organised than normal in the garden. Maybe I have reached the age where gardening becomes a bit more natural. It does seem that a lot of the best gardeners are quite old!
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