The message
from "Charlie" contains these words:

I
get the most wonderful produce from my veg garden that beats anything in the
supermarket with absolute minimal mantinance in my garden. We don't spread
fancy top soil, or mushroom compost or even manure! We use a little miracle
grow every few weeks and STILL get more than our neighbours who have more
plants and must spend hundreds of pounds a year on fancy dirt and watering
systems.

ISTR you said elsewhere that you're only 18?

It's possible to get good results from minimal soil maintenance in the
short term...until crops have used up all the available humus. Unless
the humus is replaced with manure or composted plant material, the
soil's population of beneficial living organisms will decline. Gardeners
who don't nurture their soil eventually find their plants are more
susceptible to disease and pests, and they need to buy and apply more
and more chemicals.

For the OP.. I do make large slow compost heaps but also wanted to
find a labour saving way of making fast compost right where I need to
use it. So I'm experimenting with compost pies, like childrens' sand
pies. I use a 45 gallon plastic barrel with the top and bottom cut off
leaving a tube about 3 ft high. Dig a hole the same diameter,18 " deep,
and drop the tube in; the dug out earth goes round the outside to
insulate, conceal, and make sure it doesn't blow over. Then I fill the
barrel very firmly to the top with well-mixed fresh material I can get
free and close at hand....YMMV. Here, it's grass cuttings, sheep manure
and seaweed. Water it (I use urine) and put the lid on. The stuff inside
heats up very fast and in just a couple of weeks sinks almost to ground
level. Then slide off the barrel upwards like a sandpie mould, and start
again elsewhere.

Kick the soil from round the barrel sides back over the top of the
compost pie and it's done; no more digging or barrowing. I've just
planted courgette seeds on the first one.

Janet.