On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 10:55:12 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:

~On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 21:51:31 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:
~
~In message , Stephen Howard
writes
~
~Don't recall ever seeing any organic gardening publications
~recommending burning waste as opposed to composting it - save for
~obviously diseased material.
~
~Composting isn't all that much better. ISTR that fungal decay is about
~third down the list of sources of dioxins in the environment.
~
~We're all doomed!
~
~Most people have bonfires because bonfires are fun.
~
~And to be fair fire is a pretty effective way to sterilise most things.
~Though some hardy spores may actually be distributed in smoke by the
~updraft.
~
~Probably find that more spores are distributed simply by the process
~of gathering up all the stuff into one place.
~
~Mind you, one has to wonder about the checks and balances - on the one
~hand there's a load of bonfires, and on the other there's a load of
~cars, lorries and heavy plant shoving garden waste around.
~Compost miles, I suppose.
~
~It is never as clear cut as you might hope.
~
~If you extend the comparison to include the manufacturing of the plant
~and packaging that surrounds the whole operation it starts to look as
~clear as mud.
~
~The council started a green waste collection scheme in this general
~area some time ago. It's not a pretty sight to see thundering great
~refuse trucks ploughing their way through the narrow sunken lanes
~round here.
~
~That's a valid point - a soggy bonfire is not a happy bonfire.
~Round about now I burn all the twigs and broken off branches from the
~plum trees, and throw the ash round the roots - seems to work for me,
~I get good yields in spite of being rather neglectful of my plums!
~
~They tend to go biennial if you don't look after them. My neighbours
~tree has so many plums this year that the entire village has been
~supplied!
~
~That explains why I've been getting a good crop every second year
~then!

My lottie has got biennial apples - feast or famine! This year's a
feast, and how...

~Keep meaning to get in there and sort them out, but the plot gets
~thoroughly overgrown with weeds, nettles and brambles come mid-summer
~- and there are so many trees that even scouting round the perimeter
~and picking the fruits within arm's reach yields more than I know what
~to do with.
~And I have something of a dilemma with the brambles - they produce
~very large and juicy berries that come into season just after the main
~thicket over the other side of the garden.
~Decisions, decisions...

I've made so far 15lb bramble jelly this year. Not to mention 5lb
raspberry jam (after freezing loads for eating), 3lb blackcurrant, 2lb
redcurrant jelly, 2lb plum, and have just embarked on herb jellies
(basically apple jelly made with part water and part distilled vinegar
and herb leaves) to try and use up some of the bounty rather than
leaving it to go rotten. As it was I didn't get all the redcurrants as
I was fed up of picking them! There are a lot of very sated birds this
year too...

But the brambles (Himalayan giant) are going nuts. Still have pounds
to pick...

jane

~
~Next year I expect it will have almost none (like last year).
~
~I think last year was a good year too - but then it was an exceptional
~one.
~
~Similarly I too find it helps the onions along - those beds that are
~treated with ash seem to produce more robust onions...though still not
~so robust that they won't fall prey to a spot of grey mildew in some
~years.
~
~I reckon the onions like the extra drainage from the charcoal and the
~fruit like the wood ash. YMMV.
~
~Sounds reasonable to me!
~
~Regards,
~
~
~
~--
~Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
~www.shwoodwind.co.uk
~Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

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