In article ,
Warwick Michael Dumas wrote:
Once again my totally NON-expert advice is offered:

Well, I am no expert, but I have done things like this and have read
about them in many places.

Paul Taylor wrote in message et...
I am considering putting my kitchen waste (peelings + eggshells) into a
trench where I am going to grow peas this year (garden and mange tout). I
haven't done this before so a few questions:

I wouldn't ever use eggshells. Or any animal compost that isn't
clearly safe from creating peculiar moulds etc in the compost you are
trying to make, or possibly acting as a habitat for some kind of weird
disease. And it seems unlikely you can really ever have a volume of
eggshells such that throwing them away would be much of a waste.

You have been listening too much to the government and other propagators
of nonsense. There is effectively no danger of any sort from composting
any kitchen waste from material that is safe to use in the first place.
The only real danger comes from feeding it to livestock of a similar type
to that which produced the material.

How successful is this method of composting - will it be nicely composted
for the crop that I put in the year after (which won't be peas as I
rotate crops).

In my experience, not very successful at all, but it could depend on
the volume of your trench. I guess unless it is a couple of feet each
way it's going to decompose a lot more slowly than in a heap, because
of not being exposed enough underground. I once tried burying some
compost material and found it again a year later. Even green manures
can take 9-12 months after they're dug in before they're actually
adding value I think.

It depends critically on the type of soil and weather. Light soil,
warm and damp weather (not sodden) and it breaks down in next to no
time. Buried in cold, waterlogged clay, it will take a long time.
In bone-dry sand, it will simply dessicate and not rot until there
is water again.

Peas need carbonic compost, being peas, and so if something makes good
general compost you're probably better off using it in the compost
bin. I found that minced leylandii worked as a pea trench material
after it had been left for six months.

Hmm. Peas are legumes, and like quite a lot of nitrogen. Minced
leylandii after 6 months will effectively act as a somewhat acid sponge
and little else.

How exactly should the trench be done - I guess it would be about 12
inches deep and then say three inches of soil on top of that where I sow
the seeds?

I would think you need more than 3 inches, or their roots won't be
very developed when they're having to deal with the material... in
fact they'd come to the end of the normal soil before they were a week
old.

That will depend critically on the composted material and how far the
process has gone. Most plant roots will be harmed by compost in the
early stages, especially compost containing a lot of animal material
or waste. But most are quite happy once the soft material has broken
down - they don't need the process to have completed.

Can the same method be successfuly used for other veg? In particular
(because I also plan to grow these this year too), marrow, courgette,
squash and cucumber.

I don't think so, not everything's as tough as peas. I've never heard
of using half-made compost stuff with any other crop, and I think the
principle that applies is probably that plants requiring a decent
amount of nitrogen will react poorly to being deprived of it, by it
being locked up in a decomposition process.

That effect is grossly over-stated, and can easily be dealt with by
adding some general-purpose fertiliser. It is a traditional method
of growing cucurbits, and also works very well for solanaceae. But
see my warnings above.

So I would say definitely don't try with cucubits at all. They need
the richest and most well-made compost you can find. Might have a
chance with something long-lived like a brussels sprout but I don't
think so.

It is traditionally used for cucurbits to add a bit of bottom heat,
and works fine. But I have never tried with raw compost, and the old
descriptions that I saw always said to give the raw waste some months
to start breaking down before planting on top. My guess is that you
could plant after a month in the summer, given suitable material and
soil, but spring planting would best be done on a trench filled the
previous autumn.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679