"Stuart Naylor" wrote in message
...

A wisp of a gray moustache and mostly gray shoulder length hair?
That sounds like someone I know.

doesn't sound like anyone _i_ know. i'm a girl, really ;-) (i take it
you're
not, though).

Correct, I'm not.

.... although stuart would be a loverly name for a girl, don't you think? g

I said "That sounds like someone I know" because I'm married to her.

does your wife mind you discussing her moustache on usenet? :-)

They even made a song about us.

"Darling we are getting older
Silver threads amongst the gold"

gd&r

I don't usually buy potting mix, this is my first year trying it and
so far I've been quite happy. My usual habit was to use well matured
home made compost which also works well.

i have problems getting _quantity_ of compost... any tips?

Tips, where do I start?

You need to have patience because you don't get compost overnight, but
eventually you will have heaps of terrific compost and you will be in
here asking how to get rid of it all.

it took me about
2 years to make enough to make cucurbit mounds this year (which are
brilliant!! i love them!!! and i've got volunteers sprouting away like
mad,
which isn't as much fun as i thought it might be...)

Start in the kitchen by having a container to place your vegetable
peelings, skin from fruit, crushed up egg shells, small bits of paper
and cardboard, coffee grounds and tea leaves etc. which are all good.
Empty regularly in the compost.

Depending on what you pick up with the vacuum cleaner it can usually
be emptied in the compost too.

Long gone are the days when our groceries, bread & milk were delivered
by horse and cart and when the horses left manure behind there was a
race between neighbours to see who would get it.

*Don't throw out anything which could be placed in the compost.*

hm. see, i do all of that. one thing might be, we eat the skins of almost
everything, so tend not to make all that much kitchen waste, and now we've
got chooks _they_ get half the stuff that used to go into the compost, (so i
suppose i'm making even less now!!) ... although one is amply rewarded with
pooey straw (my newest gold mine) so that is all right.

perhaps what i need to do is switch around containers - i only use one, & it
just never "fills" (so i've never organised another one ;-), so maybe i just
need to learn to leave it alone after a while & start another one instead.

When you brought your compost with you what type of container was it
in?

i turned my (plastic) compost bin upside down, taped it all around so it
wouldn't come apart en route (ick), and shovelled the compost back into it!
when we got to this end, dh set it all up again (i'm not interested in the
details ;-) but i put teh compost into a pit i found, just to finish it off.
voila!

i'd LOVE a tumbling composter - i'd make special collections for it if i
had
one of those. sigh....

I'd love a tumbling composter too if it was donated and I didn't have
to pay for it.

they are pricey!! i'm just thinking the expense would be well worth it in
the long (or even medium) term. one can make them from old metal drums, but
sadly for me i can't weld. i might ask a friend of mine who can weld if i
could make it up to him somehow if he'd do the appropriate welding for me.
or i might just go & buy one & be done with it!

I have 2 compost bins (once the first is full I start
putting compost suitable items in the second).

I also have a small section of the garden dedicated for compost where
I dig in vegetable peelings and other small items that breakdown
quickly. That is a terrific little spot which I can always rely on to
get some good soil for a pot or basket etc.

we used to do that at one point. it is marvellous, i must say! (and quick,
too).

Weeds and lawn clippings are all good for the compost, small branches
are fine but avoid large branches because they take too long to break
down. I don't put dog droppings in the compost.

My dogs keep me supplied with stray cats and dead birds which all
break down fairly quickly. gd&r

do cats break down quickly?! wow!

The advantage of a tumbling composter is that the compost can be
turned over frequently and easily which is important. So whether your
compost is in a bin or just dug into the ground it needs to be turned
over with a fork or shovel, at least say once a week or so.

c'est ça. i use a big crow bar because my bin is a dumb one, deep but
narrow. i don't like it, actually (but it was free!! ;-) i really do think
if i'd a tumbler, i'd make more effort to fill it with leaves, etc. (or
rather, encourage my children to do so, perhaps).

You certainly can talk the talk. I had to use a bloody search engine
to find out what in hell a solanaceae was.

mwahahahahaha! and another humble gardener commences his education in
plant
families! vengeance is mine!!!

LOL.

Vengeance is yours!!! You win!!!

give me a full report on the umbelliferae by thursday ;-)
kylie

--

Stuart