Hello Garden banter forum,

As you guys can see from the title I am looking into getting some edible organic fruits and vegs on the go. I'm not much of a gardener and this will be my first attempt so I thought it was best to find some information before jumping into the compost.

I have read online that the best compost is your own compost made out of dead leaves, twigs and veg peels. So it makes sense if my first step was to make some compost but how do you go about doing it?? I understand so far the above and that you have to mix it with soil and water then leave it for a few moths, before you know it you have compost. There must be more to it than this?? any help would be greatly appreciated.

So, once I have my compost, what would be the best veggies to grow in September in England? It will be getting rather cold so they will have to be winter veggies?. Even know it's not really a veg I thought that potatoes seem to be an easy start? but really I want things like tomatoes, eggplant, chilies and things like this.

Really looking forward to speaking with you guys and getting my small organic garden started! All help really appreciated.

Thanks

On 6/6/2017 11:56 PM, compo77 wrote:
Hello Garden banter forum,

As you guys can see from the title I am looking into getting some edible
organic fruits and vegs on the go. I'm not much of a gardener and this
will be my first attempt so I thought it was best to find some
information before jumping into the compost.

I have read online that the best compost is your own compost made out of
dead leaves, twigs and veg peels. So it makes sense if my first step was
to make some compost but how do you go about doing it?? I understand so
far the above and that you have to mix it with soil and water then leave
it for a few moths, before you know it you have compost. There must be
more to it than this?? any help would be greatly appreciated.

So, once I have my compost, what would be the best veggies to grow in
September in England? It will be getting rather cold so they will have
to be winter veggies?. Even know it's not really a veg I thought that
potatoes seem to be an easy start? but really I want things like
tomatoes, eggplant, chilies and things like this.

Really looking forward to speaking with you guys and getting my small
organic garden started! All help really appreciated.

Thanks




We use a composter, a black plastic barrel on a stand. Grass clippings,
tops of pulled veggies, etc. go into the composter. Inside on the
kitchen counter there is a large, gray plastic bucket on the counter.
Yes, it's from an old portable toilet from when wife was recovering from
surgery many years ago. Vegetable peelings, anything that will compost
that shows up in the kitchen. When it gets full it gets emptied into the
composter.

Anything compost able, including newsprint that has been torn up so as
to rot quicker. Alternatively you can just start a compost heap in the
backyard. Either way you need to churn the heap frequently so as to get
it composting quicker. Note: modern newsprint uses a print type that is
from a vegetable type ink that rots quickly and safely. Do not use slick
magazine paper. Our area gets a newspaper once a week that is free and
is thrown on the front lawn. Most of our neighbors don't even pick them
up but we will go out and pick all of them up on our block and then put
them through the paper shredder and then into the composter. A few days
later you can't even see the paper.

It just takes some time to make the compost whether in a heap or a
barrel. If you have some decent dirt (we don't) you will be able to just
turn your compostable stuff into the dirt and it will compost itself
plus earthworm's will do a job eating it up and you have good soil.

That's a lot of work but it is the best way to get good earth and good
stuff to eat, eventually.

Our garden is raised bed as our house sits on five feet of gumbo clay
with a few inches of sand on top of it. Basically the builder raised the
ground up to avoid flood insurance. We've been working on our raised
beds, four feet wide by 32 feet long for five years now and our garden
is prolific. We also do the same things to the length of the back fence
by digging our compost into the clay and also put a little gypsum into
the area as gypsum mixed into the sand/clay makes the clay start to
degrade and will, eventually, turn into true soil.

That's a long winded set up but, eventually, you make good dirt.

George

compo77 wrote:

Hello Garden banter forum,

garden banter is an interface website
which actually uses what is called usenet.
so your article actually went far beyond
the uk to the rest of the world via the
usenet newsgroup rec.gardens.edible...

if you want to avoid their leechcrap you
can get an actual usenet reader and subscribe
via free usenet services (like eternal
september). some e-mail clients have usenet
options built right into them.


As you guys can see from the title I am looking into getting some edible
organic fruits and vegs on the go. I'm not much of a gardener and this
will be my first attempt so I thought it was best to find some
information before jumping into the compost.

I have read online that the best compost is your own compost made out of
dead leaves, twigs and veg peels. So it makes sense if my first step was
to make some compost but how do you go about doing it?? I understand so
far the above and that you have to mix it with soil and water then leave
it for a few moths, before you know it you have compost. There must be
more to it than this?? any help would be greatly appreciated.

selecting a garden space and getting it ready.
what is your garden soil like? how is the drainage
and light? how will you control wildlife? almost
all animals seem to find garden's tasty. will you
need a wind block? irrigation?

compost can be added later. for most new gardens
in decent soil you may not need any additional
nutrients the first season.


So, once I have my compost, what would be the best veggies to grow in
September in England? It will be getting rather cold so they will have
to be winter veggies?. Even know it's not really a veg I thought that
potatoes seem to be an easy start? but really I want things like
tomatoes, eggplant, chilies and things like this.

it will likely be too late for the warm
weather crops if you wait a month or more to
put them in. is your garden area ready for
planting now? get the plants and get them
planted. use the spacing recommended on the
tag (often it is a good idea to read the tags
before you plan where to put things so you
don't crowd things).

i'm not a potato expert at all. i don't
know what their season is like. this will
be the first time in many years we've put
in potatoes.


Really looking forward to speaking with you guys and getting my small
organic garden started! All help really appreciated.



i've been organic gardening since i moved
in here and it's been going pretty well. my
climate is somewhat different than the uk's,
but i'm still in a cool climate (so we are
just now putting in the warm weather crops)
our last frost was a few weeks ago.


songbird

On Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at 2:29:55 AM UTC-4, compo77 wrote:
Hello Garden banter forum,

As you guys can see from the title I am looking into getting some edible
organic fruits and vegs on the go. I'm not much of a gardener and this
will be my first attempt so I thought it was best to find some
information before jumping into the compost.

I have read online that the best compost is your own compost made out of
dead leaves, twigs and veg peels. So it makes sense if my first step was
to make some compost but how do you go about doing it?? I understand so
far the above and that you have to mix it with soil and water then leave
it for a few moths, before you know it you have compost. There must be
more to it than this?? any help would be greatly appreciated.

So, once I have my compost, what would be the best veggies to grow in
September in England? It will be getting rather cold so they will have
to be winter veggies?. Even know it's not really a veg I thought that
potatoes seem to be an easy start? but really I want things like
tomatoes, eggplant, chilies and things like this.

Really looking forward to speaking with you guys and getting my small
organic garden started! All help really appreciated.

Thanks




--
compo77

We're about 95% organic. We use a little chemical fertilizer to get things going and I spray the orchard with insecticide and fungicide, but we rely mostly on compost for the gardens. Here's a link to a picture of the compost bin system I built several years ago;

http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/pa...tml?sort=3&o=0

I sunk eight 8-foot fence posts to make three bins four feet across and eight feet deep. A ring of 2x4's around the top stabilized the whole thing, then I put woven wire fencing around the sides and back. The front doors are 18 inches high.

Currently, we're using compost from the right bin and putting weeds in the center bin. Next year, we'll start using compost from the middle bin while putting the weeds in the left bin. And so on, rotating the bins.

Paul

Wow, guys some great replies and very detailed. I am going to make a start on the area of my garden where I will be composting. I think for my first a 2m long by 1m wide by 1m tall will be a good start for my first compost try out, and then if all goes well I can extend.

I am surprised at the number of different items you can add to a compost heap. I'm deffo going to get onto all my family members and get them to save all of their trimmings for me so I have more to add in the beginning. Time to get my gardening gloves on and get to work. Speaking of gardening gloves, I do need a good pair that are puncture resistant if possible. I have found some on this site https://www.easyprices.com/f/Home/Re...rdening+gloves but do they actually work?

As I start to build my little composting project I will post pictures up to keep you guys updated on the build and the materials I use, if there is anything that you think could be done better along the way please throw in your thoughts and opinions.

On Monday, June 12, 2017 at 4:29:52 AM UTC-4, compo77 wrote:
Wow, guys some great replies and very detailed. I am going to make a
start on the area of my garden where I will be composting. I think for
my first a 2m long by 1m wide by 1m tall will be a good start for my
first compost try out, and then if all goes well I can extend.

I am surprised at the number of different items you can add to a compost
heap. I'm deffo going to get onto all my family members and get them to
save all of their trimmings for me so I have more to add in the
beginning. Time to get my gardening gloves on and get to work. Speaking
of gardening gloves, I do need a good pair that are puncture resistant
if possible. I have found some on this site http://tinyurl.com/yamfnrge
but do they actually work?

As I start to build my little composting project I will post pictures up
to keep you guys updated on the build and the materials I use, if there
is anything that you think could be done better along the way please
throw in your thoughts and opinions.




--
compo77

If you can get any fresh manure around your area, like from a riding stable or a cow farm, add that to the pile. We raise sheep so every few months, I sweep out the sheep barn and throw that on the compost pile. It's just enough to make a thin layer but the bacteria in the manure speed up the composting process.

Also, we have a wood stove, so during the winter I scatter the ashes on the garden and compost pile. Lots of good minerals in ashes.

Paul