On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 11:08:11 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage for
free
I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
concentration of heavy metals in it.

Some decades ago I lived in Woking, where the garden was in the Bagshot Sand
area. Leatherhead council, a mere ten miles or so away, marketed an
excellent compost which they produced from household waste. They charged,
if I remember correctly, 2/- per bag. I used tons of the stuff, until the
blighters ceased production. I never found out why they stopped the
project. I would willingly have paid five times as much for the stuff.

Wasn't it for the reason I gave?
It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)
--
Martin

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 11:08:11 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage
for
free
I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
concentration of heavy metals in it.

Some decades ago I lived in Woking, where the garden was in the Bagshot
Sand
area. Leatherhead council, a mere ten miles or so away, marketed an
excellent compost which they produced from household waste. They
charged,
if I remember correctly, 2/- per bag. I used tons of the stuff, until
the
blighters ceased production. I never found out why they stopped the
project. I would willingly have paid five times as much for the stuff.

Wasn't it for the reason I gave?

They never said why.

It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)

You should have seen/heard/read me before I started using the stuff.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
Rusty Hinge wrote in message
...
[...]
But beware of sawdust if you are averse to fungi appearing......

And it needs to be completely rotted before it goes in: wood needs a
lot of nitrogen to rot, and will take it out of your soil, which
doesn't seem to have much in the first place. If the stables are
mucked out very often, there may not be enough dung and urine to do
the job without a bought-in nitrogen source.

What's wrong with that? Ultimately you get the benefit of this "investment"
in nitrogenous fertiliser. Besides, pee is free.

You'd have to drink even more than I do (and I wouldn't advise it) to
make a big difference! Remember, we're planning to condition the soils
of a whole garden, not just a couple of beds. The sandy area will
remain hungry for years even with generous treatment: you mentioned
how you wanted much more stuff for your own sandy former garden.

Sure, bought-in urea, dried blood, ammonium sulphate, or whatever is
certainly an investment, and a good one: but the enquirer needs to
know that if he uses sawdust he'll have to *make* that investment, and
manage it reasonably well, or the sawdust will do more harm than good.

Mike.

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 19:17:22 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 11:08:11 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated sewage
for
free
I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
concentration of heavy metals in it.

Some decades ago I lived in Woking, where the garden was in the Bagshot
Sand
area. Leatherhead council, a mere ten miles or so away, marketed an
excellent compost which they produced from household waste. They
charged,
if I remember correctly, 2/- per bag. I used tons of the stuff, until
the
blighters ceased production. I never found out why they stopped the
project. I would willingly have paid five times as much for the stuff.

Wasn't it for the reason I gave?

They never said why.

I did a google. It's full of commercial web sites justifying spreading
heavy metals on your crops.
I can remember when it was stopped a long time ago.
The heavy metals get into the food chain and the water table.
Pumping untreated pig crap into agricultural land in NL has been
stopped for similar reasons. It was also a health hazzard.


It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)

You should have seen/heard/read me before I started using the stuff.

before you glowed in the dark?
--
Martin

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

[snip]

What's wrong with that? Ultimately you get the benefit of this
"investment"
in nitrogenous fertiliser. Besides, pee is free.

You'd have to drink even more than I do (and I wouldn't advise it) to
make a big difference! Remember, we're planning to condition the soils
of a whole garden, not just a couple of beds. The sandy area will
remain hungry for years even with generous treatment: you mentioned
how you wanted much more stuff for your own sandy former garden.

Sure, bought-in urea, dried blood, ammonium sulphate, or whatever is
certainly an investment, and a good one: but the enquirer needs to
know that if he uses sawdust he'll have to *make* that investment, and
manage it reasonably well, or the sawdust will do more harm than good.

Quite true. Years ago I tried, but could never manage, to treat my lawn
regularly to dilute urine. It developed a nice mottled effect, due to
uneven application.

Franz

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 21:46:08 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

Quite true. Years ago I tried, but could never manage, to treat my lawn
regularly to dilute urine. It developed a nice mottled effect, due to
uneven application.

You didn't allow for the wind Franz.

--
Martin

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 19:17:22 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 11:08:11 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

Some Sewerage Authorities will deliver lorry loads of treated
sewage
for
free
I bet normally they have to pay to get rid of the stuff. :-)
I thought that treated sewage is not suitable, because of the high
concentration of heavy metals in it.

Some decades ago I lived in Woking, where the garden was in the
Bagshot
Sand
area. Leatherhead council, a mere ten miles or so away, marketed an
excellent compost which they produced from household waste. They
charged,
if I remember correctly, 2/- per bag. I used tons of the stuff, until
the
blighters ceased production. I never found out why they stopped the
project. I would willingly have paid five times as much for the
stuff.

Wasn't it for the reason I gave?

They never said why.

I did a google. It's full of commercial web sites justifying spreading
heavy metals on your crops.
I can remember when it was stopped a long time ago.
The heavy metals get into the food chain and the water table.
Pumping untreated pig crap into agricultural land in NL has been
stopped for similar reasons. It was also a health hazzard.

I think you are right in that they probably fell for the heavy metal bother.
I don't know how councils will ever solve that one.
I also heard it say that because there was the occasional glass shard in it
(ground to a harmless state by their rotating fermenter, if that is the
right name), they became scared of the possibility of a big claim if someone
got seriously injured



It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)

You should have seen/heard/read me before I started using the stuff.

before you glowed in the dark?

And could still boast of a reasonable memory.

Franz

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 21:46:08 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

Quite true. Years ago I tried, but could never manage, to treat my lawn
regularly to dilute urine. It developed a nice mottled effect, due to
uneven application.

You didn't allow for the wind Franz.

No. The real problem was that I never knew where to put todays canful,
because I could never remember where yesterday's went.

Franz

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)

You should have seen/heard/read me before I started using the stuff.

before you glowed in the dark?

And could still boast of a reasonable memory.

You mean you think you've *ALWAYS* glowed in the dark?

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:162529


"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these
words:

It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)

You should have seen/heard/read me before I started using the stuff.

before you glowed in the dark?

And could still boast of a reasonable memory.

You mean you think you've *ALWAYS* glowed in the dark?

Only my halo.

Franz

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:
"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these
words:

It doesn't seem to have done you any harm :-)

You should have seen/heard/read me before I started using the stuff.

before you glowed in the dark?

And could still boast of a reasonable memory.

You mean you think you've *ALWAYS* glowed in the dark?

Only my halo.

Jesus!

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.