Hello

I am a novice gardener and I have recently been some very helpful advice
from the members of this group regarding starting a vegetable patch.

I have now dug my patch and planted my first batch of lettuces and
strawberries. However, my questions relates to compost. My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it. All the books I have read on the subject have advised to mix the
compost with the soil before planting. I have already planted so can I just
spread the compost on the surface of the soil? Would that benefit the
plants at all?

Thanks in advance

Jo

My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it.

You will need a bit more than a bucketful. Farmyard muck is probably easiest
and plentyful to get going with.


------------------------------------------
The Hemyock, Devon, UK branch of The Residents Appreciation Society.

http://english.aljazeera.net

"Jo Hall" wrote in message
...
Hello

I am a novice gardener and I have recently been some very helpful advice
from the members of this group regarding starting a vegetable patch.

I have now dug my patch and planted my first batch of lettuces and
strawberries. However, my questions relates to compost. My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it. All the books I have read on the subject have advised to mix the
compost with the soil before planting. I have already planted so can I
just
spread the compost on the surface of the soil? Would that benefit the
plants at all?

Thanks in advance

Jo

Hi Jo,

Spread it on the surface of the soil to act as a mulch. The nutrients that
it contains will leach into the soil and benefit the plants, as well as help
supress weeds, although a bucket full isn't likely to go very far.

Mixing the compost with soil is normally done to make the compost 'go
further' or can sometimes be 'too rich' for seedlings or small plants.

HTH

Nick
www.ukgardening.co.uk

"Dcjtee" wrote in message
...
My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it.

You will need a bit more than a bucketful. Farmyard muck is probably
easiest
and plentyful to get going with.


------------------------------------------
The Hemyock, Devon, UK branch of The Residents Appreciation Society.

http://english.aljazeera.net

Although make sure it is composted manure. If used neat it will scorch your
lettuce and strawberries.

Cheers

Nick
www.ukgardening.co.uk

Jo Hall wrote in message
...
Hello
I have now dug my patch and planted my first batch of lettuces and
strawberries. However, my questions relates to compost. My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it. All the books I have read on the subject have advised to mix the
compost with the soil before planting. I have already planted so can I
just
spread the compost on the surface of the soil? Would that benefit the
plants at all?
Thanks in advance
Jo
If you plan on making your own compost pile you can use the bucket as a
starter. If not then yes you can spread the compost like you would mulch.
The nutrients will leach into the ground and be taken up by the plants. If
you bag your grass cuttings you can use that as well which will retain
moisture. In the fall the layer of mulch can be turned into the soil. I
think of it as a continuous composting operation. Once every two weeks I
spread a little 10-10-10 on the surface of the "composting mulch" to assist
the process.

In article ,
says...

If you plan on making your own compost pile you can use the bucket as a
starter. If not then yes you can spread the compost like you would mulch.
The nutrients will leach into the ground and be taken up by the plants. If
you bag your grass cuttings you can use that as well which will retain
moisture. In the fall the layer of mulch can be turned into the soil. I
think of it as a continuous composting operation. Once every two weeks I
spread a little 10-10-10 on the surface of the "composting mulch" to assist
the process.

How do people stop the level of their soil rising too much if they keep
adding these mulches? Is there somewhere you can dispose of the old
stuff?

The message
from "Jo Hall" contains these words:

Hello

I am a novice gardener and I have recently been some very helpful advice
from the members of this group regarding starting a vegetable patch.

I have now dug my patch and planted my first batch of lettuces and
strawberries. However, my questions relates to compost. My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it. All the books I have read on the subject have advised to mix the
compost with the soil before planting. I have already planted so can I just
spread the compost on the surface of the soil? Would that benefit the
plants at all?

Thanks in advance

Jo

Yes it would. The worms will do the hard work and draw the goodness
down. Personally I`d only do it to the strawberries as I am not sure how
lettuce reacts.

If you really get going then you have to get your crop rotation right to
suit each veggie. E.G. Root crops like carrots dont like compost or
manure as it makes them fork. Plenty of advice out there and plenty of
good advice available in this newsgroup too. 8-))

You`ll like having strawberries you can just pop down the garden to munch on.

nick gray29/3/04 2:58

snipMy neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it. All the books I have read on the subject have advised to mix the
compost with the soil before planting.
snip

Hi Jo,

Spread it on the surface of the soil to act as a mulch. The nutrients that
it contains will leach into the soil and benefit the plants, as well as help
supress weeds, although a bucket full isn't likely to go very far.

Mixing the compost with soil is normally done to make the compost 'go
further' or can sometimes be 'too rich' for seedlings or small plants.

How about adding the compost to water and using it as a feeding solution?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Inge Jones
writes
In article ,
says...

If you plan on making your own compost pile you can use the bucket as a
starter. If not then yes you can spread the compost like you would mulch.
The nutrients will leach into the ground and be taken up by the plants. If
you bag your grass cuttings you can use that as well which will retain
moisture. In the fall the layer of mulch can be turned into the soil. I
think of it as a continuous composting operation. Once every two weeks I
spread a little 10-10-10 on the surface of the "composting mulch" to assist
the process.

How do people stop the level of their soil rising too much if they keep
adding these mulches? Is there somewhere you can dispose of the old
stuff?

It rots down, gets used as food by plants - overall, the level of the
soil does not rise appreciably.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

The message
from Inge Jones contains these words:

In article ,
says...

If you plan on making your own compost pile you can use the bucket as a
starter. If not then yes you can spread the compost like you would mulch.
The nutrients will leach into the ground and be taken up by the
plants. If
you bag your grass cuttings you can use that as well which will retain
moisture. In the fall the layer of mulch can be turned into the soil. I
think of it as a continuous composting operation. Once every two weeks I
spread a little 10-10-10 on the surface of the "composting mulch" to
assist
the process.

How do people stop the level of their soil rising too much if they keep
adding these mulches? Is there somewhere you can dispose of the old
stuff?

The last thing you want to do is dispose of precious old stuff! It's
black gold.

Mulched soil doesn't "rise up too much". As the mulch material
decomposes it shrinks; worms drag it down, eat digest and expell it, and
ultimately, plants feed on the broken down components. I often pile on
mulch at least 6 inches thick on the soil surface; by the end of a
growing season it will have completely disappeared, the soil is at much
the same level as it was before mulching...but much richer.

Think about it; mulch becomes the humus in soil. Plants are built from
what they extract from the humus. Left to their own devices, they
ultimately return to the soil when they die, to become humus in their
turn. When we pull out, or prune plants, we're interrupting that cycle
of soil-replenishment and taking something away. In other words, beds
that are continually cropped, whose soil is not replenished with
soil-building material, gradually shrinks.

Janet.

In article ,
says...

The last thing you want to do is dispose of precious old stuff! It's
black gold.

Mulched soil doesn't "rise up too much". As the mulch material
decomposes it shrinks; worms drag it down, eat digest and expell it, and
ultimately, plants feed on the broken down components. I often pile on
mulch at least 6 inches thick on the soil surface; by the end of a
growing season it will have completely disappeared, the soil is at much
the same level as it was before mulching...but much richer.

Think about it; mulch becomes the humus in soil. Plants are built from
what they extract from the humus. Left to their own devices, they
ultimately return to the soil when they die, to become humus in their
turn. When we pull out, or prune plants, we're interrupting that cycle
of soil-replenishment and taking something away. In other words, beds
that are continually cropped, whose soil is not replenished with
soil-building material, gradually shrinks.

Janet.

Yes that makes sense. Thing is I've got such a tiny garden that when we
bought some manure and soil improver last year before planting, it all
heaped up several inches! The fact we'd just dug it all didn'thelp,
because that always puffs it out a bit too.

Well I'm not going to have a compost heap of my own and the neighbours
don't either as that would take up about 20% of the planting area, so
what's the best easily-available bagged stuff to spread each year?

Inge Jones wrote in message
. ..
In article ,
says...

Well I'm not going to have a compost heap of my own and the neighbours
don't either as that would take up about 20% of the planting area, so
what's the best easily-available bagged stuff to spread each year?
The easiest thing to do is use your rear bagging lawn mower and just empty
it and spread the grass clippings. In the fall use it to collect the leaves
and such. In the fall add some lime to neutralize the acidity of the
leaves. How much, just add cups at a time. You can not have too much lime.
If you can get some 5 gallon buckets( 18 to 22 liters) with tops you can
pack them tight with leaves, sticks and stuff add some water and some
10-10-10 and
cover tightly. Leave them in the sun and in about 6 weeks you have some
very rich, very smelly stuff to top dress between the rows. It really does
smell bad if done right but the plants love it. Any gardening book will
have a more complete description.

Inge Jones wrote in message
. ..
In article ,
says...

Well I'm not going to have a compost heap of my own and the neighbours
don't either as that would take up about 20% of the planting area, so
what's the best easily-available bagged stuff to spread each year?
The easiest thing to do is use your rear bagging lawn mower and just empty
it and spread the grass clippings. In the fall use it to collect the leaves
and such. In the fall add some lime to neutralize the acidity of the
leaves. How much, just add cups at a time. You can not have too much lime.
If you can get some 5 gallon buckets( 18 to 22 liters) with tops you can
pack them tight with leaves, sticks and stuff add some water and some
10-10-10 and
cover tightly. Leave them in the sun and in about 6 weeks you have some
very rich, very smelly stuff to top dress between the rows. It really does
smell bad if done right but the plants love it. Any gardening book will
have a more complete description.

The message
from "Jo Hall" contains these words:

I have now dug my patch and planted my first batch of lettuces and
strawberries. However, my questions relates to compost. My neighbour has
kindly donated a bucket of homemade compost and I am not sure what to do
with it. All the books I have read on the subject have advised to mix the
compost with the soil before planting. I have already planted so can I just
spread the compost on the surface of the soil? Would that benefit the
plants at all?

Yes, and yes. The worms will mix it in, however, you can help matters by
gently hoeing it in the surface.

But don't give any to root veg or (especially) to onions.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article ,
says...

The easiest thing to do is use your rear bagging lawn mower and just empty
it and spread the grass clippings. In the fall use it to collect the leaves
and such. In the fall add some lime to neutralize the acidity of the
leaves.

It's not that sort of garden just a deck and gravel and some borders.
I've tried to shape it imaginatively, but the tree is still little more
than a sapling, so it's not doing much in the way of fallen leaves yet
either. I must sort out some pictures!