Gardening without buying compost

[veggiechicken]

Thanks ameno, that's very helpful.
I've not tried the Melcourt. May look out for some - just to see!!

[toomanytommytoes]

We've got 3 daleks full of maturing 2019 hot compost and another 500 L currently cooking away, so hoping not to have to buy any in this year. Reusing last year's potting mix to bulk out big containers like recycling bins or 50 L pots will help the homemade stuff last longer. Plants which aren't fussy about what they grow in (e.g. courgettes) will get some coffee grounds mixed in with the compost.

[Right Shed Fred]

This thread is fascinating. I just use whatever is nearest to hand when planting out beans, peas or whatever seeds. I plant almost everything in modules and keep it somewhere till it is a decent size I.e. as a minimum when I think it can survive a bit of a nibble by the various critters.
It has never occurred to me that there may be a major difference between the peat-free MPC I have a bag of at home or the home-made compost at the allotment. I've not noticed anything except a few weeds when I used to cold-compost. But now I hot compost, weeds are much much lower. I just pick the lumps out of MPC (peat free) or home made.

I stopped buying the special seed sowing compost as it is expensive. I had never thought of myself as a fast-and-loose person, but perhaps I live more dangerously than I realised...!

[muckdiva]

Following with interest. Spent way to much on the stuff last season and am looking to make more of my own...

[It never rains..it pours]

They have for seed sowing and raising young plants (container compost is done a bit later).

Best buys for seed sowing are:

Clover Multi-Purpose Compost (100% peat, so probably best avoided for environmental reasons)
Bathgate Champions Blend All Purpose compost
Thompson & Morgan Incredicompost
Humax original compost (same as above)

Verve Multipurpose Compost 50L (other bag sizes use different formulations) also performed very well, just missing out on Best Buy. And as an own-brand, it's cheap.

Thank you Ameno for the information. Thats me down to one bag Verve Multipurpose Compost 50L this year for seed sowing (surprised 50l is different to 125l as bag labels the same, guess different supplier). Intend to make rest myself, have 3000l space in 5 separate units so can seperate things ie not put last years toms in this years tom pots. One thing did get was a shredder, makes good job of most bigger stuff that use to go tip

[ESBkevin]

We usually buy one small bag of commercial seed compost for the difficult seeds. The rest we use our own compost sieved and mixed with leaf mould and some worm castings.
As many of you know we are aiming to be No dig so the effort goes into gathering material and making compost rather than digging and weeding. I have access to reasonable amounts of well rotted horse manure, but the last 75 yards to the plot is up a slope with a wheelbarrow. The first 5 loads don't seem so bad but the next 30 are hard work! The collection of leaves and green matter is lighter, but then the bulk required is many times greater so I'm doing a bit of both. I always seem to save a couple of bags of last years home made compost which tends to be quite fine by the following spring.