veg gardening in containers.

[bluemoon]

well i came up with one of my novel ideas.
I keep all those plastic lids from cd stacks 50x.
i drilled holes in thebottom of one, lined with kitchen roll to stop the compost going through, placed it inside another one, which left a half inch gap at the bottom, so I can keep the bottom cell topped up with rainwater to keep the compost moist, but can drain it occasionally to stop the water getting stale.
its not a large pot of course, but if it works I shall cobble together a larger version with tubs.

You're a genius! Patent it and we'll all be buying them in a couple of years

[BrideXIII]

You're a genius! Patent it and we'll all be buying them in a couple of years

best wait and see if it works first

[Gwen11ian]

I have absolutely no place to compost (I grow my veg on my doorstep and a few hanging baskets).. any suggestions as to what I can add to the soil this fall to enrich it for next year? I'm not going to throw it all away, and I don't have a garden or allotment to spread it over. I plan on emptying all the pots into one pile and giving it a good stir, add in a bag of fresh, then near the bottom of the pot as I re-distribute the soil I will put in a nice layer of something to rot down for next year. I have a few worms in the soil that I find from time to time, so I expect they'll help the process.

I was thinking of something like used tea bags and coffee grounds. Something already a bit processed and likely to compost quickly. What have you used or have heard suggested?

Especially for the pots I'll plant with runner beans next year.

[BrideXIII]

I have absolutely no place to compost (I grow my veg on my doorstep and a few hanging baskets).. any suggestions as to what I can add to the soil this fall to enrich it for next year? I'm not going to throw it all away, and I don't have a garden or allotment to spread it over. I plan on emptying all the pots into one pile and giving it a good stir, add in a bag of fresh, then near the bottom of the pot as I re-distribute the soil I will put in a nice layer of something to rot down for next year. I have a few worms in the soil that I find from time to time, so I expect they'll help the process.

I was thinking of something like used tea bags and coffee grounds. Something already a bit processed and likely to compost quickly. What have you used or have heard suggested?

Especially for the pots I'll plant with runner beans next year.

well I am doing pretty much the same, all the used stuff gets mixed down, fed and new stuff added in, although my nieghbour is giving me all the rabbit poo and hay and straw etc, which I will be spreading liberally about, will be smelly no doubt, but as my mum said, ' so what, you are growing veg to tatse it, not smell it'.

[Gwen11ian]

I was considering going out into Richmond Park with a plastic bag and collecting up horse manure left on the riding trails.

[BrideXIII]

I was considering going out into Richmond Park with a plastic bag and collecting up horse manure left on the riding trails.

good idea, I am sending my kids up the park with a bin bag each to collect fallen leaves for leaf mould.

[BrideXIII]

Update, re above: i jokingly mentioned this to my eldest, and he came home from walking the dog yesterday , with a bagfull PMSL.says he will do it every time he goes up the park now.

as for the mudpatch, things move swiftly. having aquired two MORE raised beds today due to the fitters doing my kitchen rescuing two carcasses for me rather than just smashing them apart, I am running out of lawn space.

I have laid a path down the greenhouse('s), and have enough left to lay across at right angles to 'quarter' the lawn, which is now mud due to the wet weather and me tramping over it endlessly, so I am considering digging up each quarter, for proper beds, it means i will have NO lawn at all, but, on reflection, we don't use it as a lawn, it can always be re-seeded as lawn later if I decide its too much growing space for me, and it will give me something to do during the winter.
Am I totally mad?