Looking forward to compost.....

[where2start]

.....only because i have just realised that i have spent a disproportionate amount on piggin potting compost etc over the last two months, just getting started.

A 70ltr bag of potting compost in the FI cost between £15 and £20

Today i bought some Vitax compost maker to help the process along.

The only problem is my lot are still forgetting to put things into the compost bin rather than the rubbish bin. Think i might have to get two household bins to remind them.

[where2start]

I think my lot are just so used to dumping it in the bin and it gets taken away once a week that they overlook the other uses for rubbish.

I will keep on at them to remind them and see how they take my constant nagging (because apparently i am very good at that!).

[Snadger]

I make my own to a variation on a John Innes formulae as I couldn't afford to buy the amount I use.
The only thing I buy is peat (boo hiss shame on me!)

7 shovel fulls of good garden loam

2 shovel fulls of sharp sand (scrounged)

2 shovel fulls ofwell rotted manure ( kept especially for compost)

3 shovel fulls of peat

I add handful of blood fish and bone meal as well.

To do it right it should be sterilised but with so many things sterilised in this world I don't bother.

[Paulottie]

I find leaf mould is the best potting mix ingredient, and stacking turfs is a traditional way of getting good fibrous topsoil- both of these are long term projects to get a good supply going but worthwhile doing.

I tend to buy sterile compost for sowing, less damping off and pest problems, and then for potting on I'll bulk out multipurpose with BF&B, loam , really old compost and manure mix, leafmould, sharp sand etc. a bit of grit. Apart from saving money you can vary the mix and get a more specific and better quality growing medium.

[Two_Sheds]

my crowd are just too lazy too go to the back door for the bucket, its not as if its hard to do

Yep!
Don't nag them, just get them to pick out every last peeling from the bin, until they get the message
If you keep doing it for them, they'll never learn

(Mr Sheds puts recycling on the ironing board in front of the bin, instead of in the bin. And his dirty laundry on the floor in front of the machine, instead of in the machine - so there it stays until he does it right. I'm such a harridan)

[Gwen11ian]

I keep a clear tall plastic pasta container on my counter, which is filled up with food scraps then emptied every other day or so. I don't keep the lid on it (I've never had any smell or fruit flies on it in the year I've been doing it).. so it's easier to get at than the rubbish bin under the counter!