Peat?

[smallblueplanet]

Looking quickly at their website I see they have a 'chicken poo' registered trademark - so it could be they use chicken poo from battery farms in their products?

Have to say checking for compost being veggie is not something that crossed my mind before - hope the New Horizon stuff is okay!?

[smallblueplanet]

It might be that the 'animal product' is only in their fertiliser zazen, as when I looked on this page

Compost Advice | Fertiliser Advice | Mulch Advice

It says for compost:

What is compost?
It is a bio-logical process. GREENS, (grass, fruit, vegetables, dead flowers) and BROWNS (cardboard, pruning, hedge trimmings)
together provide the right
combination of carbon, nitrogen
and moisture to feed the good
microbes that make great
compost

But for fertiliser it says:

In a nutshell: concentrated plant food.

Organic fertilisers are derived from remnants of plants and animals: animal by-products,
plant remains and food wastes

[zazen999]

AARRGGHH

Can't blooming win, can we?

[salilah]

I wanted to try the Vital Earth seed compost - but only one stockist mentioned on their website within 30 (!) miles - and on contacting them, they don't stock it!
I'd like to go peat-free but find it hard - I bought some West peatfree MPC and if I sieved it to remove the twigs, I don't think I'd have enough to fill one Morrisons Bucket! Dreadful...
I went to the garden centre yesterday and got New Horizon MPC peat-free, but they didn't stock any peat-free seed compost, so I'm afraid I'm with John Innes with peat :-(
I keep trying!
S

[gojiberry]

As a pensioner I just can't justify spending over £5 on a bag of compost when I can get it for £3 in Wicks, regardless of the make up of the contents. I have already used 15 X 75lt bags this year and am only just starting the season. Unfortunately for some it is all down to price.

Ian

[Alison]

As a pensioner I just can't justify spending over £5 on a bag of compost when I can get it for £3 in Wicks, regardless of the make up of the contents. I have already used 15 X 75lt bags this year and am only just starting the season. Unfortunately for some it is all down to price.

Just being nosey now but how are you using 1125l of compost for? I thought I used a lot but have only bought one bag this year so far - promise this really is just nosiness, always interested to see how other people do things.

[timethatthetaleweretold]

Just being nosey now but how are you using 1125l of compost for?

Yeah, 15 bags Gojiberry, WOW!

I'm on my 4th bag and hope to get away with only another 2 this year.

Just to be on topic...
It's Arthur Bowers, low-peat compost, chosen for price (3 big bags for 10 pounds at wyevale) and because it's the one i'm used to using with consistent success with seeds etc.
(although, inspired by another thread, I have considered adopting a seiving habit - it's a bit bitty).


If i had to witness first-hand, the destruction of a peat bog it might distress me. But then so would seeing an animal slaughtered and I eat meat.

(incidentally, I was a strict vegetarian for 13 years.)


But my (maybe naive) feeling is that Peat is a natural resource to be exploited within reason - just as the sea-bed is dredged for aggregates and coal is mined, wood comes from forests, fish comes from seas.



Btw, did anyone else try out their fertile fibre sample?
I got mine and found it a bit complex to use. It tasted of coconut which was nice, but when i added the water as directed it turned out to be way too much water - still coconut soup afer 24 hours. Perhaps being a hard water area makes a difference.
It made a welcome addition to my compost heap.

[planetologist]

This is one of those no brainers. Peat is such a natural resource where it occurs naturally and is just broken down if put on a garden (with a very short term gain while that happens) that of course it should be left where it is.

[SueA]

Btw, did anyone else try out their fertile fibre sample?
I got mine and found it a bit complex to use. It tasted of coconut which was nice, but when i added the water as directed it turned out to be way too much water - still coconut soup afer 24 hours. Perhaps being a hard water area makes a difference.
It made a welcome addition to my compost heap.

I've used mine, I sowed some chilli seeds in it & they came up fine, there was just enough material to fill a small pot. Maybe you added a bit too much water or if you used cold water in a large container maybe it couldn't absorb the liquid easily. Being impatient i used warm water as it suggested to speed things up & used a very small plastic tray & the fibre was ready to use in just minutes.

[Two_Sheds]

I got New Horizon MPC peat-free, but they didn't stock any peat-free seed compost

the NH is perfectly fine for seeds, it's what I use. It's actually less twiggy and bitty than the B&Q 67% peat one