Making my own soil

[rary]

I am changing my flower beds around the back garden so I am in the process of shredding everything I am lifting and cutting down, the trees and bushes are willow, red oak, elder, buddleia, raspberries along with loads of crocosmia and various other green leaf plants, so far I have three brown bins (large refuse bins used for recycling garden waste) along with three 200lt bags with more to follow with this volume of shredded material I have more than I would use on the garden, so was thinking of filling a large builders rubble bag with some of the shredded material along with course sand (from a six by two hot bed I had in the greenhouse) and seaweed and several bags of leaves which I have collected, I was thinking if I do this now it should compost down to a good soil by next May when I could plant it up with some gross feeding plant. Do you think it would work or have I been thinking to much on a certain chicks wild (but I think great) ideas to try

[veggiechicken]

Phew, all that running!!

I'd bung it all in the bags, top it up with some decent compost and plant into that. Sounds quite rational to me.

[Jay-ell]

Sounds like a good idea. Ad in lots of cups of ta made from loose leaves. The extra nitrogen will help the wood shredding break down.

The shredded soon might take a while to break down so you may need to top up the nitrogen levels regularly next year with nettle tea and liquid gold.

do you have any empty plastic bottles?

[bario1]

You could throw in a few layers of good topsoil as well, to give it weight and give the little soil microbes a head start?

[Cadalot]

What you are proposing with some added topsoil is exactly what I did for my raised Tree Onion bed

[rary]

Jay-ell I have a high nitrogen 26-16 16 pelleted feed do you think I should add that as I fill the bag?

[Jay-ell]

If you add too much all at once there's the risk that it will just get washed away. I'd add a bit now, more in spring then add a little at a time.

[BUFFS]

I did it like you are doing, and everything got shredded, chopped, mowed and layered when we moved here, to improve the soil in parts of the garden, that done, we then started on the veg patch and it is now 3ins higher with all the added matter, plus, when I went over to raised beds I filled them with the raw home chopped stuff, left it open over the winter and put some topsoil on in the spring, it worked great, but I didn't try to grow carrots in it for two years as it would have been too rich, it gives really good parsnips now, one 6 x 3 bed gives us enough to last us, with them averaging about 15-18ins usable root. someone gave me a big, 8/9ins ball of worms from his compost heap and I reckon they helped a lot, we fill a 6 x 3 x 3ft freezer to the brim each year from the patch and I reckon we save mega money, don't forget your newspapers and cardboard too, it all helps...power to your elbow..

[rary]

Thanks for the idea BUFFS I have a stack of newspapers and cardboard that I could add I hadn't thought of adding paper, I was thinking of growing a courgette and possibly try a pumpkin which I have never tried before though don't know if it's worth growing, plus I have worms from my wormary which I will add to the bag of shredding along with some soil and worm compost

[boatsman]

Where on "earth" do you get worms from. I have had my present garden just over six years and in all that time I have never seen an earthworm in the soil or anywhere. Mind you the soil is heavy clay with the occasional chunk of limestone, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[BUFFS]

For the courgettes I dig a hole, 3 x 3ft and throw all peelings, lawn mowings, swept up leaves, etc, and keep throwing more in the open hole until February / March when I would cap it with six inches of topsoil that is a mound shape, by May the area will be ready to grow mega veg, and the only cost is a little spade work..

[veggiechicken]

I keep thinking this thread is about Humanure and rary's output
Sorry, but it just had to be said

[lottie dolly]

what did growers do before compost was invented

[rary]

I keep thinking this thread is about Humanure and rary's output
Sorry, but it just had to be said

Your just saying that to try and please me

[Jay-ell]

I keep thinking this thread is about Humanure and rary's output
Sorry, but it just had to be said

Your just saying that to try and please me

I thought most of Rarys' output involved a male bovine.