Composting

Composting is a great way to boost the health of your allotment. It’s a win-win situation – you dispose of your garden and allotment waste (old plants, leaves, trimmings, windfall fruits, annual weeds and grasses, crushed eggshells, teabags, coffee grounds, vegetable and fruit peelings, shredded cardboard/newspapers) and, after six months or so, you are left with a nutritious ‘black gold’ which will give a fantastic feed to your plants, as well as improving the soil texture. So a compost bin is an essential for any keen gardener.

But it doesn’t just have to be in the compost bin, you can also ‘trench compost’, by digging a trench, filling it with your compostable material and covering it again with soil. The compostable items will rot down in their own good time, creating a healthy base for your next crops (this method is especially recommended for crops grown in rows eg. beans). For a useful article giving guidance on methods of composting, click here.

Having problems with your compost heap? Find a solution.

PS: If you find one of these chunky fellas while digging out your compost, don't worry... it's the larva of the Rose Chafer Beetle and it is great at making compost. So put it to work again and toss it back into your compost bin!