Community composting May

This week weeding has been a popular activity on our 60-plot allotment site with weeds forming the majority of material being left in the reception bin. However, there is quite a lot of soil attached to the roots of the weeds which may mean that the soil on the plots is slowly getting lower.

On the positive side many of the old methods of composting made use of one or two layers of soil in the bin to give the decomposing material a boost of local bacteria. These soil layers are being provided for me. I have also added a layer of freshly cut grass to give things a nitrogen boost. Grass has also been added to one of the Hotbins to bring that up to temperature after the lockdown. Rather than dry or drown the perennial weeds in the bin they have been cut and added to the bin with the annuals. Hopefully it will gwt hot enough to kill them,

This layered bin will be filled next week, and I will start weekly turning to help maintain temperature. The bin has been watered and is now covered with the cardboard which once wet will be torn up and added as a layer of browns. Photos of the site can be found at 

 

We wil be  making aerated compost tea (ACT) in next weeks blog