The section on compost extracts on www.carryoncomposting.com page on Compost Teas ( http://www.carryoncomposting.com/441149730)  has been revised.

Simple Compost extracts can be made in less than 20 minutes and applied immediately, making them very convenient if there is not enough time to brew aerated tea.  Compost extracts require a larger volume of compos than teas and can be used as a soil drench, root dip during  transplanting or as an activator added to  compost heaps.  Compost Extract can be made agitating or vigorously mixing  compost in a bucket of water, or by running water at pressure through compost. The easiest method of doing this is to put the compost in a mesh screen bag, as would be used for making aerated compost tea. Put the silled bag in a bucket of fresh compost and leave until the the compost is soaked. The bag should then be agitated for a few minutesso that the water washes through the compost. The bag is then left for another five minutes and the agitation repeated. Compost Extract is often usedto boost the soil  round established trees

February continued processing material from the allotments. Last year's flower stalks which are now dry, brown stems, leeks and weeds, with quite a lot of soil on their roots where the main items this week. Traditionally a layer of soil was often included when layering a bin so the weed and  soil would count as a soil layer to introduce local microbes to the bin or at least that is my excuse.   Cardboard was used as today's layer of browns. A cow manure layer was added to give a boost to the layers of flower stalks. This bin should be filled next week.

When using cold composting techniques, you are often advised not to compost perennial weeds as the roots will not be killed during  the composting process  allowing the weeds to grow wherever the compost is spread. The  advice often given is to drown the plants by soaking them until they turn to “sludge” of to dry them on a rack. We use stacking bread trays as a drying rack with the plants exposed to the sun during hot dry periods.  During wet weather it helps to cover the weeds and we have recently started using a builder’s bag to cover the rack  keeping the roots dry and in the dark over the winter months.

It must be noted that many composters, including me,  do not worry about perennial weeds being added to my  pallet  bins preferring to remove any surviving weeds at the sieving stage  when composting is complete and a hoe to deal with any that try to germinate when spread as a mulch.

More information at Perennial Weeds

But if you dry your weeds the buildings bag is  recommended and keeps the rack looking tidy.

More information on treating  weeds can be found at www.carryoncomposting.com  perennial weeds

Composting Talk  The Benefits of Compost in the Garden  an  Ashby Ivanhoe Garden Society  meeting  at  Packington Village Hall 7pm 15^th  March.

 Another composting  talk before the growing season gets fully underway. This session,  in addition to providing an introduction to composting methods, including the use of compost teas  , using  compost  in the garden  as a soil improver  which will increase  the organic materials to the benefit of the soil web   and the environment

The Garden society is  a friendly, informal group. Visitors are welcome. Upon payment of just £1 with tea/ coffee and biscuits are an extra 50 pence. There is no need to register just turn up. 

Food Waste Action Week     9th March 2022.(please note change of date)

FWAW will  highlight the amount of food waste produced in the UK  and  how it contributes to climate change.

As part of the approach Rod Weston (www. carryoncomposting.com)  will be offering a practical workshop at the Stokes Wood Composting Demonstration site, Stokes Wood Allotments, Leicester. on the home composting of cooked and uncooked food and kitchen waste and the role this can play in the reduction of food waste collected by councils. This is a chance to see how food waste can be  easily   an excellent  garden  soil improver. Ideal for use in no-dig gardening.

Participants will have the chance to use the following  domestic composters Green Johanna,  Hotbin,  Aerobin,  and Jora  as well as a Green Cone Food Digester. For those in flats or with small gardens  there will be a demonstration of Bokashi indoor food fermenters  and information on making a homemade Soil Factories to produce soil to top up patio pots etc from the pre-compost produced by the Bokashi bin .

For further information and registration forms contact carryoncomposting1@gmail.com