The section on composting has been revised to take into account changes made by suppliers since 2018. Addition infomation is included on microplastics released into the hot water when making tea which should further encourage the change to plastic free teasbags  Follow the link to What Can I compost?

Celebrate Compost Awareness Week a day early by attending the first Composting course at Stokes Wood Allotments on 2^nd May. This will enable you to spend time during the week dedicated to composting internationally  putting your newfound knowledge into practice.

Neglected compost bins and heaps are a feature of many allotment sites and it would seem some  plot holders would prefer a bonfire or paying the council to process their waste or making their own compost. These  bins  spoil the look of the site and demonstrate a waste of  a  valuable means of improving  the soil of the allotment.  The problem is not confined to allotments, a 2004 survey showed that as many as 40% of householders who had brought a bin and started home composting  stopped using because of a lack of composting knowledge. This led to Councils offering leaflets, web pages and trained “master composters” to provide support and advice resulting in a reduction in the dropout rate to  8-14% . In recent years  this figure has reduced further to  3.9% which is probably as low as it will go without further intervention.

There are a number of reasons for composters dropping out such as insufficient  waste to feed the bins, lack of time as well as specific problems relating to lack of knowledge of composting techniques and specific concerns relating to  smells, flies and rats.

 From the environmental perspective there is also a problem with cooked food waste  which requires special, quite expensive  bins to compost at home, although a pre-compost product suitable to be added to a normal compost bin can be produced using a relatively cheap Bokashi system.

 Low Cost practical courses

To help increase awareness of composting techniques and increase the scope and rate of composting at home and on allotments  we are starting a series of low-cost training sessions at the Stokes Wood Allotment Composting Demonstration Site,  2B Stokes Drive, Leicester, LE3 9BS. Details from carryoncomposting1@gmail.com

Periodically the question of adding onion and citrus to wormeries is raised by people new to worm keeping.  There is a lot of information on the web  and I have been prompted to list some of the sources that may be of interest. This is contained with more genral infomation at http://www.carryoncomposting.com/142941459 or by following this inernal link if already on carryoncomposting.com Wormeries

The general advice to the public seems to be that the onion family and citrus fruits should not be added to the wormery as they increase acidity and that as high acidity levels will kill the worms it is better not to add these materials. However, many sources report that  feeding  acidic materials in moderation  may not cause problems but it would be advisable to measure the pH regularly and add  lime as necessary to keep the material at or near pH7.

Onions, shallots, leeks and garlic can be added to the wormery but  preferably in  in small amounts or cooked first.

 https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=726

It  may take longer for the worms to eat the dry outer layer of onions. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-create-and-maintain-indoor-worm-composting-bin#feed

If added to the wormery in large quantities  onions said to burn the skin of the worms. https://www.wormcompostinghq.com/feeding-your-worms/

Onion skins and scraps  can also be added with caution to a conventional compost bin  traditional compost bin  they do not negatively affect the composting microbes present in the bin but their smell may attract pests and unwelcome wildlife. In both compost bin and wormery they are best cut into small pieces before being added so that they breakdown more quickly. Worms do not like the smell of the onion family so, when given a choice, they may be left uneaten until they begin to rot.

Adding shredded paper,  newspaper and cardboard  may  help control the onion smell and reduce the risk of attracting pests. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-compost-onions-72087.html

The situation is similar with citrus peel the advice is do not add it to the wormery but if it is added the worms will leave it until  the peel to starts to decompose and then eat them.

https://www.worm-composting-help.com/feeding-citrus-peels-to-worms.html

The first weeks of January seemed a quiet on the community composting site as the waste food from the Christmas events was composted during December and the site was a little on the damp. However, we have now started to receive brassica stalks as the finished spouts are being pulled up and brought to the reception bin for composting. Normally I would cut these into short lengths using the long loppers and then smash them using a hammer, but I was caught on the hop today without the hammer so am composting them in short lengths without crushing.
If untreated the stalks are just chucked into the bin, as is often the case on allotments, they can take in the region ofthreeyears  to breakdown in the compost bin. Cut into small lengths and crushed to expose the maximum surface area to the compost microbes the process is much quicker. Cutting and crushing is well worth the effort.
The photos show the stalks  cut stalks.