Friday 3 July

Now looking ahead to next year’s kitchen garden.

So much depends on the soil. I have been developing my compost area for 3 years - it takes a long time.

compost area

When I visited Berlin’s vegetable allotments last year, I saw a range of composting techniques involving quite a bit of science. I like to keep it simple. During the year I add garden cuttings and kitchen organic waste. I tend to leave the compost heap alone to do its own thing. I don’t dig it over much, but I do water it during the dry season.

At this time of the year, whilst the compost microbes are at their most active, I start to fork in manure from my local farms. I have about 1000 kgs of steaming manure mixed with straw which I will need to barrow down to the compost area. It’s physically demanding. Today I made a start.

It will take several months for the manure to rot down and condition so that it’s beneficial to plants rather than detrimental.