Compost turning back on the agenda

8th January 2020 - Jobs for the day

Put bins bags out for collection
Feed and let out poultry
Check rat traps, move one into stable to catch the rat in there
Batch freeze soup made yesterday - by the way, concentrated orange and pineapple squash is not a suitable substitute for the juice of an orange in a butternut and parsnip soup recipe
Go to doctors for vaccinations for upcoming trip
Check out swan flock that has appeared in the fields on the way to the doctors. (49 Bewick's Swans and 140 Whooper Swans)
Clear perennial weeds from two veg beds, mulch with an inch of compost to protect the surface and provide goodness for next year. Cover with fleece until it settles down to stop the ducks and chickens moving it back off again.
Turn 2019 compost heap.


Yes. TURN 2019 COMPOST HEAP.
This is significant as it's the first time I've actually been able to turn the compost since the end of August. I don't want to build my hopes up too far, but months of gingerly pottering around in fear of aggravating my back pains may be coming to an end. Enforced rest (which has driven me stir crazy) and half an hour of exercises every night seems to have finally got me to the stage where actually using and exercising my back muscles, within reason, is helping my recovery.

The compost which I started back in November 2018, when I decided to trial no dig, has shrunk unimaginably. Despite my best efforts, there will only be enough to cover about a fifth of my veg beds. This has always been a concern of mine about the no-dig system as I see post upon post on Facebook where people are bringing in compost. To me a truly regenerative system needs to be self-supporting and this is what I am constantly searching for.
On a more positive note, I have a humungous pile of compostable material that I have amassed during 2019. I've just not been able to turn it of late.
From the outside it looks nothing like compost as the outermost surface is recently added material, but when I turned it today it didn't take long to reach usable compost. The best stuff was where I had added woodchip which comes directly from trees and shrubs grown specifically for harvesting for this purpose.
In fact I reckon I will be able to cover close to half of the veg beds with what I have produced.

This is encouraging and spurs me forwards to producing more and more compost. The willow bed will go from strength to strength, as will the elephant grass, both specifically cultivated for adding to the compost. Their roots will stay in the soil to add structure.

I was disappointed not to be able to try my oats experiment this year. The idea is to sow oats quite thickly after the earlier harvests. I can get whole oats as animal feed for less than £5 for a 15kg bag. The oats will grow enough to protect the soil surface, then get killed off by the frost. Come springtime they can be raked off and added to the compost.
I don't know anybody in this country who uses this method but I have seen it on YouTube and can't see why it won't work.