really old style living?

Primrose

mardatha - Without using bought fertiliser? That's difficult if your growing space is of any size. I do, of course have a compost heap but relying on that alone would never give me enough compost to dig in to all my growing areas and I do supplement it sometimes with bagged composted manure bought from garden centres. . I'm occasionally lucky enough to get small quantities of free manure, and if I had more energy I'd cut down the stinging nettles in our nearby footbath and either compost them or put them in a big container and soak them in water to produce a liquid fertiliser.
There's an argument against using your own poo if you're a meat eater or on medication although this used to be a regular way of maintaining soil fertility years ago when everybody had a privvy at the bottom of the garden and the contents of the Thunderbox were regularly dumped onto the garden. My grandparents had this system at one point, grew their own crops and I never knew them to suffer any illnesses as a result. Scrounging neighbours' garden waste and composting it down might be a solution but only if you know they haven't used weedkillers on their lawns or sprayed their hedges with something nasty. Some local authorities have a day when they will allow free compost collection from their composting sites. Worth checking with your Environmental/Recycling department if you've got a car and means of getting there to collect it and dig it into containers.

boultdj

mardatha wrote: »

Can I ask the organic gardeners in here -- how do you keep the garden fertile and producing well ? Without using bought fertiliser ?

I use the content's of my composte bin,put the composte on the soil after it's been cleared of plant's in late autum so the weather/worm's can do the work of getting it into the top layer of soil I like gardening not digging then I just fork it over + weed in spring when I want to plant think's.hth.

mardatha

thanks poppy!

annie123

mardatha wrote: »

Can I ask the organic gardeners in here -- how do you keep the garden fertile and producing well ? Without using bought fertilizer ?

My little 10' x 30' garden has 2 compost bins, 1 for use in the autumn and 1 for the spring.
The 1 I'm filling at the moment will get used in spring, whilst the other one, (the contents of which are decomposing now not being topped up) will be used in the autumn, then I start filling that one and stop filling the other one if that makes sense.
I also will be sowing a green manure.

http://www.allotment.org.uk/fertilizer/green-manures.php

This year I will sow some Mustard as I happen to have the seeds already, must cut down before it flowers or that will be the only thing I have in my garden for years! and broad beans end of sep/beg oct depending on the weather, which I chop down feb/march again depends on the weather and dig into the top 6" of soil.
In April a little fish blood bone (not good when your a veggie!) and thats it.
This year I did use tomato food for the first time, haven't noticed any difference in crop so won't bother again.

Primrose.....an argument against using your own poo:eek: I can think of lots!

I'd start with a compost bin Mar, see if your local council gives them for free, our one did this year, but I couldn't justify a 3rd bin, that would be greedy:o

mardatha

I've got two big compost bins annie. Got some nice compost out of the bottom but the rest was just mummyfied plants ! So keep going all winter with the compost then, and I had fish blood & bone last year, but I really wanted to know how to do it without buying anything, being self sufficient . I will lookat green manure TY,

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

I hear the sound of a hundred deflating egos as we all realise that the thanks we get are only page markers. :rotfl:

Personally - I shall stick to clicking the "Thanks" button just for saying "Thanks" or "I agree" or suchlike.....:)

I've had several moments - at various places on MSE - where I've thought "But....but....that poster just said summat ...<cough> not very nice <cough> and so-and-so has thanked them for it:eek:.....and had to go off and remind myself that so-and-so quite possibly hasnt REALLY been agreeing with the "not-so-nice" comment that some "person" has just put - they've probably just been placemarking and not realised it might be taken as agreeing with the :eek: comment that the other poster made.

Just a thought for consideration....

D&DD

I'm planting ala Geoff Hamilton this year and as I'm lifting something,I chuck in a handful of blood,fish and bone then plant new stuff so theory is over the course of a season the whole lot gets fertilised without loads of muck digging.Much less work and so far we're having a bumper year.

We have two compost bins squeezed in and once or twice a year mulch round the top with whatevers ready.We have no grass so neighbours been giving me her cuttings,I mix this with stuff from the shredder and then get whoevers home to 'water' it for me :DMulches down lovely when combined with the prunings and kitchen waste.

NualaBuala

mardatha wrote: »

:embarasse:embarasse:embarasse - erm, the wee arrow next to the bit that says "view first unread" ....?that wee arrow ? :rotfl::rotfl:

Yep, that's what I have too.

ceridwen wrote: »

Personally - I shall stick to clicking the "Thanks" button just for saying "Thanks" or "I agree" or suchlike.....:)

I've had several moments - at various places on MSE - where I've thought "But....but....that poster just said summat ...<cough> not very nice <cough> and so-and-so has thanked them for it:eek:.....and had to go off and remind myself that so-and-so quite possibly hasnt REALLY been agreeing with the "not-so-nice" comment that some "person" has just put - they've probably just been placemarking and not realised it might be taken as agreeing with the :eek: comment that the other poster made.

Just a thought for consideration....

Guilty as charged!! I always used it automatically and there are times my brain has taken a few minutes to catch up and I realise I've thanked something I really disapprove of!:o At least now if I catch myself doing that, there's the remove thanks button. I am trying hard to be less judgmental though and take the attitude that the (very few) posts that I vehemently disagree with or even annoy/offend me should be thanked as they are teaching me a lesson in tolerance and patience. I generally do mean thanks in the usual sense though.:D

Ellidee

Just saw this and wanted to share - make your own shampoo http://lifeblessons.blogspot.com/2010/06/recipe-for-making-your-own-shampoo.html haven't read all of this thread so apologies if this idea has already been mentioned.

seasalt_2

mardatha wrote: »

Can I ask the organic gardeners in here -- how do you keep the garden fertile and producing well ? Without using bought fertiliser ?

Seaweed, compost, green manures, supplemented by recycled tea (think about it!) and collecting horse and cattle poo from our fields. I also grow quite a large patch of comfrey and have plenty of nettles. Sometimes use spoiled silage (haylage) as a mulch.

Sometimes the seaweed puts itself onto the garden!