Organic Gardening
Return to DiscussionsJohn,
I don't know about the screening, but all of my gardening is done organically. The secret is compost. I collect anything that used to grow (leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps) and put them into my compost pile. I have a friend who has horses so I get lots of manure as well. If you just put it in a pile you'll have good compost in about a year. If you turn it every few weeks you can cut that time in half.
Phil, Great web-site!Thanks! I'll be clearing the garden this week and hopefully planting in about two or three weeks. I really want a workable compost pile this year. We've triedbefore but we're concerned aboutattracting rats. I have to find a way to keep it contained somehow. Pete
Glad you liked it, the PDF on compost is really comprehensive, I reckon you'll soon be an expert on it. Rats! that's a point, I've seen a few articles and TV features on compost lately, but no one has mentioned Rats. I don't know how you could deter them with a traditional metre square heap made from pallets or similar. I'm thinking you'll have to go for one of these modern plastic revolveable drum efforts. I hate the thought of buying something, I suppose you could make one, if you can find a big drum with a sealable lid. My Dad made his from a concrete coal bunker, but no lid and he did say the other day that something had been in it. I suppose you could go to the trouble of making a brick one, but you'd have to make a metal lid from a car bonnet (hehe, that's a hood in your language) I suppose they would just eat through a wooden one. I'll let you know if I hear of anything.
Phil.
Phil, Great web-site!Thanks! I'll be clearing the garden this week and hopefully planting in about two or three weeks. I really want a workable compost pile this year. We've triedbefore but we're concerned aboutattracting rats. I have to find a way to keep it contained somehow. Pete
Glad you liked it, the PDF on compost is really comprehensive, I reckon you'll soon be an expert on it. Rats! that's a point, I've seen a few articles and TV features on compost lately, but no one has mentioned Rats. I don't know how you could deter them with a traditional metre square heap made from pallets or similar. I'm thinking you'll have to go for one of these modern plastic revolveable drum efforts. I hate the thought of buying something, I suppose you could make one, if you can find a big drum with a sealable lid. My Dad made his from a concrete coal bunker, but no lid and he did say the other day that something had been in it. I suppose you could go to the trouble of making a brick one, but you'd have to make a metal lid from a car bonnet (hehe, that's a hood in your language) I suppose they would just eat through a wooden one. I'll let you know if I hear of anything.
Phil.
Maybe this will help you for next year concerning the rats. We had a problem with racoons getting into our compost so we researched and found that coyotes are a natural predator, so we were able to find bottled coyote urine at a local sporting goods store that sells hunting gear. Dribbled some of that on strips of cloth that we hung around the compost and garden. It worked great!
Bill