Page 17 - ALG Issue 3 2018

Composting in August, September and October
August should see the last of the early planted broad beans, enabling the bean plants to be pulled up, chopped and added to the compost bin. It also sees the start of the sweetcorn crop. Any stalks pulled up accidentally during harvesting should be chopped or shredded before composting. The sweetcorn cobs should be chopped and composted once the corn has been removed/eaten.
During the summer, if you have a lawn, there should be a good supply of grass clippings. Be sure to add sufficient browns to prevent them forming a black, smelly, anaerobic mat inside the bin. If you
find that you have more than you can compost in your bin, consider Grass Boarding.
As a composting bonus, there will be leftover salad and other food from barbecues as well as the ash from lump wood charcoal (not briquettes).
Continue harvesting comfrey every two weeks.
Many composting sources say that hair can be composted, but
it never seems an effective use of time to collect a few strands of human hair from the comb or brush. Nevertheless, summer can see dogs shedding their winter coats and even if the hair is not saved from grooming there are likely to be sufficient amounts collected when vacuuming to make a trip to the compost bin worthwhile. As I have two Clumber Spaniels which shed continuously throughout the year my vacuum cleaner provides a constant supply of dog hair.
Autumn is also considered by some as the best time to start composting, as the tidying and cleaning up of the garden in readiness for winter provides plenty of material, and hopefully the bin will have time to get into its stride before the worst of the cold weather.
Autumn is also recommended as a good time to apply compost as a mulch. It can be applied both to established beds and around specimen plants.
Whether starting a new bin or operating an existing one, getting it decomposing well throughout the autumn, when the weather is kind, will help to provide a good crop of compost in the spring. If an open pile or New Zealand bin is being used, cover it, either with carpet, tarpaulin, or a compost duvet, so as to prevent the material becoming waterlogged and aerate it so as to keep it working for as long as possible.
It is a good idea to increase the surface area of waste added
to the bin in the autumn, even if the material added to the bin is not usually shredded for the rest of the year; this helps speed the composting process. If it is soft material, it can be put on the lawn and run over with the lawn mower if a shredder is not available.
There is likely to be a lot of material available at this time of year.
If it is not practical to start a second bin, store it in a covered pile. It is important to keep the pile dry, as dry material will heat up in a bin more quickly than wet. Material being saved in the autumn for use as a bulking agent in food composting e.g. sawdust or composted wood chip, should also be kept dry (I keep mine in plastic dustbins).
September is the time to compost the dead (or dying) summer flowers and material from the last of the summer vegetables, including the plants themselves, e.g. beans, globe artichokes, tomatoes and peppers, and those cropping during the autumn e.g. marrow squashes, leeks and main crop potatoes.
Continue harvesting comfrey until late September when it should be left uncut for the leaves to die off naturally.
In October, any remaining summer crops can be composted along with potato helms and beetroot tops as they are lifted. Any remaining climbing bean, pea or tomato plants can be chopped into small pieces for composting as the supports are taken down. Discoloured and blotchy leaves are safe to compost as the organisms causing the blotches will be broken down during the composting process. The roots of plants with soil borne diseases such as brassicas with club-root and white rot in onions should not be cold composted as the spores will survive.
Squashes and pumpkins can be harvested, and the plants chopped and composted. Carved pumpkins can be composted after Halloween.
Autumn weeds can be composted if the allotment is dug, manured and left for the winter.
Rod Weston www.carryoncomposting.com
National Allotments Week – Events Near You
National Allotments Week started in
2002 as a way of raising awareness
of allotments and the role they play in helping people to live healthier lifestyles, grow their own food, develop friendships and bolster communities. It is still thriving 12 years later and, during the post war period, interest in growing your own fruit and vegetables has never been stronger. For the last few years we have had a theme for the campaign week and this year we are encouraging everyone to get ‘Living and Growing’ and grow food in their gardens, balconies and backyards.
We are hoping that visitors to Allotment Open Days and Events held during the week will be inspired by your love of gardening and vegetable growing to try
it at home and consider taking on an allotment for themselves. Renting an allotment gives you access to the space necessary for growing crops like potatoes, onions, sweetcorn etc. but it is also possible to grow food in small spaces.
Many vegetables have attractive leaves and flowers and look great in a cottage garden or backyard. Runner and French bean flowers come in white, red, purple and yellow, and will clamber up a support in a sunny spot. Most salad ingredients are quick and easy to grow in pots of good compost, cut and come again lettuce will even thrive in a semi-shady spot. Herbs are a vital ingredient for most cooks and can be grown in pots by the kitchen door, and rosemary or lavender can make a low hedge. Small fruit trees on dwarfing root stock are a productive and pretty addition to any garden and, if kept in pots, can be transferred to an allotment.
Did you hold an event at your site? We would love to see some images for a National Allotments Week collage in ALG4. Email natsoc@nsalg.org.uk before 4th September.
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Event details:
Check out the events listed for National Allotments Week on our website – some areas hold events for a month not just a week
A National Allotment Society initiative
National Allotments Week 2018
13th -19th August
Living
and
Growing
Open Days and Events to encourage everyone to get living and growing their own!
www.nsalg.org.uk