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Posted by Angela (U14946651) on Saturday, 30th July 2011
I'd just like to ask - are gardening programmes supposed to be informative or are they just entertainment? Yesterday's programme started briefly on compost. Monty showed us the sort of stuff you might put in your compost heap and told us that we had to aeriate it. That was it. How much grass to dry stuff? Do we water it? What about activators/urine etc. Also, most of us with small suburban gardens have little composters; the council take the garden waste away but we are supposed to compost our household food waste. How do we deal with this? I have a very old book that my father bought when he got married (1945). It tells us about bacterial action, nitrogen, phosphates; things we might add to speed up decay, slugs, beetles etc. etc. It was a book published by the Daily Express and is a collection of gardening articles from their paper. Are we so stupid now that we can no longer deal with that sort of stuff? I won't be throwing this book away any time soon!
Angela
To be fair -how to make compost has been shown so many times my eyes glaze over when the information is shown yet again - not that it is bad advice is is just that it has been on before-so the information has been there and I can virtually guarantee the subject will come up again-until then back to your book!!
Geoff
There's a compost thread somewhere that will answer all compost questions.
and - yes - you can make good compost in a dalek, or in anything really
I've got one and asso some ex ordinary dustbins with holes drilled in - from the Council when we moved to wheelie bins.
The tumbler I have i would not recommend unless you are young and reasonably fit.
Hard to tumble over and it has whacked me once or twice as it goes round.
, in reply to message 3.
Posted by Pumpkin_Patch_Paul (U14565900) on Saturday, 30th July 2011
To be fair to Monty he answerd all the points of the OP in the program where he used is lawnmower to cut up the waste that went nto the first section,he also stated 70% paper/cardboard ect to 30% nitrogen mix, grass ect.......You must have missed it, even Mr Toad featured.
PPP
Just an observation of course, but I did find Monty's words about not needing to go to the gym, 'just turn a compost heap’ slightly amusing given his puffing & panting after doing it.
I've turned a few compost heaps in my time and can never remember it stressing me out that much.
I totally empathised with the red-faced, panting MD when I saw him turning his heap on Friday. It's not so much the moving of the compost from one bay to another, it's getting the stuff over those 1m50(ish) high dividers that does it ! A very physical cardio-vascular workout, not to mention the biceps.
Unless I'm reading him wrong, Monty does like playing the Mr macho man card at every turn....which caused me to post accordingly about his feeble effort when turning his compost heap.
I totally empathised with the red-faced, panting MD when I saw him turning his heap on Friday.Â
PS. Go on, Bluedoyenne...admit it, you were having a Colin Firth moment!
He is doing it whilst talking to camera......and making sure it gets his "good side" of course
, in reply to message 5.
Posted by the cycling gardener (U2350416) on Tuesday, 2nd August 2011
I've turned a few compost heaps in my time and can never remember it stressing me out that much.Â
Just a thought but I wonder how any of us would sound as soon as we exerted ourselves in the garden with a microphone fitted next to our chests that's designed to amplify everything emitting from our mouths?
I didn't find his words amusing at all but quite sensible. For Monty, and I expect for a good number of us, turning a compost bin is a good workout and the fact he huffed and puffed is evidence of that. If you don't huff and puff, perhaps you're not working hard enough or your body is so used to that form of exercise you need to up the anti and join a gym
I find Monty huffs and puffs a bit whatever he's doing but that's cos he's not an athlete trained to maximise his lung power nor an actor who's had breathing training. Carol thing on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú weather huffs and puffs too with no exertion cos she has bad breathing technique.
That aside, a reminder on composting is always useful. I've just been visiting my sister-in-law near Worcester and she hasn't a clue nor even a bin though she's going to get one now as she has finally become interested in her garden so was happy to have a basic introduction to the joys of composting, especially after I made her buy bags of rotted manure to improve her border before planting new goodies.
It's like sowing seeds, pricking out, pruning and so on - all regular tasks that need an occasional reminder for old hands and an explanation for new ones but I wouldn't expect a thorough guide every single time these are mentioned.
I do like the relaxed pace of this GW series but still feel, like others, that time is wasted on mod shots and more substance and/or subject matter could be included.
PS - OH turns our compost and barrows the good stuff about for me to spread and mulch - division of labour.
"Go on, Bluedoyenne...admit it, you were having a Colin Firth moment!"
Aaahhhhhh ..... Monty Don AND Colin Firth ....... a chair someone! I must sit down ...... (oh! terribly sorry Nooj. I didn't squash you, did I?)
Plenty of room BD.!
Re getting out of breath - isn't that the point of excercise - for health benefits.
If you don't get a bit out of breath its not cardio vascular or something.
All I can say is that at our house the girls turn the compost and boys muck out the pigs.....now throwing pig muck on to a trailer with a muck fork IS cause for breaking into a sweat.
I hope the link below, Angela, is of some help to you and to all those who've missed the many how to make garden compost segments on gardening programmes before.
Really useful site ArtemisH - thank you.
Thanks Geoff thedogcody - but why mention the subject at all if its not to be covered properly. Here's a compost heap and here's me shovelling it! Ha ha. Don't get me wrong - the programme is totally addictive but I wish we could have more than 2 minutes on any aspect of gardening.
Well there we go Bluedoyenne. It is eye candy after all! Well I'm not averse to that. Let's forget about compost heaps all together. Joking aside, keep up the good work folks - we all enjoy the programme for whatever reason we watch.
Well, not JUST eye candy Angela !
I can honestly say that I have a wonderful composting set-up (I call it my garden's kitchen) and all thanks to MD.
, in reply to message 19.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Sunday, 7th August 2011
There is a very long running thread on the veg forum on this subject...
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