Isn't any peat in compost an environmental no-no?

I have to say I have considered over the years the discussion as to whether or not Peat or Peat added Compost should/should not be used by Gardeners and have always said that when a comparable Peat free growing medium comes on the market at around the same price I would use it. However, in my opinion, that moment hasn't arrived as I have trialed various Peat free composts and found the results to be not the best and, in fact, some Peat free composts were more than poor.
I generally use and buy around 2500 litres or more of Peat Added Compost in 125 litre bales every year and would use an alternative if (a) it was as good a growing medium as Peat added Compost and/or (b) an equal/affordable price which it is not. Monty Don and other "celebrity" Gardeners advocate the sole use of Peat free compost, which is good, however you will notice that they also use it in large quantities because they can afford to, have larger wallets and purses than the ordinary gardener, and a lot of them actually add other materials to their compost to make up for the lack of nutrients etc.
As an aside, it always makes me wince when I see them showing Gardeners how to plant up pots for display using a quantity of plants that put the cost of that one pot of plants over the £100 mark.
Ireland is the main supplier of Peat for general purpose compost as we all know and they have been extracting Peat for centuries. They use the majority of Peat extracted for fuel in their Power Stations and have a project to reduce the usage but, despite claims to have substantially reduced the use of Peat for fuel that reduction figure is only around the 3% mark.
We are now, thank goodness, more environmentally aware in the UK than we have ever been, but Farmers still use Pesticides and Chemical fertilisers in great quantities. Gardeners still use Chemical Pesticides etc to control unwanted Insects etc in their gardens which also causes casualties to beneficial insects so we Humans are affecting all spectrums of the environment. I'm no leading light in the care of the Environment but, in my chaotic, over planted, Insect friendly, Cottage Style garden, I don't use Pesticides in any form as all forms of Life have a place in my garden. I do use chemical high Potash Fertilisers on my Hardy Perennials and Shrubs in the borders etc, but always with an monthly/annual addition of thousands of litres of garden compost/used commercial compost
So, Yes, I would love to buy, and use, a Peat Free Compost in large quantities but, despite Marketing and Advocaters claims, I have yet to trial and find a usable. comparable, affordable in the quantities that I use, Peat Free Compost. The sooner, in reality, that happens the happier I will be. but it ain't happened yet

 

I don't think I used the fact that the Irish have been using peat as fuel for their Power Stations in my post as a counter argument to the non use of Peat in compost I don't think anyone will say that Peat extract is, where ever it is extracted, is an ideal situation but my point was, and I thought I had put it fairly clearly, that at this present time there is not a viable answer to Peat added Compost in the form of Peat Free compost either as a growing medium and that the other problem is that what Peat free Compost is being market is expensive.

Which is a fine sentiment, but doesn't recognise that the majority of gardeners don't even have space in their gardens for a Compost Heap, have the time or skills to turn actually turn garden waste into a useable form of growing medium, or can afford the loss of seedlings due to the fact that their homemade compost wasn't disease free, friable enough or had the correct nutrients in it. The average gardener wants success with his/her garden and, at the moment, the only marketed growing medium that they can buy in quantity and at an affordable price is not any Peat Free Compost medium being sold in the UK at this present time.

Who can argue with that?, but it should be put into context in that Peat extraction in Scotland, Wales and England is almost non existent and is not being used for the mass production of Peat added Compost. The fact is that peat extraction on this Island is, because of our recognition that conservation and the protection of the environment is vital, is considered "politically incorrect" and there is a large agenda of Peat conservation and renewal by DEFRA.
At the risk of repeating myself, when the Horticultural Industry produces a Peat free growing medium that the ordinary gardener can afford, while also knowing that it will perform as well as Peat added Compost, I will be the first to buy and use it. But, at the moment, it is not and I don't believe it is fair or correct to pressure the ordinary gardener, who is already well aware of the present situation regarding composts and it's environmental effects but has no choice but to buy Peat added Compost, by making them feel guilty or vandals because they have no choice. The pressure should be applied on the Horticultural Industry to produce an affordable Peat free compost and not one that only those who have a large wallet/Purse who still have to add other materials to make it a reasonable growing medium.
We do not have average gardeners behaving as though they don't care about the environment as most of gardeners want to bring Nature into their gardens but are restricted by cost and availability in how and what they use.

 

Granted, Shuyei, but the fact is that even Peat extracted from a "Bog Friendly" area by a legitimate provider is still frowned on by Peat Protection Organisations and, to be honest, there is no such thing as a "Bog Friendly" product if Peat is being extracted from it due to the fact that Peat takes such a long time to be made by Nature.

 

This is typical of discussions where both sides have cogent and legitimate arguments.

It reminds me of the discussion in 'Fiddler on the Roof' where Tevye (considered to be a wise man) was asked to adjudicate an argument between two people.

He turned to the first one and asked him to state his case. He listened carefully and after a few moments said to him "you're right".

He then turned to the second one and asked him to state his case. He then said to him "you're right too".

Someone in the crowd that was gathered round called out "you've said that they are both right. How can that be?".

To which Tevye said "you're right too!" shrugged, turned round and walked away.

 

I have tried Dalefoots compost along with several other composts, WoolyBack, and found it, despite the marketing blurb and my wanting it to be a success, to be less than poor and along with the others it needed more nutrients and additives to even get seedlings to push their heads out of it. Dalefoot compost costs around £10.50 for 30 litres, I can, and do, buy 125litres General Purpose Peat Added Compost for £6.49 OR 600 lltres for £80 and I know with the last two that I can be guaranteed good growth with my plants.
A good percentage of gardeners are of a "mature age" who's income is not great and they have to be ingenuous in the way they can garden to the full but they find the cost of Peat Free Compost to be beyond, for practical purposes, their income. I'm a member of several local Gardening Clubs which are suspended at the moment due to Covid 19, and all of the members in discussions in the past have said they would like to use Peat Free Compost but (a) there wasn't, they found, a comparable growing medium to Peat Added Compost and (b) the cost was beyond their abilities. One of the other points I heard was that they had bought the Peat Free Compost in good faith due to the Marketing claims of the Manufacturers and were more than disappointed and upset with the results as the failures cost them much needed money and, more valuable, time.

To be honest, I would argue that Wildlife (i.e: Insects such as Bees, Hover Flies, Wasps, Butterflies, Ants, Frogs, etc are not just "nice" to have in the garden but vital to ensure the general working structure of the environment around us and, perhaps, should be more prioritised than focusing on Peat extract which is less than minimal in Wales, Scotland, and England.

I think if you do a little research you will find that most Peat extraction is in Ireland, and not Northern Ireland. There is a very small, and I do mean small, amount of Peat being extracted in Scotland and the market for that are the Commercial Growers and none goes to the production of Peat added Compost for the general public. Those small extractors of Peat in the UK have to have a licence to operate and DEFRA is giving them a lifetime of 7 years and then extraction will cease. DEFRA cannot not do anything to stop the Irish extraction of Peat. The more we do to protect the Peat Bogs and, more importantly, the Wildlife from insects to mammals the better, but let's not sling the anchor of guilt around the average gardener but pressure the Horticultural Organisations to produce that much needed Peat Free Compost that, in reality, is not being produced as an equivalent to Peat Added compost.

 

The standard of non-peat based compost, although improved, is still dire. A few of years ago we had a thread on here where I had complained to the supplier, and then the manufacturer, about the quality. The manufacturer actually flew over from Ireland to check what I was complaining about and then agreed that it was not good (my wording was 'useless') and took away my remaining 8 bags and replaced them with peat based compost and compensated me for the other 8 bags I had already used - the results of which (alongside the results from peat based product) showed the very poor to non-existent quality of the product.

They said they had been following EU guidelines for producing peat free compost and it was all supposed to have been through quality control. Apparently it had passed the factory test needed but obviously didn't survive actual practical use.

We are provided, each year, with a bag of 'new' peat free compost to try out alongside peat based product. So far, no competition. We use close to 6,000 litres per year as well as over two tons of our own garden compost. We do not use any chemicals at all on the garden but do use vine weevil killer on the pot plants that we sell for charity.

When they are able to produce an acceptable peat free product at an acceptable price I shall be first in the queue.

6,000 litres of the current peat free compost would mean the charity loses somewhere in excess of £600, not withstanding any possible loss of sales from the poorer result of growth of the plants.