Best Supplier Of Compost 2023

This might help
How to make your own potting mix / RHS Gardening

 

I was out at the garden soil stage, where it says, Top Tip.

I'd just end up with lots of weeds, especially if I added my own compost.

 

I was contemplating using the soil from mole hills as that is from underneath and should have less seeds in it.........................he says hopefully

 

I remember years ago seeing people nicking molehills .

 

Already sieved Pete, no stones lol

 

There are still parts of Scotland where cutting and burning Peat is the main source of heat for the home and for cooking.

 

If we carried on burning peat to generate electricity and draining the wet lands for agriculture, then you have a very strong argument. But countries are moving away from burning peat, Finland used to burn more peat to generate electricity than the whole of the UK used for the horticulture sector, mushroom growing etc etc.

The link below is worth a read especially the part.
"only 0.0005% of the worlds' peat is harvested and converted into commercial horticulture or domestic garden products".

Sustainability (freepeat.com)

 

No they collect them along with the molehills.

 

However…
Guidance on how to restore Peatland once commercial peat extraction has ceased

“It is often a misconception that abandoned peat extraction sites can, over time, naturally restore. However, this is not the case and abandoned sites, even after 25 years remain largely bare, with solid peat eroding into water courses.”

 

I was under the impression the Norfolk Broads was created by peat extraction??

 

They may well have been, I don’t know.

 

Seemingly they were, but the peat bog is lost forever, what was a swamp is now arable land, very nice but it is not natural, water still has to be pumped from East Anglia to stop most of it vanishing under water. Peatbog is now a rare habitat, the idea is to protect what is left by stopping extraction.

 

When the peat ban does come in to force I can not see any manufacturer making any significant attempt to increase soil based compost sales. In the past I have sterilised soil by flame and electric heating elements, an oven, both ways burnt the fibre in the top soil. We use steam and we cook about 1800L at a time, in the warmer months this takes just over 2 hours, in cooler months it is nearly 3 hours and if temperatures are 5c or below, I don't even fire it up. So not only am I using electric and diesel, the machine is also using 18L of water per minute. So depending on the weather I am using between 2000 and 3000 litres of water just to sterilise 1.8 cube of soil. The only other alternative is chemicals which we have never used and never will.