BEST SUPPLIER OF COMPOST - 2017

100% self renewable energy, do the sums, Scotland only produces 31% of its energy the rest is bought in from the ROUK from French Nuclear power
Check what papers you are reading, Or wee Nicky/Gnasher will have you on her team soon

 

I've still got a big stockpile of reduced stuff that might see me through 2017. Must count how many litres are left, at least 2,000L.

 

Stacked in polytunnels or under tarps. 'Sealed' bags have holes that let all sorts of stuff inside.

 

The paper I read Jack is about renewable energy only so I have no idea if Scotland is buying in 'energy' from elsewhere.

 

Once again I recommend Jacks Magic compost as by far the best all rounder.
It's dark , fine enough for seed sowing ,smells quality,looks quality.
It is 90% peat so it won't suit everybody.
The only downside is the price...........previous years local GC's have had it on special......but not this year.
I do use Arthur Bowers as well but it's not in the same class as Jacks.

 

I agree FC. I tried Jack's magic and found particularly seedlings and young plants struggled to get away in it. It is to late this year for me to trial anything else, I'm still yet to find myself a garden.

 

We tried council produced compost two years ago and although the heaps were steaming nicely through the winter the actual product was useless. Could not hold water nor grow plants, nor for that matter very cheap.

 

I do make my own compost, both at the allotment and home and include that into my own compost mixes for different tasks..see here Compost mixes

But I do also buy a seed and cutting compost from Aldi and have done so for the last, seems like 7 or 8 years. It does need riddling a little for use with seeds but it has always been brilliant. Anything riddled out goes in the bottom of pots when potting plants on. I have no idea of amounts but it does contain "Fine pH balanced blend of sphagnum moss peat, sedge peat and green compost." so it is not 100% peat and is now only a small percentage of the compost that I use.

I have tried a few "peat free" composts and found them to be quite impossible to work with so I have settled for now on the middle ground of reducing peat use instead.

The aldi seed and cutting compost is £1.49 for 20L and I have tried the other composts from aldi, but wont again.

Next step for me to take is to assess over a couple of years what I actually need compost for in all reality because so many seeds can be sown direct into soil anyway, so a mix of garden soil and perhaps leaf mould to lighten could be used for seed sowing, instead of a peat rich compost. But, we'll see as that is in the future.

Steve...

 

I know most of us don't rate Peat Free compost.
Just seen this from Which ,they seem to rate it highly.
Has anyone used it?
Has anyone seen it?
I certainly haven't.

 

I bought a load of reduced JI compost at a garden centre closing down sale and I'm more and more finding it useful to mix with MPC as some brands get increasingly 'fluffy' (maybe open textured is the correct term) every year, but blending them with JI gets them to the consistency I like.