Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

So what is used in the JI formula nowadays, gks?

 

I think the last lot I bought was mud, I usually add extra sand or mix in peat free stuff.
Involves some mixing but I think its the only way you get something with a decent texture.

 

I don't doubt what you say, @gks, but there are many successful nurseries that have been peat free for several years, seemingly without problems.

 

If it is a peat free JI then the peat element will either be replaced with coir, bark or green waste. Making a peat free JI is not to hard as the peat element in the mix is very low. As I said in a previous post, when the Royal Botanic Gardens were switching to using peat free JI they insisted that coir was not in the mix due to carbon footprint.

 

I totally agree, I know peat free growers who have been very successful for a few decades, but there was no pressure on the manufacturers to be producing only peat free compost to the whole sectors

What bugs me, is all this, the horticultural sector and mushroom growers should not be using peat, yet no one is shouting at the drinks industry that are burning peat during the malting process to produce whisky. With what is burnt in the UK plus exported to other countries for the process of making whisky the volume used is very similar to the mushroom growers. Burning peat is more dirty than burning coal, but they don't get the same negative views like you do towards the horticultural and mushrooms growing sectors experience and we are not burning peat.

If people have gone down the route of being peat free to protect the wildlife of the bogs then I understand, but there is plenty of scientific evidence that the peat free alternatives has a higher carbon footprint to produce than using a peat based compost.

I asked if I would be allowed to have something on my packaging that using peat free compost helps reduce your carbon footprint, I was told not to. So some manufactures state on their packaging peat free is environment friendly but it does not mean reducing your carbon footprint.

 

Reading the article that was posted it would suggest he has been mulching with green waste, bark chips and there own compost, which to me suggests he has purchased the green waste and bark chips.

Peat based compost will be available until all home nations have a plan for an outright ban. If the government of Northern Ireland allows peat to be harvested for the production of compost and to make mushroom compost, then it will be allowed to be sold by the retail sector in England regardless if the government pushes a bill through parliament. So if the Irish government still gives manufacturers extraction licenses to harvest peat for up to 25 years, then it will still be allowed to be sold in England, Scotland and Wales for 25 years regardless if a ban is in place, "Internal Marketing Act" Basically, it is down to the discretion of the retailers if they want to sell peat free compost or peat based.

The peat sector is big business for the Irish, when you take in to account compost, whisky brewing and the mushroom growers. The mushroom sector in Ireland is bigger than the horticultural sector, they will not be banning peat anytime soon. So if the Labour party banned peat based compost tomorrow, truck loads of peat based compost from Ireland would still come to England daily regardless.

 

I am currently watching "Wire in the blood" the whole interval was for a sharp cutting knife called the "husk" which is not the kind of knife I would expect to see in a kitchen. I would say the interval lasted nearly 5 minutes, which I thought was over the top regardless of the current knife crime being reported on the news.

 

Sorry, badly expressed...I meant what is the 'loam' element nowadays and where is it from?

 

On line the formulation for the original JI is, 7 parts loam, 3 parts peat, 2 parts sharp sand, which is rarely used in JI mixes made nowadays.

For example, I used to make 3 different types of Chrysanthemum compost, 4 parts loam, 3 parts peat, 3 parts grit, Then there is 6 parts peat, 2 parts loam, 2 parts girt. Then 6 parts peat, 2 parts loam, 1 part grit and 1 part perlite. The 2 latter formulas are the most popular due to the volume output is higher. So, if I was restricted by the retailer that a bag of compost could not exceed 25 kg, then the 4-3-3 mix i first mentioned would have a lower volume per bag with the latter mix having nearly double the volume due to there being more peat and 10% perlite in the mix. But even though you get nearly 100% more volume wise your not necessarily paying a 100% more when you taking into account the deliver cost element in and out of the materials when doing your spread sheet.

So my mixes are based in parts of 100% where the online formula is 12 parts. My formula for JI is 5 parts loam, 3 part peat and 2 parts sharp sand, for the JI No2 and No3 we use girt instead of sharp sand.

The loam we used was always sourced locally, if I had to haul it in from a distance, then the haulage element cost is greater than the loam. The soil we use, we call it vegetation soil as that is the only element of the soil we want, to much sub soil would make the JI to porous when the sharp sand and grit elements are added.

 

Same for the A66 that was due to be upgraded to be dual carriage way from Penrith to Scotch corner and was given the green light by the Tories with work to start in January 2025, that was put on hold when the Labour party came into power. It looks like the section from Penrith to the Centre Parc entrance will be the only section that will be totally dual carriage way, so about an extra mile. Yet the A66 is notorious for serious RTA's with lengthy road closures but not at the section that is being upgraded.

 

I'm in favour of green projects to reduce carbon but it's completely bonkers that we don't drill our own resources. How can it be more environmental to import from abroad, especially considering the higher energy used to produce it, than using our own. I'm sorry but just because it doesn't go on our "green" ledger, does not mean we are world leaders in carbon reduction. The people in charge are just greenwashing the whole thing. The simple fact is you can't run a country without gas or oil yet and it'd be far better to get it locally and boost our own economy when using it, rather than rely on bringing it in from abroad and risking our resource security.