MUDLARKS

Composting Methods

This page outlines the main methods Mudlarks will use to compost vegetative material and how the product will be used to enrich the soil and create potting compost.

Most leaves, stalks, roots and fruit from healthy plants can be easily composted to produce material suitable to returning to the soil It can be reintroduced using single or double-digging, dug into the soil surface as a top dressing or laid on the top of the soil to act as a mulch If free of pests, disease and seeds composted leaves can be used as a component of potting compost.

Hard and semi-hard stalks and branches will eventually decompose but do benefit wildlife if left to rot in a designated part of the allotment or garden. Weeds cause much concern to gardeners who typically discard them at the council tip or in the recycling bin. We aim to demonstrate that it is possible to compost weeds and return the nutrients back to the soil. Grass cuttings, mixed with other drier items will be composted.

Paper and cardboard waste will be shredded and be composted. Tree branches and logs can be harvested at Mudlarks to be used for materials for our craft workshops, habitats for wildlife and of course as fuel for our wood stove.

The only materials that will not compost are those items that are infested with pest or disease.

Turf Composting

When we convert grassed areas to allotment plots the turf will be stacked upside down to form the basis of our raised beds. Within a year all trace of the grass will disappear providing friable soil for cultivation.

Trenching

An inexpensive method of creating compost is to empty material into a trench or hole. Although best suited in hot climates or where the soil is alkaline, the trench can be planted up after a year.

Compost Bins

The larger the compost bin, the more material added at a time, and the more times the heap is turned, the quicker the process of decomposition. We will be restricted as to the size of bin but even in a 1M 3 container we would expect good results after nine months.

Leaf Litter Bins

Fallen leaves collected into wire mesh containers provide friable material after one year. If sifted it can be used as a constituent of potting compost.

Wormeries

Drowning

We do not wish to return pernicious weeds to the ground but we can harvest their nutrients by letting them rot in water and extracting the runoff to be used as a liquid fertiliser.