Making my own soil

[ESBkevin]

Where on "earth" do you get worms from. I have had my present garden just over six years and in all that time I have never seen an earthworm in the soil or anywhere. Mind you the soil is heavy clay with the occasional chunk of limestone, so maybe that has something to do with it.

It must be difficult when there is so little raw material to work with. Worms will come when there is plenty of food for them and they multipy to use the available food source. I would imagine moisture or lack of it means there is precious little 'spare' green matter to compost.

Try approaching restaurants, school kitchens etc for thier vegetable scraps and also gather brown corrugated cardboard too. Add it all in a pile and keep on adding. The resulting compost will encourage the soil life which in turn promotes plant growth.

I appreciate I may not know of all your local limitations so appologies if I'm missing the mark.

[rary]

I keep thinking this thread is about Humanure and rary's output

I thought most of Rarys' output involved a male bovine.

Here's me trying to have a serious conversation and you two lower the tone
So glad it was others and not me

[veggiechicken]

Sorry rary, for lowering your thread so much, in fact right down to the bottom, your bottom.
Just put it behind you and carry on soiling

[rary]

I was going to put an answer to that but thought, no, better not, folk might take it the wrong way

[rary]

Finally have things sorted and started filling the rubble bag, I have placed a double layer of tarpaulin then weed membrane below the bag and enough to cover the sides this is to keep the sunlight off the side of the bags and hopefully stop it deteriorating, I have placed four corner posts to support the bag and also to allow me to enclose it with wood at a later date, I started with a couple of inches of soil then a bag of shredded vegetation followed with an other couple of inches of soil I have just dumped an other bag of shredding in but got too dark so had to stop, plus OH cracked up because she saw me lifting bag to empty it, so thought I had better stop, will finish it tomorrow if it stays dry

[KevinM67]

How did you get on today Rary ?

[rary]

How did you get on today Rary ?

No work done today Kevin, as it has been raining all day, then high winds this evening which also kept me out the greenhouse, wife and I went for a run in the car, and I intended driving down from the Erskine Bridge to Saltcoats and picking up some bags of seaweed but got held up in a traffic jam for an hour so that put a stop to that idea. But no rush at my age I have plenty of time in front of me to do it

[KevinM67]

Ahh, Saltcoats brings back some memories .....

Anyway, hope the weather gets better for you.

[rary]

Finally have the bag filled to the top, I have added the contents of some old flower baskets along with five bags of washed course sand now covered with a couple of layers of cardboard once the level drops I will top up with seaweed, I may test the temperature in a couple of days and if it is warm I will try somw salad leaves

[rary]

I have had the bag filled for a week now and it is generating a bit of heat, I now intend to sink a pot of compost into it and sow some lettuce, quite similar to VCs hot bed trial, but due to the colder day temperatures I am thinking of covering the bag with 1/ a Sun tunnel (a clear polycarbonate enclosed cloche with vents either end) or 2/a cloche made with fleece, or 3/a cloche made with enviromesh, what would you use and why?

[rary]

This bag was filled to the top and raised up in the centre just shows how levels drop as things compost down

[veggiechicken]

This bag was filled to the top and raised up in the centre just shows how levels drop as things compost down

it may be a struggle to reach the top, but once your over the hill your problems start.

[Dalrimple]

Rary your concerns about the bags breaking down are not needed Iv'e used the same bags that you are using for the past four years adding bags next to full ones (7intotal) I emptied the first bag out two weeks ago and the bag is still in good conditions abit green in parts but still useable! atb Dal

[rary]

Thanks Dal, as for the post before yours, she never misses a chance and her weel ower the hill anaw.

For the benefit of VC, weel ower the hill anaw =well over the hill as wellsychology

[rary]

And before you ask VC the word sychology was added by the auto correct on my kindle, you even have that going off at a tangent as well