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Hi All!
I'm Newt. I finally took over an allotment plot 2-3 weeks ago after struggling to find any local allotments with waiting lists shorter than 7 years! Used to help my great-grandparents with their allotment when I was a kid, and managed my mum's veg garden after she got bored of it, but it's been about 15 years since I moved out of home and a while since I had to manage anything more than about 5 square feet of concrete! So I'd really be grateful for advice and will be reading everything on here.
I'd really be grateful for some advice re: the compost heap the previous owner of my allotment made as it's... in a bit of a state.
Unfortunately I don't have any close-up photos of the compost heap, but you can see it to the left of the shed in this image. The issues with it right now are:
30 minutes digging in the compost heap produced this pile!
Am I right in thinking that this heap is in need of dismantling, clearing of rubbish and wholesale removing in favour of a smaller one in a better location? And can anyone suggest sensible steps I should take in tackling it?
I'm Newt. I finally took over an allotment plot 2-3 weeks ago after struggling to find any local allotments with waiting lists shorter than 7 years! Used to help my great-grandparents with their allotment when I was a kid, and managed my mum's veg garden after she got bored of it, but it's been about 15 years since I moved out of home and a while since I had to manage anything more than about 5 square feet of concrete! So I'd really be grateful for advice and will be reading everything on here.
I'd really be grateful for some advice re: the compost heap the previous owner of my allotment made as it's... in a bit of a state.
Unfortunately I don't have any close-up photos of the compost heap, but you can see it to the left of the shed in this image. The issues with it right now are:
- The compost heap is over-full which has caused the pallet at the from to tear away from the rest of it and lean alarmingly, with anything added to the heap falling out the sides
- The walls of the heap - pallets and some old corrugated iron - are badly rotted and rusted from damp and poor management.
- The heap actually extends back about 8 feet from the front pallet right up to a brick wall I can't reach, and the back half of it looks like it only accidentally became part of the heap
- The contents of the heap don't appear to include much actual compost. The bottom 60% of it appears to be compacted clay soil moved by the previous owner when flattening out a space for the shed
- There is a vast amount of trash dumped in the top half of the heap and we keep finding more of it
- The shed door faces South, meaning that the compost heap is always behind the shed and in full shade, so no warmth or sun ever gets to it
30 minutes digging in the compost heap produced this pile!
Am I right in thinking that this heap is in need of dismantling, clearing of rubbish and wholesale removing in favour of a smaller one in a better location? And can anyone suggest sensible steps I should take in tackling it?
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