Weeds. Compost dalek or green bin

Gardening to 'grow your own food' from square foot to half an acre !!
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Mo
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Weeds. Compost dalek or green bin

Post by Mo »

I'm trying to catch up on a job that should have been done last year, ready to plant my spuds.
Obviously the docks and couch grass don't go in my compost - I expect the council can get their heap hotter. The annual weeds and lawn-type-grass in my dalek. But what about the tussocky grass, dandelions, and buttercups. I don't want to give away all my humus (+ the soil clinging to them)
And do I need to pick out all the brown threads of roots after I'm removed the fat white ones, or will they rot in the soil?

What do other people do (or are you all so on top of things that this doesn't arise)?
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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lancashire lass
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Re: Weeds. Compost dalek or green bin

Post by lancashire lass »

On the allotment, everything including dock and dandelion (but not couch grass, horsetail and bindweed) goes on the compost heap - but then I don't use the compost on an annual basis but more of a place to dump the weeds because like you say, don't want to give away all my humus and where else can I dump it (my bins at home have got enough to deal with) I don't bother turning over, picking out woody bits and faffing around, and unlike a compost bin at home where you might have lawn cuttings, there is enough green and brown material that prevents it from going slimey. After a few years of adding material, the ones that eventually end up on the bottom have had no access to light so in time have withered and died and turned to compost. If some do take root and dared to appear on the top, they get pulled up and end up on the top again (in summer, they tend to wilt so slows down any new growth and by autumn, lots of fresh material from the bed clearances such as sweetcorn plants, squash etc have been added on top and buried them) Eventually the compost is added to the soil but I should add that it's not my primary source of composted material.
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Mo
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Re: Weeds. Compost dalek or green bin

Post by Mo »

Thanks.
Do you pick out all the root threads when you are weeding?
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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lancashire lass
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Re: Weeds. Compost dalek or green bin

Post by lancashire lass »

It depends on my time - if I was tending to just one bed at home, then I probably would but on a (big) allotment plot, the time I can spend on each bed is reduced to not only getting the beds ready and filled with crops but also to make it look okay (allotment police with their clip boards patrolling to see who is not keeping their plot in pristine condtion LOL) Also, depends on the weed - chickweed and speedwell rootlets seem to recover and grow rapidly so if I can get as much out, then I will. It goes without saying that bindweed and horsetail roots are definitely picked out when I see them. Sometimes the roots could be from a recently cleared crop, especially if I've just pulled the plants out rather than dug/forked out ... many a time I've stood there wondering where all the "weed" roots have come from and then realised.
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