I'm not too sure if the weather will allow any gardening this weekend. Here in the UK they seem to be forecasting both rain and snow! We shall have to wait and see.
For me I'm making sure I have a good book to read, and water in the kettle to make a cuppa. I may also watch an episode of Gardeners' World which is a popular UK BBC programme about gardening. It was first broadcast in January 1968 and is still going strong! "In a recent episode BBC presenter Monty Don warned households to be careful about putting certain things on the compost heap to avoid attracting unwelcome rodents.
On the recent Gardeners' World Winter Special, Monty explained that people should not add meat, fats, cooked materials, potato, rice or pasta to their compost pile as it will draw in a crowd of rats.
"The real secret of compost is life to soil," he told viewers. "You can add almost anything that's lived to a compost heap. But don't add meat, fats or cooked material. Particularly cooked starches like potato or rice or pasta. The main reason for that, is not that it won’t decompose because it will in time, but it will do so more slowly. It will attract rodents. You will get rats."
A compost heap is not only a nutrient-rich food product for your garden, but it will help to keep your soil's pH balance in check, improve soil structure and maintain moisture levels, too. So what can you add to your compost? "Almost everything else from the garden and the house can go on," Monty says.
Some of the best ingredients for a successful compost heap include kitchen waste, particularly egg shells and banana skins, dried leaves, grass clippings, manure, peelings, coffee grounds and tea leaves."
Words above taken from article here
Other posts that may be of interest
8 Ways To Grow Your Own Food From Scraps - see hereWays to Reduce Food Waste Daily - see here
After all that gardening why not take time to relax with a cuppa,
and perhaps a low carb scone, so delicious
Cheese Scone or Devonshire Style
both are a lower carb recipe - see more details here
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All the best Jan
29 comments:
I added eggshells to the soil around my tomato plants last summer. I don't know if it helped, but it couldn't have hurt.
Great information.
We have a special compost bags from the council that go out each week for our scraps, leaves etc....good idea, great post.x
Good suggestions.
Very interesting! Thank you! And, thanks for the yummy recipe! Big Hugs!
That show sounds interesting. When we lived in Kansas when i was a kid, I fondly remember my gramma's compost pile. She had a greenhouse/summer house in the back yard. The only thing I really remember is coffee grounds in there. Hope you didn't get a lot of snow.
I have added cooked potato to ours - and haven't noticed it has attracted rats. I don't add raw potato though - because I don't want them sprouting.
Rose,
Tomatoes are prone to get blossom end rot. They need calcium to prevent this. You added calcium in the form of eggshells. You did a good thing. However, the calcium has to be around the roots to get into the tomato plant. When planting tomatoes, add crushed eggshells in the soil. Or, you can use a fertilizer with calcium.
Very informative. Thank you.
We don't compost our scraps, they go to the rubbish bin which is collected each week.
Those scones look delicious.
Thanks. This is good information for me. Happy Sunday to you.
Luckily I already knew this. You always have great info :)
Some great advice here, many thanks.
I returned from holiday a few years ago and, to my horror, discovered an entire family of rats had set up home in my compost box! Anyway, to cut a potentially long story short, it transpired that while I was away, my son had been depositing ALL his food waste in my compost box, including meat scraps and noodles etc.!🙄
Not at all a good idea!!
Have a great weekend and stay safe and warm!😊😊
Hugs xxx
Our kids have a composter that takes everything. It's really quite the thing.
We gave ours up as Bear kept knocking it over in the spring!
...something that I don't do.
We don't have one but it was neat reading about it...thank you Jan
Interesante todo. Besos.
I can tell you must be getting spring fever too (like me). I've watched some Monty Don shows on netflix and he is inspiring. My compost pile is in nap mode until I can walk out to it easier, but I enjoyed reading about it. Have a great wekend.
Great information about what not to include in our compost pile! :)
~Jess
Can't go wrong with a good book and a cuppa, no matter the weather!
i would like to have a compost pile but do not. this was good information for those who do!!
no gardening here...our forecast is the same, rain then snow!!!
This is great information. I have 3 separate compost piles that we love! Every spring we have the most wonderful finished black gold compost to add to our flower beds. It's such an easy process. I think a lot of folks make it too complicated.
We have a compost pile, the racoons have gotten into it a couple of times, but other than that I think we have been ok, no meat pasta or cooked foods but have put raw potato peels in, I have also read that onions aren't good for them.
Oh, composting such fun! Your article made me miss the countryside because in the city, our food waste goes to the bio trash. Perhaps not too bad as bio waste is or can be converted to something useful. But another great and informative article!
Good info on the compost and a really nice scones.
We have had compost bins for as long as I can remember, and it's always the best soil. Have a great week, Sue xx
Oh yes! We definitely didn't put meats in our compost pile in Illinois. We already had enough problems with raccoons and skunks looking for food.
We are great fans of Monty too, a great show.
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