Experimenting in the garden this year....

[cyprusmax47]

After reading Dominic's post, regarding his garden waste, I thought I post what I am doing first time this year in my garden....perhaps there are followers...?

I am experimenting this year to produce compost from garden waste as well as from kitchen waste (eggshells, banana, lemon, avocado, kitchen paper, pineapples, tea, coffee, asparagus ....) I am using an old metal barrel (300 l) which already got some holes and filled it up with layers of green weeds, dried weeds, soil, small wood cuttings, wood ash, kitchen waste, a bit fertilizer ( 34-0-0) and keep it wet with 1 bucket of water every 3 days or so.
(depending air temperature)

How the composter looks


I wonder what the result will be after a couple of month...

Max

[Dominic]

34-0-0?

[cyprusmax47]

34-0-0?

34-0-0 = ammonium nitrate = Lemon tree fertilizer to start the trees flowering, ( 34% nitrate, 0% phosphor, 0% potassium )

Max

[Mighty Sprite]

When I used to compost back in the UK soil was a definite no-no in compost. All it does is cool the compost down, which is not good for the composting process. Although I guess the temperature here in the summer may add to the process!

[Kili01]

When we composted in the UK we added some layers of animal manure (well rotted is best).
We tried it again while living in Kamares with a large garden, but getting the animal manure was more challenging. Composting was not so successful as it tended to dry out too quickly. We found that small wood didn’t rot down the way it would in the UK with its damper climate. We didn't put any soil in it, Do you put a cover on your barrel Max to help conserve moisture? We never tried using an artificial fertiliser, so not sure what effect yours will have.
Usually. It takes at least 6mths to get a good rich compost.
Dee

[cyprusmax47]

Do you put a cover on your barrel Max to help conserve moisture? We never tried using an artificial fertiliser, so not sure what effect yours will have.
Usually. It takes at least 6mths to get a good rich compost.
Dee

Yes I covered the barrel with an old bamboo mat to water it without lifting. I used this method with artificial fertilizer when I was a citrus grower, 30 years back, to improve the soil quality around the trees with lorry loads of forest material which was only half composted when it arrived. Without fertilizer the new material would take away the soil nutrients from the fresh planted trees. My watering system was on every 4 days, spraying ca 40 l of dam water per tree (100) and after the summer it was lovely humus with plenty of worms etc. (2-3 worms per liter soil)
I also wonder how it develops in a barrel, but already I have nearly no kitchen rubbish anymore to carry to the dustbin 200 m away ...

Max

[Kili01]

That’s very interesting, Max. We never knew that and at the time we couldn’t get advice from any garden centre. It’s a different method to the way that we did it which was organic.

But in the UK our method worked very well. When fully composted, we used the compost to be dug into our (large) vegetable garden beds and also to feed and increase moisture in our rose beds. One year we won ‘Best in Show’ at our local village show for our various vegetables entered in classes there. It was beginners luck and surprised the other local gardeners - and us!

Dee

[cyprusmax47]

That’s very interesting, Max. We never knew that and at the time we couldn’t get advice from any garden centre. It’s a different method to the way that we did it which was organic.

Dee

I was using artificial fertilizer only the first two years at my farm. After I realized that this type of fertilizer is leading to the pest of the citrus leafminer (Phyllocnistis citrella) and can be only stopped with very strong insecticides until the point that one has to paint the stem of the tree with it, I stopped this method and changed into organic farming.
Some concerns include: wide-spectrum insecticides targeting more than just CLM, killing more than a single insect species this can have adverse effects on beneficial insects that prey on CLM and even beneficial pollinators like bees; insecticide resistance has been reported in certain citrus growing areas. So I became the first organic citrus farmer in Paphos district and could prove that with organic farming the pest stopped the second year....
Unfortunately the Cypriot farmers were not interested and laughing their heads off when I was cutting the weeds with my lawn mover in the August heat instead of using weedkiller. On the other hand I was able to sell my crop every year to Paphos hotels and even to Nicosia health shops for a very good price. Instead of 4 cent/kg for normal produced fruits, I asked for 40 cent/kg and could not produce enough for the demand....

Max

[Kili01]

Max, As a matter of interest Lidl are selling small quantities of organic lemons, any idea where they are getting them from? They taste so much better than the ordinary ones.

Dee

[Kili01]

Max, As a matter of interest Lidl are selling small quantities of organic lemons, any idea where they are getting them from? They taste so much better than the ordinary ones.

Dee

[cyprusmax47]

Another simple method of fertilising is to make a 'tea' from existing compost or pond waste by adding a small amount to a larger load of water in barrels or tubs, leave it for a while to 'fester' and then use the watering can.

As I did organic citrus farming it was a lot of work to make the fertilizer for most of the year. Instead of ammonium nitrate I produced in springtime liquid manure from stinging nettle leaves which I found in abundance near a goat farm. 20-30 kg of leaves mixed with dam water in a 200 l plastic barrel fermented within 15 days into a concentrate which needs to be diluted at least 1 to 10. It is rich in nitrogen, iron, and magnesium, ideal for citrus!! So one can imagine that it is a lot of work to produce 8-10 huge barrels of that for the whole season. As Cypriot soil is mainly rich in phosphor I used only one 200 l barrel phosphate slurry for the whole year, produced from 10 kg animal blood powder, the same way like the nettles, fermenting..

Max