Selfsufficientish.com

We have plenty of compost heaps dotted around the place, but are always looking for more material to add to them as we have 10 acres of poor soil.
Obviously space is not and issue.
At work I have an opportunity to take home the green waste, probably a couple of boxes a week and it will be in banana boxes with a plastic bag liner inside.
I was wondering if rather than tipping the bag out on to the heap (NB heap not a bin) if it would break down sooner if I tipped the bag out into the box and gradually built a pile of the boxes.
It might not look wonderful, but would be screened and we have no neighbours for miles so they won't object.
Thoughts?

Hi Possum. Do you get new boxes each time? I think if you take the tops and bottoms out of the boxes and just use the sides, as you get more stuff, stack the boxes on top of each other. The weight of compost will hold them in place, as long as they were not too high. Where the holes are for the handles would give you ventilation.

Robin

Yes I will get new boxes each time, we get fruit delivered to work so new boxes every week.
As the are fuit boxes, they don't have tops, they have removable lids and I think a big hole in the bottom (haven't looked that closely)

Gidday

Well I have two suggestions.

First, with your very sandy and stony soil, if you have the machinery and ability, put in a crop of some sort of cereal like rye corn or something, then before it actually sets it's heads disc it down and let the Good Lord do the composting over the entire area or paddock. I guarrantee that nobody can make better compost than nature.

Second, if you alread have your oplace in grass and don't have the ability to cultivate, just let a paddock at a time to grow ungrazed for a full 12 months then break feed off the remaining grass like with Sabbatical Fallow farming.

Let it grow for 12 months????? Never!! aaaarrrrggghhhh!!!
2 reasons
1. the fire department would be down on us like a ton of bricks, it is an extremely high fire risk here in summer
2. we have a borage problem, it is nasty nasty stuff and even nastier when you unwittingly let it grow for a while because it looks pretty, only then do you find how spikey and prickly the stuff is. Unfortunately as the problem is so bad we are going to have to get a contractor in to spray about 8 or 9 acres to try and erradicate it. The homekill butcher even complained because the sheep were prickly to handle!

The soil isn't sandy at all, it is just full of shingle. The soil between the shingle is fertile, but needs a lot of water.

Gidday

What is this borage stuf like?

How interesting - I have never heard of borage as a weed like that! I guess a field of it would be uncomfortable - do any stock eat it?

Where in NZ are you, Possum?

Does no-one else think 'Wormery'?!

From what you describe, it seems that the stacked boxes would make a perfect wormery!

Gidday

Hey are you sure that is borage and not foxglove?

Jack wrote:Gidday

Hey are you sure that is borage and not foxglove?

100% sure it is not foxglove, they are not similar.

this is the stuff

and this is the extent of the problem

the.fee.fairy wrote:Does no-one else think 'Wormery'?!

From what you describe, it seems that the stacked boxes would make a perfect wormery!

I would be interested in the idea, though we don't appear to have worms (at least I haven't seen on in six months). How would it work as a wormery?

Hey Possum, you could be on to a winner there mate.

Culinary Uses

Borage flowers and leaves are the traditional decoration for gin-based summer cocktails, and may be set in ice cubes to garnish other drinks.

The flowers and young leaves may be used to garnish salads. dips, and cucumber soups.

Candied borage flowers make attractive cake decorations.

Chopped leaves can be added to soups and stews during the last few minutes of cooking.

The leaves can be cooked with cabbage leaves (two parts cabbage, one part borage.)


Robin

ohareward

that might be great in moderation

in our case
the borage must die

mwah mwah mwah mwah

(sorry but it really is an obnoxious weed in the quantities that we have it)

Looks pretty though!

Sorry sorry sorry

Gidday

Well it don't look like what I would call borrage.

Can you give a pic of it's leaves. The borrage that I know has a big leaf similar to comfrey.