I thought I had missed out on this year's leaf mould bin as my main contributor has moved house to get away from the trees that surrounded his old house and dropped too many leaves into his garden!
However, a neighbour whose house is behind mine, and is also surrounded by 5 huge oak trees and 3 large beech trees, started collecting his up and offered some of them to me. He tells me he collects about 40 to 50 bags a year and the bags are the builders dumpy bags about half full. If he puts any more in he cannot lift them, and neither would I be able to! I've had about 16/17 bags from him this year.
If anyone else wants leaves next year we could help relieve him of the problem completely between us.
This week he rang to say he had 6 or 7 more bags so I went to collect them this morning. The car was full of tools so I had to make 2 trips with the trailer and when I had finished trampling the leaves down my bin was filled to the top. I covered the bin with some carpet weighted down with slabs. If I leave it a few weeks it will rot down and I shall have room for the half dozen plastic rubbish sacks of leaves stacked behind the bin.
Last year's leaf mould is in the other bin and I can use that round the plot this spring. Any leaves that have not decomposed can be added to this year's bin.
Since I had the newly emptied trailer on site I fetched a trailer load of horse litter to mulch my pea and bean patches. I have already got a row of Broad Beans and a row of Peas 'growing' in the left hand patch so I had some mulch left over. The right hand one needed cultivating to get rid of the lumps and bumps before I could put the surplus mulch on it. I will add more next time I take the trailer down and spread the heaps into an even layer all over the patches.
Then I will scrape the mulch aside to sow the rows of peas or beans later, leaving a mulch on the walkways between.
Having spent some time chatting to my neighbour and various allotmenteers I met, there was no time to do anything else so I went home for my dinner.
However, a neighbour whose house is behind mine, and is also surrounded by 5 huge oak trees and 3 large beech trees, started collecting his up and offered some of them to me. He tells me he collects about 40 to 50 bags a year and the bags are the builders dumpy bags about half full. If he puts any more in he cannot lift them, and neither would I be able to! I've had about 16/17 bags from him this year.
If anyone else wants leaves next year we could help relieve him of the problem completely between us.
This week he rang to say he had 6 or 7 more bags so I went to collect them this morning. The car was full of tools so I had to make 2 trips with the trailer and when I had finished trampling the leaves down my bin was filled to the top. I covered the bin with some carpet weighted down with slabs. If I leave it a few weeks it will rot down and I shall have room for the half dozen plastic rubbish sacks of leaves stacked behind the bin.
Last year's leaf mould is in the other bin and I can use that round the plot this spring. Any leaves that have not decomposed can be added to this year's bin.
Since I had the newly emptied trailer on site I fetched a trailer load of horse litter to mulch my pea and bean patches. I have already got a row of Broad Beans and a row of Peas 'growing' in the left hand patch so I had some mulch left over. The right hand one needed cultivating to get rid of the lumps and bumps before I could put the surplus mulch on it. I will add more next time I take the trailer down and spread the heaps into an even layer all over the patches.
Then I will scrape the mulch aside to sow the rows of peas or beans later, leaving a mulch on the walkways between.
Having spent some time chatting to my neighbour and various allotmenteers I met, there was no time to do anything else so I went home for my dinner.
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