Originally I planned to just do some watering and see if anything was ready to harvest down at the allotment. I ended up taking more time though because I decided to attend to the compost.

About the first thing I did on the plot was to erect my compost bins, made from old pallets, and I’ve been stocking up with weeds from the plot, a few trimmings from what I’ve harvested and a small amount of material brought from home (we’ve got some horses tail, Equisetum arvense, which I’m keen not to introduce at the allotment, so only trimmings I’m sure don’t included it). If I’d been able to add it all at once, it probably would have overflowed both bins, but I’ve been regularly turning it and so the volume isn’t massive.

However, it has been decomposing and today I decided to filter the material through a riddle as I made another turn from one bin into the other. I collected three bags of reasonably decent compost. It’s short on worms (quite dry) and there wasn’t a single slug to be seen but there was a greater yield than expected. That’s now stored in three old compost sacks, which I’ve turned inside out and laid on the ground in full sun. Although the compost didn’t get steaming hot (not enough fresh material all at the same time) I hope this will go some way to finishing off weed seeds with the baking temperatures that will continue for another day or two.