How much compost - No Dig Organic Gardening (2024)

11th October 2017 at 4:22 pm#42771

“E”

Member

Hello
I have just taken over my late husbands allotment. He never bothered much about compost etc and as a result his crops were not very productive. As I am 71 I liked the idea of no-dig gardening so I thought I would give it a try. I am a complete beginner, and I would like to ask how much compost I would need to cover 4 plots of approx 14 sq feet each. I would be buying farmyard compost in 50 litre bags from my local garden centre. Also, if I sew green manure, do I not have to dig that in next spring?
Sorry, a lot of questions, but I need as much help as I can get.
Many thanks
Margaret

12th October 2017 at 9:39 pm#42780

Don Foley

Participant

Hi Margaret,

By my calculations if you were to spread a 2″ layer on each bed you will need 65 ltrs per Bed. The depth you put on depends greatly on the current state of the soil, weeds etc.
As for the green manure, some people just chop it down and leave it on the surface but most dig it in. I personally don’t bother with these manures preferring instead to spread compost on the surface. I’m sure Charles will give more comprehensive advice on that for you.
If I could give you one piece of advice. As we are now coming into Winter I would suggest getting Charles’s Vegetable Course Book or his Vegetable Garden Diary. With the inevitable poor weather you will have lots of opportunities to read through these excellent Books. They will really help you to get started on the right path and ensure you are set up and ready for next spring.

Don.

17th September 2018 at 10:24 am#48640

See Also

No-dig gardening / RHS Gardening

Don Foley

Participant

Hi Emma-Jane,
That quantity would give you around a 3″ covering over the entire area. Charles would recommend 4″.
But I suspect the measurements you quote are for the whole area, Beds and Paths. Is that correct? If so you need to calculate the total path area and then see what you need.

17th September 2018 at 5:08 pm#48649

Emma-Jane

Participant

Thank you, Don. Reducing the amount needed for the paths and adding more depth for the beds, it seems like the figure is pretty much right, amazingly!

30th September 2018 at 1:35 am#48818

Kevin Anderson

Participant

Kevin here, from Tasmania. 🙂

Good morning Charles and all the marvellous forum contributors.

Charles: I have a question concerning volume of compost (volume of initial organic matter that is turned into compost).
I notice in your delightful and instructive videos that there you have a dedicated compost area, complete with a roof! Very impressive!

I am wondering, please, if I can ask: approximately how many “bins” (separate areas/volumes) do you have, at approximately what volume (assume about 1 to 1.2m [3 1/2 to 4 feet] high? What are your main inputs? (horse manure, cow manure, garden/kitchen waste etc.)

The reason I ask these questions is that, like you (Charles), I live in a rural area, but it is still a huge challenge for me to gather sufficient raw material for me to turn these inputs into decayed/mature organic matter, ready for my vegetable garden.

Information that you can give might help me, and other readers of the forum, understand better some of your inputs into your garden.

TIA.

Kevin.

30th September 2018 at 7:25 pm#48882

charles

Moderator

Nice to hear from you Kevin.
I have no magic answers to finding enough raw materials for compost. To make a lot, you need other peoples’ wastes – coffee grounds, fresh or older manure, paper and cardboard, leaf sweepings, soil, hedge prunings chopped or shredded, and lots more.
My bins are 1.5m2, heaps are 1.7m high at full stage, and filling a bay takes 5-8 weeks. Longer this year because we had a ‘drought’.
In a season I fill 5 or 6 such bins, of the 7 total.
This gives about a third of the compost I need.