Digging for Gold

It's the sowing season for the start of the new year. So whats the one thing that everybody needs? *

Compost. Yes, seeds need to get going. There are two schools of thought with seed compost. Some say that the seeds need as much nutrients as they can to get going ready to be planted out. Other say that they don't need nutrients as all the seeds carry their own startups suitable to get their cotyleden leaves ready to grow. No matter which side of the fence you come down on, compost is a vital part of growing your own, and there is nothing better than making your own.

So that's what I've been doing. Digging out the oldest compost bin looking for the good stuff.

The bin on the left is two years old. It's the oldest of the three bins, with the one on the right being pretty new (this year's) and not have much other than kitchen scraps in it. So I'm digging out the oldest stuff, sieving it and throwing the larger bits into the new bin. Well mostly. Any white roots that I find in there I'm just throwing out altogether as it pretty much indicates that those roots are still viable and therefore not wanted in anybodies compost.

And what do you end up with... a bucket of the good stuff...

Good for seeds? Well possibly. The problem is that this stuff may well have some old seeds that have been through it, and they may sprout. So this compost is only going to be used for something like the courgettes or squashes. For the other stuff, I'll have to resort to actual proper seed compost brought from the shop.

I guess I need to get planting now.

* OK, maybe the seeds. And pots. And a warm growing space. And time. And... oh heck everything is important for growing seeds.