Peat Free Compost 2023

Having worked with flamingos. How hasn’t     I’d of thought you’d treat their manure the same as you do chickens in the garden. I’d think compost made from it would be a little rich. No pun intended!

I noticed Westland promoting a new liquid feed called Boost. The FAQ on the website says it contains a wetting agent. With that and the professional ICL peat-free both containing wetting agents, the compost companies know that wood based peat-free tends to dry out quicker.

Funny, on the bottle and I think on the web blurb it doesn't mention the  NPK ratio, it's not until you get to the safety data sheet it mentions 6 - 3 - 9.5

I noticed Westland promoting a new liquid feed called Boost. The FAQ on the website says it contains a wetting agent. With that and the professional ICL peat-free both containing wetting agents, the compost companies know that wood based peat-free tends to dry out quicker.

Funny, on the bottle and I think on the web blurb it doesn't mention the  NPK ratio, it's not until you get to the safety data sheet it mentions 6 - 3 - 9.5

Yeah, it's only on the back of the bottle (saw it in a garden centre a few days ago). Pretty good NPK ratio for tomatoes. Liquid feed is quite expensive though, it's cheaper to buy soluble feed and mix it up yourself.

Two sorts of compost that I suspect none of us will be buying …….. (!!)
Climate Compost Inoculum at £20 for a 1.5kg bag. The compost, abundant in naturally occurring soil microbes, comes from their gardens and the Althorp estate, where Diana, Princess of Wales grew up, in west Northamptonshire. Although the price tag is high, at least this mode for manure comes from a good place, so to speak. It is more about its environmental credentials than its designer ones.

Climate Compost Inoculum is a laugh. They say a pinch of it will transform your soil, and they measure their bulk bags in pinches (18,000 large pinches, if you're curious). You can see some photos of their composting process here - https://www.thelandgardeners.com/on-farm-composting . It just looks like composted manure with some extra greens (cover crop clippings?) added. They're selling a hori hori for £64, Sarah Raven sells the same one for £39.95. Their garden tools are made of bronze...

On the subject of peat, there used to be a big compost making company called White Moss Horticulture with a facility quite near me. They were bought by the big Irish company Bord na Móna in 2017. They seemingly abandoned the facility, leaving thousands of bags of multi-purpose compost behind, stacked on top of each other and wrapped with plastic. Over the years, the plastic wrapping degraded in the sun and wind leading to the stacks of bags collapsing. Yesterday I drove past the facility and saw a massive mountains of what looked like peat. It seems they have emptied all the bags of compost and are sifting the peat to get the plastic wrapping out. So if you buy some peat-based compost and find plastic in it, you know where it's come from. 

Two sorts of compost that I suspect none of us will be buying …….. (!!)
Climate Compost Inoculum at £20 for a 1.5kg bag. The compost, abundant in naturally occurring soil microbes, comes from their gardens and the Althorp estate, where Diana, Princess of Wales grew up, in west Northamptonshire. Although the price tag is high, at least this mode for manure comes from a good place, so to speak. It is more about its environmental credentials than its designer ones.

Climate Compost Inoculum is a laugh. They say a pinch of it will transform your soil, and they measure their bulk bags in pinches (18,000 large pinches, if you're curious). You can see some photos of their composting process here - https://www.thelandgardeners.com/on-farm-composting . It just looks like composted manure with some extra greens (cover crop clippings?) added. They're selling a hori hori for £64, Sarah Raven sells the same one for £39.95. Their garden tools are made of bronze...

...and I'm surprised they haven't mentioned that the estate they produce the compost on is where Princess Diana grew up.

We seem to have the worst of both worlds here - I cannot find peat free at all and even the expensive stuff has, along with the peat, great lumps of uncomposted wood, plastic, metal, bits of kitchen worktop ...
I invested 8€ in a 20l bag of seed compost which is a lovely mixture of peat and coir.
I also buy blocks of coir and mix it with the rubbish (yet expensive) stuff to lighten it a little.

Perhaps importing peat free from the UK would be a good little earner, but then the carbon footprint of that!

Joy of joys, our local Bricomarché now sells Père François peat free compost! Although eye-wateringly expensive it was on special offer so I bought three bags today. And the sacks come with handles at both ends for easy lifting. How sensible.
I'm excited, but yet to open the first bag!!

Congrats on finding compost with peat, PP.
I am so lucky that I have a source of “Mother Earth” compost a mile away.
The difference in growth of seeds, seedlings, plugs and established plants (compared to ANY peat free that I have tried) is just amazing!

I misunderstood PP - I thought you were looking for compost containing peat!