Allotments 4 All

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Planning next years crops, Not having the room I had at the plot some will have to be left out. Keeping it to basics this time and see how it goes, Can't eat spuds and most root veggies so there's a saving. What crops would you use if you were cut down with space. I expect I'll need a few more raised beds in the end but I hear that there is a glut of sleepers to build them with. Rishi will be selling them now.

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My compost heap is pretty much that, a heap about a sq metre by half a metre high, and it's now cold and dormant. I doubt the compost will be ready for next year, especially as it is now fast asleep. I chuck about two big carrier bags of kitchen waste on each week, whatever the weather. But the latest stuff is barely decomposing at all. It's kept frozen fresh :(

What's the ideal shape to get the thing full enough to be hot and rapidly decomposing? It's all very well the man on 't internet saying 1 m cubed, but if I only have material to 1/4 fill it it will never work well, will it?

So..... I have some pallet wood. Would it be worth me making some smaller, more cube shaped composting boxes? I'm thinking I could make one or two about 600mm sq by 900 high and have them nicely full, rather than what I have now which never seems to get any higher. I'd leave air gaps in the sides, but the big difference would be height and having a lid to keep it a bit warm.

Worth the effort? Or maybe I should invest in a couple more daleks/tardises?

Incidentally, why don't the daleks have air vents?

I really would like my compost to be ready next year.

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I don't want to hijack the thread, so I have started this one.

It is a fascinating read and you have my total admiration. My rare attempts at saving seeds have resulted in mouldy masses while heritage varieties I have tried all too easily show the deficiencies in taste and quality that (some) modern varieties have passed by.

My question is how do you keep the strains true when you are growing several varieties of the same thing?

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Not getting the plot exercise so don't seem to fall asleep so easily now. Insomnia I suppose, got it's good points though. Only two more sleeps until christmas.