Our compost complaints were getting to us last week but after a chat to the supplier, a bit of research and some compromises we have a (loose) plan of attack and are feeling more positive. In essence, we’ll focus on using and improving the front half of the garden beds and let the back half break down and neutralise a bit more slowly. We’ll grow a green manure mix and buckwheat up there while we wait. We’ll try to save the existing seedlings by using an organically approved liquid fertiliser (which will also lower the pH a little) and we’ll try compost teas and coffee grounds everywhere. And, as a temporary measure, we’ll make our own seed propagation mix. It’s temporary because it’s full of compromises: we don’t want to spend a fortune (which rules out a good organically certified mix because we use so much) and a lot of standard ingredients to make our own would come from faraway places or unsustainable sources (like peat). So we’re using propagation sand, screened loam and composted cow manure, which is not certified organic but is locally sourced and we’ll only use small quantities. Hopefully it gets us back on track.

There’s an abundance of insects and spiders at the moment and it’s been surprisingly tricky to decide sometimes whether a particular caterpillar is friend or foe. The explosion in diamondback moths suggests that we – and the predator insects – missed a lot! Hopefully the wrens will discover them! To deter the cabbage moths that are flitting about we’ve made some decoy cabbage moths. It’s a particularly unquantifiable experiment, but apparently they’re territorial so they don’t lay eggs where there is another moth. In a more observable test, I’ve put one of the home compostable bags we’ve bought for customers into our compost bin. There’s been a lot of press about how these claims can be misleading so I thought I should check. But gosh I hope I can’t find my bag in six months’ time!

Aside from that, we kept sowing seeds, propagating seeds, and transplanting seedlings. A few warm days seems to have boosted some of the seedlings I’d been fretting about (though not the tomatoes).  A visit to a more established local farm yielded insights as well as some seeds, bulbs and cuttings to plant, which was very kind. And sales were better this week. Hopefully it’s all a good sign of things to come.