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Yes, biochar could help raise the level of microbes in some of the less productive beds though I'd also need to be making compost tea to inoculate it with. That's a plan for the spring when we have our next batch of good home-made microbe-rich compost ready. As for potential losses, so far I've not noticed anything significant and having found plenty of root nibbling grubs/larvae in the soil I'm happy that we have a predator reducing their numbers.

Yes! Many years ago, when I had a few rescued hens, they used to spend most of their time foraging in the woodchip paths for bugs and pooping, turning it in a few months to excellent compost which we also shovelled onto the beds.

Yes, indeed. Balance is the most important thing.

Yes, you do have to account for magnetic declination - that's what the numbers are either side of the N at the top are for. You just point the magnetic needle towards the relevant angle east or west to account for that (it's explained in the compass instructions). It is indeed made for 50 degrees latitude - it was created by a Brit, so they're the local angles. It's still pretty accurate anywhere between 45 and 55 degrees (and a lot of people do live in this band). For the purpose it's intended for - giving an approximate sense of the Sun's path across the sky (for photographers and gardeners) as it changes with the seasons it works perfectly fine. It's made to be a cheap and rugged tool to do a specific job.

Thank you! :)

The tubers are probably going to be easiest to source come the winter. Best of luck!

Actually you get an accumulation of the dry matter. Each spring I empty this out and start afresh. For nettles it looks just like old straw. If you've not added any nettle seeds you can just use this as mulch or put it on the compost heap. If you have added nettles with seeds during the previous year I'd put it somewehre you don't mind lots of nettles growing. ua-cam.com/users/shortszbvfC1VCvm0?si=c-mJRVzS5s0Qa1qp

Or five?

Blackberries can be tremendously invasive in mild climates, that may be why they are not more common.

@@artifex_amandalastname2297 Yes, of course. You need to manage it but, for us, it's worth that little bit of work for the abundnace it provides.

@@LearnPermaculture That makes plenty of sense; for me one of my limitations is that I can't always keep up with things so I avoid planting anything that can run away if you don't stay on top of it.

@@artifex_amandalastname2297 That's very wise! Saves more work further down the line.

I should think so, though you'd probably want to shred it, or at least tear it into strips first.I think most newspaper ink is supposed to be non-toxic these days. The Hotbin people say shredded office paper works best, but it's there primarily to soak up the excess moisture in your kitchen waste, so should still work okay. Best to experiment with different quantities and see how well it works. With shredded paper they recommend half a caddy's worth for every full caddy of kitchen waste.

Yes, you can. The bark chips help to maintain air spaces so convecting air can flow in the bottom and out the top keeping it more aerobic (less smell) but it'll still work without it. Stuff wants to decompose, the Hotbin design helps it to happen quicker and without a bad smell. :)

Thanks!

No. They just turn up - presumably as eggs on some of what we put in - probably the bark chippings. They obviously like it enough to thrive inside. :)

Thanks!

Thanks, that could work too, though there would be some fumes...

Thanks! :)

Hi Xander, glad you're finding it useful. Nettles and comfrey are complementary. Nettles come earlier in the year and are high in nitrogen, which your young plants need to make stems and leaves. Comfrey is a bit later and is rich in potassium and also phosphorus which your plants need to make flowers and fruits. A prefect combination, but if you only have access to one to begin with, that's still good. Happy gardening!

@@LearnPermaculture Super, thank you sir for the response and articulate explanation. I really appreciate it!

@@rasserfrasser You're welcome. :)

It's very much a liquid, but it does need diluting. I'll add one part to between ten and twenty of water (half a litre in a ten litre watering can) depending on whether it's already been diluted with rain.The leaves do have some moisture in to begin with, but a little sprinkling of water from time to time will ensure the decomposing microbes have enough moisture to do their work.

Thanks for getting back. I will be trying it out.

Yes, but that's for dealing with 20kg of kitchen waste a week - that's commercial scale. And exporting a British product is always going to add on quite a bit extra to the price.

@@LearnPermaculture I picked up a free Sceptic Garden Gourmet compost bin 82 gallons - made in Canada (priced at $120) but no longer produced (so vintage). Only problem is I got pulled over by a cop who told me a "composter" is not worth it. Luckily he just gave me a warning citation. hahahaha. So the next day I received a $975 composting toilet from "Toilets For People" - designed by an environmental engineer who does volunteer work installing that composting toilet in developing countries. Vermont is working to pass a composting toilet law enabling citizens to compost their humanure legally - currently you're supposed to "bury it" which is not quite the same as composting - also the subsurface permit people really don't understand composting. hahahaha. thanks

@@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885 Sometimes British laws are frustrating, but at least we're allowed to have a composting toilet.

@@LearnPermaculture nice to hear! The tricky bit here is "year-round composting toilet" - as normally it's just for a seasonal residence. There's one county in my state that has "year-round composting toilet" in their septic ordinance. I see there's even a composting toilet-cabin kit sold in the UK!! "WooWooLoo GT Compact is a high-capacity, low-maintenance, toilet cabin" - yes that is what my county allows - as a privy permit. So that design is perfect. thanks

@@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885 Yes, I'm aware of the WooWooLoo and a few other kits that are available here. We had a lot of fun designing and making our own dual chamber system inside (and under) a standard shed.

Yes indeed. And puzzling...

Yes, anything that will lift the barrel above a container will do - my friend Pat uses a pair of old van roof bars. Comfrey is very good too. It's more suited to feeding plants when they are in the flowering and fruiting stage and comes a bit later in the season, but I always make a barrel of comfrey liquid too. Yes, this will work for any plants that need a feed though for potatoes you could use the leaves as a mulch instead and save the work. I actually wrap a comfrey leaf around each seed potato when I plant them in the spring.

No, the only water added is in the kitchen waste being composted. And to a degree in the bark/wood chippings. Yes, it's still quite moist when we take it out - because it's well insulated and contained there's nowhere else for it to go.

Glad to be of help.

Essentially yes. You need a little moisture for the bacteria, but too much would give you a very dillute feed and, perhaps, a regularly overflowing container. If I'm expecting a lot of rain I cover them - with a couple of offcuts of old scaffoled planks, because they're heavy enough not to blow away. Use whatever you have. In a wet climate I'd use a more permanent cover. I got a lid with the barrel I use for my comfrey feed bin so I keep that on and just water the leaves occasionally - with captured rainwater of course.

@@LearnPermaculture Perfect thanks. I live in Wales (say no more!) so will look at a tarp or something similar perhaps. Maybe with an upright fence post so it tents. Hmmm will need fo think! Cheers :)

@@tipthebalance Then you'll definitely want to keep some kind of cover on it most of the time! :)

Thanks! it was originally taught to me by Pat Bowcock at the wonderful Ourganics in West Dorset. It's been the only method I've used for years...

Thanks! Yes, I see that he uses the pipe method, but on a bigger scale than the usual drainpipe. Good if you have a structure to attach it to. Not sure he has any more volume than a butt like this can generate though...

Thank you!

Thank you, that's much appreciated. :)

I'd say the greater bulk in a bigger container has less surface area compared to its volume to dry out. I have seen a drainpipe version before, which would make a smaller amount but limit evaporation / drying.

@@LearnPermaculture To update/answer my own question, 5L is enough after all. Just need to be a little more patient and keep running a bit of water through. Here's what I did: - Take a 5L bucket, drill holes in the bottom. - Fill with nettles, or just about any weeds (no need for the net on the bottom so far). - Put this inside another 5L bucket, without holes, that will collect the tea - I add a rock or two on the bottom to give a bit of space for the water to collect. - Pour in a small amount of water if the leaves are too dry. It'll go right through, like I said, and remain pretty clear at first, but the next day or two I pour the same water from the bottom bucket to the top bucket again, recycling the same stuff over and over. - Water will indeed turn very dark after a while, like in the video. There's still a bit of smell, but much less than the full immersion method. I use 5L yoghurt containers, because I get them free from the local cafe when I pick up their coffee grounds to compost.

@@TomiRantanen Sounds like a great system - always best to use what you can get for free - things others are throwing away. Nice work! :)

The usual reason for smelly compost is that it's anaerobic - caused by it being too wet. Two things that help with this are keeping it part covered (in a wet climate) and making sure we add enough carbon-rich material - to balance our nitrogen-rich kichen waste. Old paper bags, torn up cardboard, shredded paper, perhaps some fine bark or wood chippings are all good sources of carbon. Hay and straw too, though they can contain unwanted seeds.

There is that... 😄

The bacteria that break down the leaves do need a bit of moisture, so you could cover the barrel and add a little from time to time, or you could leave it open and have a more dilute feed and have to empty the container more often. Personally, I put a couple of old scaffold boards over these nettle barrels if it's going to rain a lot. Neither of these barrels came with a lid. My comfrey barrel does have a lid and I mostly leave that on once they've started to break down a bit.

You're right to take your time with the placement of those homes - it's always better to give such big decisions a lot of thought and to make our mistakes on paper. There's a lot of potential factors to take account of, many of which I cover in the videos that follow in this series. Bill Mollison advised us to observe a site for a whole year before building anything substantial, so we have time to observe seasonal changes - of climate / microclimates, animal activity, fungi and vegetation. Part 6 focuses on how to place things in the landscape and part 7 on integrating them together into effective systems. If you're starting with what's essentially a blank canvas, you could use the scale of permanence (mentioned on pages 56/57 in my book) - Yeomans' version was developed to help layout broadscale properties, though the concept can be adapted for gardens too. McHarg's Exclusion method (on page 122) is also a useful approach, ruling out all the places something shouldn't go, to reveal what remains. Anyway, work your way through this series of videos and if you've further questions along the way, post them in the comments. :)

The new growing season is always exciting!

Thank you. :)

makes perfect sense. you dont want them in your soil or garden.

@@jamesgarner2103 I agree!

I store it in a cool dark space overwinter, so the liquid produced at the end of the autumn I'll use vary soon. That's at least 6 months. As long as you filter out any bits before you store it, it still won't have that bad anaerobic smell when you open it after all that time.

It's best with large leaved fast growing 'weedy' plants, so tree leaves are not so good - at least in cooler climes like Britain. Vegetable waste tends to not be as sappy, so I'd just compost that.

I've not noticed them doing so. Either I use it pretty quickly or I bottle it - neither gives them much opportunity anyway.

btw, how long before the collection would stink?

@@paulbraga4460 Thanks Paul. It doesn't, as long as you don't bottle it with undigested bits still in it (sieve it first). I keep it in bottles in a cool dark place over winter - so about 6 months between producing and using again in the spring (about now) - and there's no bad smell.

@@LearnPermaculture wonderful...

A 10 litre bucket is pretty small for this, though I have seen some people packing comfrey into a drainpipe and that working - and that might not be that much bigger. But yes, the more leaves you add the more liquid you'll get. With this size (approx 120 litres perhaps) I'll get 3 or more 5 litre bottles full in the first few weeks.

We're decomposing the leaves to release the liquid within. 'Composts' are solid matter.

Yes indeed. If we wait until we think everything is perfect we'd never get started. And the process of implementing ideas we think might work gives us feedback that helps us to better understand.

Thank you. :)

Thanks Larry, yes the best kind of reminder is the one that we notice. That can be different from person to person depending on where we most place our attention.

I've never tried that - seeds tend to have all they need for the first few weeks of growth, but you could experiment (with something you have a lot of, such as lettuce) and see if it makes a positive difference. If I did I think I'd use it more dilute than when feeding a large, hungry plant. Perhaps diluting 40 to 1 instead of my usual 20 to 1.