Hello Gardeners, I have some advice for saving money and making your own seed compost. Making any kind of compost does of course require advance preparation, and I am beginning from the assumption that you already have some mature compost. If you don’t then perhaps you might be inspired to get some going for next year.

Composting

Haxnicks have already considered those of you who may not have space for a full scale composting area in your garden. Have a look at our Rollmix Composter page where you will find plenty of advice on the easiest way to create compost in a small space with our amazing rolling compost bin.

Here are the 5 Free ingredients for seed compost:

One part mature Kitchen/garden compost One Part mature Leaf mould One Part Mole hill/topsoil Water Elbow grease It is far simpler and less time consuming to simply buy a bag of seed compost, BUT it will not come with wholesome ingredients of physical effort, self-satisfaction and thriftiness!

Getting rid of the lumps

Any good seed compost should be nutrient rich, moisture retentive, and have a fine uniform consistency that allows for good air circulation. The mix of above ingredients should give you all that. You will also need to sieve the mix to take out the lumps and achieve the fine airy consistency. For many years I have used a large heavy wooden riddle to sieve compost, but since being closely involved in the product design of Easy Riddle I am well and truly converted to using this lightweight garden sieve. Far less elbow grease required! Check out this fun and poetic YouTube video to see it in action Easy Riddle - easy compost! Strictly speaking home garden compost should be heated to kill off pathogens. There is a fine balance between killing off pathogens and destroying the nutrients in the heating process. Frankly, I have never bothered and can’t say that my seedlings have suffered as a result. Besides I am certain that my homemade seed compost would not be welcomed in the kitchen! For more information about composting and our composting products please go to our composting page. In the meantime, Happy gardening! Grandpa Haxnicks