2 x Bags of Dalefoot Wool Compost peat-Free, Sustainable: 30 litres

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But the only way to know if a compost is good or bad is to grow plants in it and compare them - something we've been doing for more than 30 years. Raising young plants - we use 25 different composts to grow tomato and marigolds, sown as seed and transplanted when they have two non-seed leaves. This time of year, fungi start to pop up everywhere. They can pepper our vegetable gardens and turn our lawns into little fairy villages. Football-sized puffballs can erupt from the ground almost overnight, and I’ve even seen mushrooms push up through tarmac pavements. But what we see in these beautiful little mushrooms is the fruit of a much larger organism. Think of the fungi as an apple tree. What we see above the ground is the equivalent of apples, and the rest tree is submerged beneath the soil in the form of millions of tiny, microscopic strands called hyphae.

In simple terms, mulching helps to provide a light barrier to seeds, which can suppress some weeds. A deeper mulch will do a more thorough job where this is concerned. Of course, nothing will stop some weeds, but mulching will help. This is why mulch is often said to help with both wet and dry soils, it improves the drainage whilst simultaneously creating a better ability to hold onto water.Quality isn't guaranteed - our compost trials reveal which composts are consistently good and which can be variable. Choose a Best Buy to be sure you're buying a reliable compost.

After cropping all winter, I am now planting it out again. It’s amazing to think this was weedy grass not very long ago. In August 2021 the polytunnel was put up here and I mulched it in exactly the same way. Dalefoot’s co-founder, Professor Jane Barker, presented on the culture of horticultural peat at COP26 in November 2021. Trees growing in forests have a particular use for their fungal friends. As their roots are “plugged in” to the fungal network beneath the soil, they use this connection to communicate with one another. You may wonder what a tree might have to say to another tree on earth, which is a fair question. Trees use this fungal web to warn one another about the presence of a pest or disease. A compost mulch also has the extra benefit of feeding the soil life and plants. In most cases* there is no need to use any other feeds even for ‘hungry feeders’ such as squash and tomatoes. So you’re saving time with less watering and no extra feeding - especially useful for gardeners growing away from home on allotments, or with busy work and life schedules. Happy climate change savvy growing Kim x .................................................................................. Kim’s climate change savvy gardening tips for August

Customer Comments

How do you help the bees in your garden? Do you have or are you thinking of keeping a hive? We’d love to hear about your bee related experiences! I make hummus year round, using whatever vegetables I am harvesting. This is a great way of using up vegetables lurking in the fridge, too. Delicious herby vinegars can easily be made with red or white wine vinegar displayed in sterilised bottles and laden with luscious herbs from the garden This week we heard from Frances at Clodhopper Blooms and how she has been using our composts in her business specialising in seasonal cut Flowers grown in Kirkby Stephen Cumbria... Having chosen your method and growing position water your seedlings well the day before planting. Growing tomatoes indoors:

Connection and collaboration with the natural world and others around us is absolutely key for the future. We are living through such stressful times and many people are struggling, so the more we can reach out locally, the better we will feel and the stronger we will be.Create a calm space to stop, switch off from the stressful world, watch some wildlife, breathe and let the free thinking flow on in. Although temperatures may be sliding, it’s still not too late to get your spring bulbs into pots, containers or straight into the ground. Just remember, to plant them three times their height and try using Dalefoot’s Bulb Compost. Due to its natural free draining properties, it’ll prevent bulbs from rotting if left in heavy soil.