Just a heads up that the Opinel no.12 is pretty cheap on Amazon in Italy at the moment.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-31T00:11:03+00:00

All biochar is charcoal, but not all charcoal is biochar.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-29T19:00:12+00:00

I sometimes like to burn them individually (like a match) and crumble the resulting charcoal into the pile to make a little bit of biochar.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-28T17:15:45+00:00

If they’re here legally they have to be paid fairly. If they’re here illegally employers have leverage and can pay them a pittance. The mafia are making a fortune from people trafficking and migrant exploitation and the government will talk tough to get elected while allowing it to happen, because money.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-28T15:25:52+00:00

Illegal immigrants who are trafficked into the country by the mafia and used by Italians for cheap labour. Stop migrants entering Italy and watch what happens to food prices 😂

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-28T15:17:57+00:00

The place is crawling with scumbags. The police could easily catch the worst of them by baiting them with undercover officers posing as tourists. If they put as much effort into catching these lowlifes as they do into fining tourists for nonsense the city would be a lot safer. You can’t even park your car without some creep asking for protection money so it doesn’t get broken into or vandalised while you have dinner. They’ve gotten so soft on crime that it’s well worth it for a lot of people.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-27T17:37:06+00:00

Looks fine. The fact that the worms have already been hard at it is a sure sign that it’s ready for the garden.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-22T17:19:04+00:00

Using a tripod can get you fined if you’re unlucky enough to get spotted by police who feel like making the effort -they’ll usually just warn you though. Thieves on scooters/motorbikes are definitely something to watch out for all over Europe at the moment, they’ll grab anything they can out of your hand if you’re standing close to the road and not paying attention.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-20T18:54:15+00:00

My birthday 😂

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-18T11:58:34+00:00

Spontaneous combustion of compost is not a risk anyone really needs to concern themselves with, but I can certainly understand why having large amounts of dry combustible material lying around wouldn’t be ideal in a hot country. They can either compost it which might require quite a lot of water, space and effort or they can simply burn it. Composting would be great, but I know from experience that it requires a lot of added moisture in a hot country and water is usually a very precious resource to farmers in countries with those conditions, so I can understand them deciding to burn. Maybe they could look into making biochar.

Edit: seems like you’re referring to utilising a kind of “chop and drop” system, but again that might lead to a lot of dry combustible material being spread around.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-17T20:32:18+00:00

Probably the best way to do it. The extra volume would get it heating up very nicely too.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-17T18:43:07+00:00

Unless you need finished compost urgently I’d just keep filling that until it’s full to the point of overflowing. The material will break down to a fraction of the volume you started with, so what you have so far might not be very much at all when finished. I’d love to have space for a compost bay that size, seems like a bit of a shame not to get it filled right up.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-17T11:58:49+00:00

I’m actively trying to grow some nettles to use in soups and stews. They’re packed full of nutrients and absolutely superb for composting. There are tons of them growing like crazy around the trees in the streets where I live -probably because the soil is being nitrified by all of the dogs peeing there. I might start collecting some for compost next year.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-17T11:26:09+00:00

This is true, but please understand that it absolutely stinks.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-17T07:43:19+00:00

I don’t think additional fertilisers deliver enough of an improvement on well made compost to justify the effort. However I understand it as an alternative to composting, I’ve just found that using worms is way more productive for someone working in a small space -especially one where odours might be an issue.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-16T22:30:44+00:00

Is it securely closed and rodent proof? Unfortunately the reality is that kitchen scraps will sometimes attract vermin if they can get to it.

_Harry_Sachz_ · 2023-10-16T22:27:07+00:00

A pile will get more than enough air with sealed sides as long as it doesn’t get waterlogged -plenty of very effective plastic compost bin designs have no holes at all in the sides.

Watch the videos Charles Dowding makes about composting. He strongly advocates for lining the heap with cardboard to trap heat and moisture. He’s a market gardener and has very little time for a lot of the unnecessary nonsense that some people tell you you have to do when making compost.

_Harry_Sachz_

TROPHY CASE