We thought we should dedicate a page to compost as it is really the King here at Naturally Organic HQ.
In a time where feeding the world is dependent on high pressure farming practices, we feel it is important to nurture the land that feeds us - we worship the earth worms and micro-organisms that make up healthy soils and create delicious healthy food.
Many farmers have left this key element out of their farming practices and opt for chemical substitutes to keep up with the quick demand of food.
We’re trying to take a step back and nuture our land. Which will then, in turn, nurture our produce
Our compost is made up of:
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Straw – we source from horse farms in the local area, it includes manure
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Weeds & green manure – after we’ve harvested our crops, we go over the land with a tool which loosens the roots of weeds and older plants.We pull these out of the land and hey presto, you’ve got your manure greens.
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Manure – we get from local farms again.Many people ask about the anti-biotics in the manure – there are very few anti-biotics in our manure as we source from a baby chicken farm (ie the chicks are too young to be given anti-biotics).Our manure temperature also reaches 70 degrees Celsius and beyond, anti-biotics die at around 40 degrees.
There is a subtle balance of moisture in compost piles.Too little and the micro-organisms won’t survive, too much and the same.
We believe that all things need to be used fresh, and in our experience fresh compost is the best.In our planting beds we apply a generous 15cm thick layer of compost about once a year.It helps build a healthy soil structure in our sandy soils here in Philippi.
