It’s only a few weeks before I start sowing tomato, sweet pepper and chilli seeds and not long after that when the planting season really gathers momentum. In preparation for ‘S’ day, I went to the Garden Centre today to stock up on compost and this task is not something I look forward to because sourcing the right potting compost can be a trial by consumerism.
There are so many different brands and endless types of compost to choose from. I can’t compare like with like because each brand uses a different recipe and I am told that the recipes change from year to year. In addition, I have to consider peat-free, organic and loam based composts and whether or not I need compost for seeds, young plants or established shrubs. By the time I have analysed the prices, including the three-for-two deals, my head hurts.
In an ideal world Doc and I would like to be totally peat-free in the garden. However, one year we had a near disaster when the tomato plantlets sat in their pots of eco-friendly compost doing nothing in particular. After much temperature checking and bug searching, I concluded the culprit was the compost so rushed out to buy new, established tomato plants and peat-based compost - before it was too late. It was very irritating.
However, for the last couple of seasons I have had good results if I use a peat-based compost specifically made for sowing seeds and then when the plants are growing on, I transfer the plants into a peat-free compost such as Vital Earth.
After several minutes looking around (in the inevitable cold) I chose a seed compost, mainly because it was a smaller sized bag. Unfortunately, there was no Vital Earth compost. Still, technology was there to rescue me so I sat down for a coffee and consulted the oracle, a.k.a the internet. Apparently, New Horizon’s organic peat-free multi-purpose compost received an award from ‘Which’ magazine and it was in stock at the Garden Centre. I did consider ordering it from the internet for convenience sake but it was cheaper to break my back (!) so I hauled three bags for the price of two into my trolley.
I needed some John Innes 1 and 2 (watch your back because these are very heavy) for re-potting some shrubs and some ericaceous compost for a young potted Christmas tree. I topped off the trolley with seaweed feed and organic slug pellets and headed for the checkout.
The assistant behind the counter asked me if I really wanted the New Horizon compost because it was the ‘digging in’ variety. Apparently, I needed the purple coloured bags; the ones I had struggled with were compost for mulching beds and borders. She was very kind and summoned a gentleman to help me replace them. Bless him, he did try his best but he could not quite manage to lift the bags so he steadied the trolley and I wrestled with my bags of compost.
A brief snow flurry began just as I was crossing the car park and I nearly ran over a lady in a wheelchair which was embarrassing. She was very generous and said I needed a man. Quite. But defiantly liberated, I persevered and hauled the bags into the car, drove home and then made two trips with the wheelbarrow to transport my booty all the way down the garden, to the shed. It was a relief to get back to the warmth of the kitchen and felt I had earned my cup of tea and piece of cake.
There won’t be enough compost. There never is. I will go back for more because I always do but at least I have a stock of compost to get the new season started. I will let you know how I get on with my New Horizon compost. Though I have a feeling I will meet someone who swears by another brand and I will feel guilty that my tomato plants will be deprived of goodness they deserve.
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