Afternoon all.We are trying to rejig some of the garden beds since moving into a new home.The soil is a good rich clay and i have been watering and turning over when damp.I got hold of bales of pea straw which i put through the shredder/mulcher.Turned that into the soil and added small quantities of gypsum.To that i am thinking of adding blood and bone.Am i wasting my money adding the blood and bone now,as we dont want to replant until the weather cools considerably.Probably what i am asking does blood and bone have a useby date and if so for how long does fertilizer remain active,Regards………….AL

hi Al. Rhe main issue would be if you get any decent rain that would wash any nutrients out of the soil. Personally I would be adding some now as it is a slow release fertiliser with maybe a top up a bit before planting time.

Thanks BG.The forecasters are predicting 5 to 10 mills about Tuesday Wednesday, so as you suggest,will hold off until we sort out what we want to plant……………AL

g’day al
if you’ve added pea straw then b&b would help to break it down.

Good one Pepe.Whilst we are on the compost topic,to what success have people had with tea bags? Accepted that the little cardboard thingy should break down ok,also the bag and tea leaves,but what about the string?I am using a compost bin.Your input is appreciated………….AL

Good topic Al, and good advice in it too…following with interest…

I generally just sprinkle at the beginning of spring, over everything except the native shrubs…

Your soil sounds delish you lucky thing…

Dinetta,I did the job on the lemon tree first and the results were terrific.Beautiful crumbly soil with multitudes of earth worms aerating the soil.I was gob smacked as the young ones say……………AL

al said:

Dinetta,I did the job on the lemon tree first and the results were terrific.Beautiful crumbly soil with multitudes of earth worms aerating the soil.I was gob smacked as the young ones say……………AL

Citrus trees love your soil…

al said:

Good one Pepe.Whilst we are on the compost topic,to what success have people had with tea bags? Accepted that the little cardboard thingy should break down ok,also the bag and tea leaves,but what about the string?I am using a compost bin.Your input is appreciated………….AL

I know they go through worm farms OK. Mine go through bokashi bins rather then normal compost.

al said:

Good one Pepe.Whilst we are on the compost topic,to what success have people had with tea bags? Accepted that the little cardboard thingy should break down ok,also the bag and tea leaves,but what about the string?I am using a compost bin.Your input is appreciated………….AL

i wouldn’t think twice – in they go.
however i’m a tad rough – so if they are nylon – parhaps take advice from those who know. my compost does get extraneous bits and pieces in it – which i think rot down in the soil if the compost doesn’t work.

I get the picture Dinetta,on reflection i am probably a little pedantic but just thought i would ask.Bon008 doesnt seem to have had many hassles but i would like to know as to what a bokashi bin is.I googled it, but would like to know more.At the moment I use the black geddey compost bin with good results but still learning………….AL

I don’t put the strings in the compost, as I read somewhere where the lizards think they are worms and have been sighted with the string dangling from their mouths…but that’s just me…

What about in the worm farm? can I put the whole bag in there (without string and tag), or do I need to break the bag and put bag in compost, contents in worm farm?

al said:

I get the picture Dinetta,on reflection i am probably a little pedantic but just thought i would ask.Bon008 doesnt seem to have had many hassles but i would like to know as to what a bokashi bin is.I googled it, but would like to know more.At the moment I use the black geddey compost bin with good results but still learning………….AL

You are not pedantic at all Al, everyone has their own way and with stuff like blood and bone it’s hard to go wrong…

al said:

I get the picture Dinetta,on reflection i am probably a little pedantic but just thought i would ask.Bon008 doesnt seem to have had many hassles but i would like to know as to what a bokashi bin is.I googled it, but would like to know more.At the moment I use the black geddey compost bin with good results but still learning………….AL

Hi Al,

Bokashi bins are a form of indoor composting, I think it was invented in Japan. Your kitchen scraps go into a sealed bucket, and you add a special bokashi powder, which helps the scraps to ferment. The powder stuff is treated with microbes to break down the scraps. You can drain off a liquid to dilute and use in the garden. When the bokashi bucket is full, the food scraps don’t look very broken down, but if you bury them in the ground or add them to you compost (I usually put mine in the compost tumbler) they will break down very quickly.

I use it because I’m too lazy to compost properly (e.g. turn it regularly, keep an eye on the moisture), and we use a lot of onion and citrus so bokashi seemed a better bet than a worm farm.

That’s a beginners guide but you should be able to find more via Google :)

Dinetta said:

I don’t put the strings in the compost, as I read somewhere where the lizards think they are worms and have been sighted with the string dangling from their mouths…but that’s just me…

What about in the worm farm? can I put the whole bag in there (without string and tag), or do I need to break the bag and put bag in compost, contents in worm farm?

We put stacks of tea bags through our worm farms at work, and I’ve never seen any remnants of tea bag come through in the castings. Fruit stones and avocado seeds yep, but no tea bag bits.

bon008 said:

Dinetta said:

I don’t put the strings in the compost, as I read somewhere where the lizards think they are worms and have been sighted with the string dangling from their mouths…but that’s just me…

What about in the worm farm? can I put the whole bag in there (without string and tag), or do I need to break the bag and put bag in compost, contents in worm farm?

We put stacks of tea bags through our worm farms at work, and I’ve never seen any remnants of tea bag come through in the castings. Fruit stones and avocado seeds yep, but no tea bag bits.

Thanks Bon, I’ll put them in the worms’ containers from now on…

Thanks for all the information.Thats cleared up a couple of queries,Good Gardening…………..AL

I haven’t used blood and bone for probably two decades. after I decided that it was possibly blood and bone that burnt my skin in weird patchy burns.

I use seaweed and fish emulsion to better effect. Though I don’t for a moment want to tell you not to use B&B, I would still do so sparingly. From the sound of your soil.. It shouldn’t be a big requirement.

al said:

Good one Pepe.Whilst we are on the compost topic,to what success have people had with tea bags? Accepted that the little cardboard thingy should break down ok,also the bag and tea leaves,but what about the string?I am using a compost bin.Your input is appreciated………….AL

I use pot bags for that reason. No string and no metal staple. My left thumb is heat resistant from years of squeezing them!

Dinetta said:

Good topic Al, and good advice in it too…following with interest…

I generally just sprinkle at the beginning of spring, over everything except the native shrubs…

Your soil sounds delish you lucky thing…

Native shrubs don’t mind blood and bone.

Hortfurball,whilst reading your post I had a little chuckle as I can relate to the way your tea bags are squeezed.I used to do that but the wife reckoned her tea was too strong,so back to the string bags we went.One day I heard this yelp from the kitchen and on arrival found SWMBO nursing a scalded finger.She had been watching me squeeze the tea bag,but didnt realize I had a small spoon to help the show.Needless to say who makes the tea now………………AL

Al, too strong huh? Guess she wouldn’t like tea at my place then…I use two bags per mug! I like it VERY strong! Actually that’s the REAL reason I use pot bags, but the lack of ornamentation is a bonus!

hortfurball said:

Al, too strong huh? Guess she wouldn’t like tea at my place then…I use two bags per mug! I like it VERY strong! Actually that’s the REAL reason I use pot bags, but the lack of ornamentation is a bonus!

I’m still old-fashioned….I use leaf tea (and fairly strong too!). I will only use tea bags under duress! Tea leaves are great in the compost (although I tend to just throw them over the verandah rail directly onto garden beds or the lawn).

Nothing better than a big pot of tea.I hope you dont clean the inside of the teapot out.If i could get away with it i wouldnt ever wash out my mug.Years ago before silos we used to go out in stinking hot weather sewing bags.The only refreshment we had other than a water bag was a Woodroofe screw top lemonade bottle full of cold sweet tea,wrapped up in heshian to keep it cold.Absolutely delish,but i guess i.m showing my age………….AL
ps..boy…have we got off the original topic

al said:

Nothing better than a big pot of tea.I hope you dont clean the inside of the teapot out.If i could get away with it i wouldnt ever wash out my mug.Years ago before silos we used to go out in stinking hot weather sewing bags.The only refreshment we had other than a water bag was a Woodroofe screw top lemonade bottle full of cold sweet tea,wrapped up in heshian to keep it cold.Absolutely delish,but i guess i.m showing my age………….AL
ps..boy…have we got off the original topic

Who cares if we have got off the topic…I nearly always digress from mine…anyway you could call it “organic chatting”…

thanks for sharing the tea history…it recalls the canvas/hessian water bags…