30 Days Wild - Day 27: For Peats' sake

What cracking weather to be out in the garden - catching up with all the jobs we couldn't do because we were too busy revising, about gardening!

We were running low on a few gardening essentials so off I went down t'shops. One of thing we needed was multipurpose compost to fill a couple of new hanging baskets (I know - we're not exactly at the cutting edge of garden fashion!). I noticed that B&Q were doing a very reasonably priced "peat free" compost so I thought I'd give it a go.

Normal compost is almost always peat, sometimes 100% peat, other times it's "peat based" with other stuff mixed in. The reason peat is so good as a compost is that it has just the right balance of moisture retention and drainage for raising and growing most plants.

However, peat is a raw material which takes thousands of years to form in the lowland raised bogs from which it is extracted. These bogs have a diverse flora and fauna that have evolved to survive in this unique and increasingly rare habitat. Once it's gone, it's gone. Is it really worth losing these habitats and all the species that rely on them just so we can have a nice hanging basket?!

So as conservationists we really should always be avoiding peat based composts in the garden. 

If it doesn't say "peat free" or "peat reduced" on the bag, then it almost certainly has peat in it, even if it says other things like "environmentally friendly" or "organic" it may still be peat based.

There are a small number of alternative peat products which you can buy with a clear ecological conscience; such as Moorland Gold which is made from peat gathered through water filtration rather than by digging it all up.

Peat free composts can be based on a range of materials, usually waste products from another industry such as composted wood chippings or even coconut fibres (coir).

This compost looks ok so far, but the proof will be in the growing I suppose.

p.s. if you thought this post was about reviewing whisky I can only apologise, maybe I'll try that this evening?