Making a Compost Heap (1941)

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  • Опубликовано: 22 ноя 2012
  • The Ministry of Agriculture sponsored a number of films during WWII, including this short, no-nonsense instructional by Margaret Thomson of the Realist Film Unit on cultivating a compost heap for the garden or allotment - making the most of scarce resources in a time of crisis.
    Read more about the history of the Crown Film Unit at BFI Screenonline - www.screenonline.org.uk/film/i...
    All titles on the BFI Films channel are preserved in the vast collections of the BFI National Archive. To find out more about the Archive visit www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collect...
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Комментарии • 59

  • @dodgygoose3054
    @dodgygoose3054 Год назад +3

    Brilliant!! thank you for the handed down knowledge.

  • @Beaguins
    @Beaguins 4 года назад +7

    I think it's cool how he made a wall of old compost around a middle of new compost, inoculating the new with the old. I wouldn't have thought of that.

  • @marcmarc172
    @marcmarc172 4 года назад +7

    "Anyone with a good compost heap has no need to worry about farm yard manure."
    Now those are some words to live by!

  • @latham29
    @latham29 11 лет назад +5

    love these 'how to' films. This channel is like a never ending treasure trove. Please keep them coming!!

  • @Foxtrick
    @Foxtrick 3 года назад +3

    my grandpa grew up on a farm. he remembers putting the horse, cattle, and chicken manure in one pile and plant waste on the other. he had to help his mother re expand the veggie patch so that the farm workers could be fed too. she had made it smaller due to all but two children marrying and moving out. that was one of his jobs around the farm, until he was allowed to join up...

  • @suebaker3307
    @suebaker3307 6 лет назад +15

    My father was a farmer and was fortunate to be able to get as much cow manure as he wanted. Some he added straight on the ground in the autumn and winter, and whatever was leftover he piled on the compost heap. Did him proud, that compost. Great veg every year.

    • @greenfingersgardener822
      @greenfingersgardener822 5 лет назад

      SO, in a manor of speaking, your father was full of shit....lol x

    • @xxxggthyf
      @xxxggthyf 3 года назад +2

      I never knew people called compost manure. As far as I'm concerned, even if I'm wrong, compost is mostly decayed vegetable matter and manure is mostly something that has come out of an animal's bum.

    • @Padraigp
      @Padraigp 2 месяца назад

      I have all the manure I want unfortunately these days the bedding and feed is full of herbicide so I ruined half my garden for years everything came up twisted and marred.

    • @Padraigp
      @Padraigp 2 месяца назад

      ​@@xxxggthyfso animals eat vegetable matter and have already half composted for you in the form of shite. Shite also has more than just the vegetable matter it has lots of bacteria matter too. Which when composted as a hot compost destroys any bacteria and parasites like ecoli and worms etc. And then you can use it on plants after it has been composted. You wouldn't put fresh shit on plants as it is too harsh and burns the plants ..but once composted it is fine to use. Some plants tolerate fresh manure and the fresh manure of goats and sheep I believe is OK to use without composting..but you have to compost pig and cow manure before you can use it.

  • @MrsCutout206
    @MrsCutout206 11 лет назад +12

    Best instructions on composting that I've seen. It was uncomplicated. Although, I have doubts that I can keep my compost heap in a tidy square!

    • @Padraigp
      @Padraigp 2 месяца назад +1

      It also doesn't mention carbon. Which nowadays they don't just use green leaves but also layer it with carbon rich matter like leaves or twigs and the likes ...

  • @MrBooojangles
    @MrBooojangles 11 лет назад +4

    The modern way now is to make a box of solid sides so you don't get much air in the heap and it doesn't dry out around the sides and put an old carpet on top to keep in moisture to help it rot. I love these old videos.

    • @lesleyoliver5582
      @lesleyoliver5582 6 лет назад +2

      MrBooojangles I don't recall having to worry about the heap drying out when I lived in UK, but times and methods (even the weather) have changed. It's good to experiment, although I personally don't like the plastic compost containers so, although I am now in Australia, I still prefer the open square method.

    • @Mr71paul71
      @Mr71paul71 5 лет назад +3

      new vs old I've tried both, and I find this method shown here is by far the best way to make compost, and far cheaper than any other compost system or bin etc

  • @joesnow7216
    @joesnow7216 8 лет назад +17

    They didn't find out until late in the war that the land needed to be renewed after all the vital nutrients had been drained from it in previous years. The slaughter of livestock that took place at the start of the war to give the land over to vegetable production started to look like a really bad idea since there wasn't enough compost or chemical fertilizers available to sustain the land as the war dragged on. Many bloodlines were also wiped out in the slaughter, making some farm animals that were common before the war rare or non-existent after.

    • @Beaguins
      @Beaguins 4 года назад +3

      That sounds like the "Schweinemord" that happened in Germany in WW1. They thought killing pigs would free up food for people, but it was a massive disaster. Not only did they lose the manure, the crops failed in 1916 and instead of feeding the failed crop residue to the pigs and then eating pork, they had nothing at all.

    • @vitadomi
      @vitadomi 3 года назад +3

      They clearly had not learnt the lesson of the Middle Ages --- soil needs livestock.

    • @Padraigp
      @Padraigp 2 месяца назад

      ​@Beaguins yeah animals are amazing because they can eat a bad crop that humans can't and they do a lot of work as well you can even get pigs to use a plough im told. Never saw it done. And pigs can eat beach nuts and roots of weeds and all kinds of things a human couldn't even find to eat from grubby old shitty ditches and everywhere. They say they are intelligent and thats true but all their brains are focused on one thing only food. They will even eat love rats if they come across them. Snails...lord know what they wouldn't eat.

  • @joesnow7216
    @joesnow7216 8 лет назад +5

    @incongra Yes. They did encourage the saving of seed during the war because they couldn't import very much because of the blockade.

  • @danieg3982
    @danieg3982 4 года назад +1

    What's neat is that there's community compost collection in some towns, see if there's one near you.

  • @Mr71paul71
    @Mr71paul71 5 лет назад +6

    I build my compost heaps just like this too, but I water each layer with urine and it rots down very quickly

    • @sweetvuvuzela4634
      @sweetvuvuzela4634 4 года назад

      The Last Spartan pure urine or water down

    • @anthonysinclair5721
      @anthonysinclair5721 4 года назад +3

      make a layer , head down to your local ,back to the plot take a leak on the compost …...repeat 😁

    • @sweetvuvuzela4634
      @sweetvuvuzela4634 4 года назад

      Sheila T. Drink some more water and repeat ♻️

    • @sweetvuvuzela4634
      @sweetvuvuzela4634 4 года назад +1

      Sheila T. For sure have you seen some composters using human manure too don’t waste it

  • @user-vx4qv1lw1e
    @user-vx4qv1lw1e 9 месяцев назад +1

    Humans knew about this high edge technology even back then in the 1940s.? 🤯

  • @mikkifly
    @mikkifly 11 лет назад +8

    mr chomondley warner

  • @JohnLeeMD
    @JohnLeeMD 11 лет назад +2

    I like how the guy is wearing a sports coat and trousers... clothes that today are considered much more formal. I can't imagine gardening with, in effect, a suit on.

    • @Dominicaislandmon
      @Dominicaislandmon 4 года назад +2

      I think clothes were hard to purchase and you tended to use them until they were worn out. Dress clothes in England were mostly made from wool and were warm enough to wear when working outdoors. Just like in the US in those days, you simply used what you had.

  • @hothmandon
    @hothmandon 3 года назад

    I love compost.

  • @xxxggthyf
    @xxxggthyf 3 года назад +3

    "A little sulphate of ammonia is sprinkled to speed up decay"... Ooooh.... 'Ark at 'im with 'is fancy talk... Peeing on your compost heap not good enough for you eh? :-D

  • @billsbasementworkshop1902
    @billsbasementworkshop1902 5 лет назад +2

    How many people, even with an allotment can make enough
    compost to sustain the ground through the winter and into
    the next season?
    I have an allotment and I still have to beg or buy horse and cow manure
    and although I offer to pay the stable or farmer for delivery, They refuse
    to deliver it. This cost me a small fortune in petrol and time, as I have
    to collect it myself.
    Bill.

    • @sweetvuvuzela4634
      @sweetvuvuzela4634 4 года назад

      billsbasementworkshop where about in uk are you presume your in the uk the stables with horses majority of them give it away you need to collect it but some will deliver for free since they need to pay to dispose of it properly

  • @slowboywhiteboardv4
    @slowboywhiteboardv4 11 месяцев назад

    There was no advice what to do when your compost pile starts pouring bees out of it like mine did 😢

  • @cliffcarr3632
    @cliffcarr3632 5 лет назад +4

    The old ways was some of the best, people had more values those days.

  • @trevormiddleton
    @trevormiddleton 11 лет назад

    @incongra They look like onions to me, to be honest - but yeah, I remember the older guys saving their own seed when my dad had an allotment.

  • @downhill240
    @downhill240 11 лет назад +2

    1941, a good year for me. The year of my birth!

    • @caorusso4926
      @caorusso4926 4 года назад +1

      Congratulations!!! I hope you have a long and happy live

  • @trevormiddleton
    @trevormiddleton 11 лет назад

    @applecounty It's a clamp, which is used for storing root vegetables

    • @carlduffin
      @carlduffin 3 года назад

      root vegetables would rot in this.
      A clamp is made from straw inside and earth outside.

    • @trevormiddleton
      @trevormiddleton 3 года назад

      @@carlduffin If you scroll down the comments until you find the person I tagged, you'll see I was answering a question about a pyramid-like structure in the background of one of the shots, not the compost heap itself.

  • @incongra
    @incongra 11 лет назад

    Why would those leeks have been allowed to go to seed like that? - did they intend gathering the seeds?

  • @ziggycat999
    @ziggycat999 11 лет назад

    This is 2013....my survival needs are updated.

  • @barbarastepien-foad4519
    @barbarastepien-foad4519 4 года назад

    Where do I get lime and sulphate of ammonia from ?

    • @carlduffin
      @carlduffin 3 года назад +1

      Lime from a garden supply shop, sulphate of ammonia - urine will do nicely; pour it on neat.

  • @applecounty
    @applecounty 11 лет назад +2

    What is that pyramid on the adjacent plot for?

    • @greenfingersgardener822
      @greenfingersgardener822 5 лет назад +1

      it may be a potato clamp or parsnip clamp

    • @robertbray3685
      @robertbray3685 3 года назад +3

      It's a clamp for winter storage of carrots. There is another Ministry of Information Film showing how this actual clamp is made and also the making of a potato clamp. The same gardener is used in both films. Well worth a look.

  • @Beautiful_Sacred_Land
    @Beautiful_Sacred_Land 2 года назад

    I wonder what he means by using lime to stop the soil going sour? You can use urine in a compost instead of whatever chemical he mentioned there. Urine helps in breaking down compost.

    • @m7791
      @m7791 2 года назад +2

      In Britain the bedrock is very acidic so they had (and still have to) lime regularly to counteract the acidity.

  • @carlduffin
    @carlduffin 3 года назад +2

    In place of Ammonium Sulphate, use urine.

  • @ngmulcahy
    @ngmulcahy 11 лет назад +1

    Australian accent?

  • @RexYoung206
    @RexYoung206 4 года назад

    Suggestion: Strategically plant catnip near your composting area, so neighborhood cats have a reason to hang out, minimizing the local rodent population while they do.

    • @carlduffin
      @carlduffin 3 года назад

      and leaving cat shit all over the place and killing songbirds. No - I'll stick with the rats thank you, who do a great job of tunnelling in the compost to keep it aired.