Treasure in the Heap

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I've been digging out my compost heaps in readiness for the coming season Today I uncovered one kitchen knife and two teaspoons. We had missed the knife but hadn't missed the spoons.

So - what have you discovered in your compost heap or while digging in the garden?

 

[PaulSecteur]

my cabinet of curiousities.

Thanks, I now have a posh sounding name for my "junk draw".

 

[Arch]

Just before I went to Uni to study Archaeology, I dug a small pond for my Mum. I accumulated a few pieces of clay pipe stem, several foil milk bottle tops and an old tube of UHU.

I think only the clay pipe was kept, in my cabinet of curiosities, which is a printer's tray with a glass lid, mounted on 4 legs to make a table.

 

[laurence]

be careful digging in the compost - reptiles may be sleeping in there.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

be careful digging in the compost - reptiles may be sleeping in there.

ours used to be a rabbit warren which was great because they frequently dug it over for us!
the wood piles were homes to adders (had several in the garden permantely - large garden) and to various birds and the stag beetle. however our garden had previously been used as a dumping ground by previous occupants and when we first moved in we found and removed several hundred glass bottles from the garden. We used to joke that if you needed something, to go and look in the woodland first. Like the time when we were tryign to match the colour of the awful bath & sink to anything, the broken loo was in the garden so all you needed to do was take a piece of that with you (pale lilac before you ask). various bits of scaffolding also lived in the woodland which became everything from a prop to hold the old shed up, a bird feeder and 2 of them also became a washing line, another became the overflow pipe which fed into the water containers (2 * 1,000L) and several became tree supports. Arch would have been proud!

 

[Arch]

ours used to be a rabbit warren which was great because they frequently dug it over for us!
the wood piles were homes to adders (had several in the garden permantely - large garden) and to various birds and the stag beetle. however our garden had previously been used as a dumping ground by previous occupants and when we first moved in we found and removed several hundred glass bottles from the garden. We used to joke that if you needed something, to go and look in the woodland first. Like the time when we were tryign to match the colour of the awful bath & sink to anything, the broken loo was in the garden so all you needed to do was take a piece of that with you (pale lilac before you ask). various bits of scaffolding also lived in the woodland which became everything from a prop to hold the old shed up, a bird feeder and 2 of them also became a washing line, another became the overflow pipe which fed into the water containers (2 * 1,000L) and several became tree supports. Arch would have been proud!

 

[tyred]

Have quite a collection of horse shoes of various sizes now.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Have quite a collection of horse shoes of various sizes now.

Ooh Yes - I nailed the one that I found onto the arbour Mrs 26 built.

Daughter #1 did a "dig" once and came up with some pottery - blue and white stuff.

When digging my heap I came across a layer of leaves at the bottom. They do take ages to rot. Below that was a layer of what was probably some horse manure from the prehistory of the heap.

be careful digging in the compost - reptiles may be sleeping in there.

I have found slow worms in the heap before now. None this time around.

 

[ArDee]

When digging my heap I came across a layer of leaves at the bottom. They do take ages to rot.

That's because leaves don't compost in the conventional sense. You need a separate pile with only leaves and keep it wet. It’s a fungus that breaks down leaves and turns them into mulch.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

That's because leaves don't compost in the conventional sense. You need a separate pile with only leaves and keep it wet. It’s a fungus that breaks down leaves and turns them into mulch.

Ah yes. I think some leaves had a white fungus on them. Ash leaves seem to disappear quite quickly. Oak seem tough. I have started a separate leaf pile now

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Ah yes. I think some leaves had a white fungus on them. Ash leaves seem to disappear quite quickly. Oak seem tough. I have started a separate leaf pile now

we found shredding them helped. also made collecting them off the lawn so much easier - we used the lawn mower.... sped the decay process up by about 12 months

 

[ArDee]

we found shredding them helped. also made collecting them off the lawn so much easier - we used the lawn mower.... sped the decay process up by about 12 months

Yes, sorry forgot to mention this; I always pick them up with the mower set on a long setting so picks the leaves and shreds them without cutting the grass.

 

[Hacienda71]

Just before I went to Uni to study Archaeology, I dug a small pond for my Mum. I accumulated a few pieces of clay pipe stem, several foil milk bottle tops and an old tube of UHU.

I think only the clay pipe was kept, in my cabinet of curiosities, which is a printer's tray with a glass lid, mounted on 4 legs to make a table.

I found lots of bits of clay pipes digging in my garden as a kid. Never found a whole one though.

 

[aces_up1504]

Some lucky kid, in 20-30 years should find a hole pile of star wars figures buried in my Mum and Dads garden

 

[Alex H]

.............while digging in the garden?

So far approx 1500kg roof tiles (when the barn roof was replaced - the tiles went into the garden), over 400kg scrap iron, including cartwheel tyres (various sizes), garden tools, wood splitting wedges (8), chains, agricultural implement 'bits', bottles (lost count), plastic bags/sacks (lost count) a 'ball' of string which filled a black sack , wire, drug vials for animals, shutter hinges (more than 20, despite the fact there are only 2 windows on the house, so you would only need 8).

On the positive side selling the scrap from the garden and the house has so far netted 200€+ , which somewhat softens the pain of shifting all that cr*p.