Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!
I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.
We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.
To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!
Saturday, 24 September 2016
Garden Organic Masters conference 2016
Because I am a Three Counties Traditional Orchards Champion and now a Worcestershire Master Composter ( yes I managed to get back to being one!)
I am again one of the family of Garden Organic volunteers :)
So yesterday I drove to Ryton to attend the annual conference - always a highlight of my year :)
My first workshop was on natural dyeing
I made this :)
I feel another craft interest blooming :)
Drying my dyed silk hankies on the marquee bunting line
After an excellent lunch we had more talks, another workshop choice ( I did composting creatures :) )
Then tea and cake!
An excellent day, spent with lots of friends as usual :)
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
May Day BH 2
Then Sunday and Monday I was "just up the road" at The Big Apple Blossomtime event, where I had my usual Master Composter stall with plant sales and also Hens@Home with Algy and Millie again :)
And yes, I joined in the Morris Dancing, as usual :)
We had a lot of fun and I spoke to over 700 people in three days :) I was a bit tired by the end of the weekend, though.
Friday, 17 October 2014
Master Composters social
So tonight I had a trip out all by myself :) to a Master Composters social evening organised by our manager Ste to thank we volunteers for our time and efforts getting people to compost at home :)
We gathered at The Cube in Malvern, a lovely place, for to eat an excellent veg/vegan supper of soup and sandwiches. I was pleased to be able to eat a Harcombe Diet friendly carb meal of beetroot, ginger and carrot soup and wholemeal bread sandwiches containing hummus and carrot :) Yummy.
Then we were entertained and informed by a talk on Cutting Edge Veg from the co-ordinator of Sowing New Seeds at Garden Organic, Anton Rosenfeld. Anton is passionate about the growing, preparation and eating of food from a wide diversity of cultures. He has lived in South America, he has grown food crops for Caribbean and Indian communities, and on returning to the UK he was excited to see that people had managed to produce many of these crops successfully in our UK climate. The Sowing New Seeds project was the perfect opportunity to realise this interest.You may remember I blogged about attending CPD training with him at Ryton here.
Wonderful stuff and very inspiring :) After coffee and cake ( I had a just mouthful to taste :) ) and a lot of chat with friends, I was given a lift back to Gt Malvern Station (thank you Cyrus!) and waited on the platform, for 30 min listening to the rain fall (only because I had just missed the early train ) reading stuff on my tablet and writing in my day journal.
Then the train arrived and I got on, sitting with a very lovely young lady who was returning to Hereford after a week away training in Liverpool. We had a lovely chat :) Compostman collected me in my swish new to me car :)
I really enjoyed myself this evening :)
Monday, 9 June 2014
The Garden Festival, Hellens Manor
@Garden_Festival @GardenOrganicUK #mastercomposters
I have spent the last two full days being Compostwoman on the Master Composter stall at The Garden Festival at Hellens We had a really good weekend despite very heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, which made it very muddy underfoot.
Luckily for me I had lots of fellow Master Composter volunteers with me on our stall over the weekend. On Saturday I had the company of Christine J (plus lovely dog) all day and Christine E and her friend in the afternoon. It was lovely to see them all, as it is some time since we last met up and in the lulls I was able to catch up with all their news :-)
Our main stall table has lots of leaflets on how to make compost; the discount compost bins and wormery available; information about Garden Organic; samples of coir based growing medium (peat free alternative); free seeds and pencils to hand out; and examples of what can be composted.
The Festival had wonderful stalls and entertainment and surroundings, there was loads of mud underfoot but great fun was had by all.
Towards the end the sun came out and I went to check out the new Stables building where I would be giving my talk on Sunday. It is a lovely restoration and is next to some beautiful gardens. I watched a drystone walling demonstration and sat in the sunshine to drink some tea while looking out over this bit of the gardens.
At the end of the day lots of people had to be towed out of the muddy car park but I made it out ok and got home at 7 pm very hot, tired and muddy but a shower and some dinner and a sit in the garden with my cats and hens soon perked me up again. I sorted out new leaflet supplies and my laptop and projector and put them in the car, ready for another early start on Sunday.
Sunday was a better day weather wise, intermittent rain but not so heavy and in between the sun shone. I was up and out of the house early and got to Hellens for 9 am ready for a 10 am start. I was helped on Sunday by fellow Master Composters Paul, Christine J again, Janice and Nina which meant there were enough of us so we all got to leave the stall and have a look around the Festival.
I bought some lovely organically grown plants from The Cottage Herbery. They are based locally and grow their plants in Fertile Fibre coir based compost, indeed they originally founded Fertile Fibre before handing it on to Matthew at Withington Court. I always enjoy talking to them about plants and they are very knowledgeable :-)
Sunshine!
We had a number of children who were very interested in looking for creatures in the compost samples I had brought along ( dug out at 7 am that morning!)
Then after lunch (pork roll from The Squeaky Pig Company and Noggin Farm - yum) it was time to get ready for my talk. I got everything set up in the cool and dark of The Stables which was a lovely contrast after the now scorching heat outside.
My talk on "Gardening with wildlife in mind" eventually went well, once the audience found the building where I was and I got the AV equipment to do my bidding. My talk is illustrated with lots of photos from my garden and wood - you would probably recognise many of them from this blog and the audience seemed to enjoy what I had to say, which is always a relief!
I had a 1 hour slot to complete my talk and answer questions, but then at the end I found 10 people waiting outside, who had mis-read the programme and thought I was giving another talk at 3.30. I wasn't, but I took them into the gardens next to the Stables and talked for 10 mins about the wildlife friendly nature of the planting and landscaping. They seemed happy with this :)
I also met up with Karin from Celestine and the Hare who had brought along Emily the bear. Lovely bear and lovely lady, we went and had tea and cake :)
After tea, cake and Emily cuddling, it was time to say goodbye to my family and friends and get back to the stall, and then after the Festival had closed it was time to pack up the stall and somehow fit it all back into my car (which I still have not yet unloaded!) Unfortunately the heavens opened again and I got very wet while packing up the car.
In total over the weekend we spoke to around 120 people (maybe more, I wasn't there all the time). Fewer than last year but the weather was really bad so I am not surprised. Lots of people who were all wanting to know more about composting - how to get started, how to do it better, what to do with the compost they make. Hopefully they feel more informed, now.
I have had an excellent weekend of volunteering, with a group of friends, at a fabulous venue with excellent organisation, to promote a subject we are all passionate about. I also got to talk to lots of friends, old and new, and eat a lot of cake :)
Can't really get much better than that, I think :-)
Friday, 6 June 2014
The weekend starts and farewell Blondin the cockerel.
Beautiful day here today, fine and sunny and warm with a hint of a breeze.
I did the usual jobs and spent the morning pricking out brassica plants. After lunch Compostman and I went up the road to Hellens Manor to set up the stall for this weekend's The Garden Festival. I and fellow Master Composters are on a stall all weekend, promoting home composting but because I am the one organising our stall I needed to take compost bin, wormery, display boards etc etc and set up at the site.
The organisers are a lovely group of people; the whole event is one I love to attend and Hellens Manor is a delightful place with fabulous grounds and house. One event I always look forward to doing!
We set up and chatted and enjoyed the sunshine and then, with the stall sorted out as much as I could, we came back home. I will be there from 9 am until early evening, both days this weekend.
Later on though, my evening took on a sadder note as I had to dispatch Blondin. He was a magnificent specimen of a cockerel and very attentive to the girls but very noisy, even by cockerel standards and he also kept on leading the hens down the Wood, into fox danger. So for several months I have been trying to re home him but with no joy. He had also begun to be a bit more aggressive towards us.
Tonight though over the space of an hour he launched a series of unprovoked attacks on me and despite repeatedly being cowed, he kept coming back at me, chasing after me and attacking my back. When I got him in the hen run he repeatedly flew at my face with spurs and claws outstretched. If I had not taken evasive action he would have injured me I have no doubt, as he had already injured my leg and arm. I cannot have that sort of behaviour in any animal we keep, and so I quickly caught him (and have the further scars to show for it!) and without further ado killed him.
I hate doing that. I really really do hate it but this was beyond the usual posturing I would expect from a Cockerel. Blondin had been getting more and more aggressive to all of us over the last couple of weeks and tonight the level of aggression went way over what I was prepared to accept. Poor Blondin.
So, a mixed sort of day here at Compost Mansions. I hope the weekend goes better.
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Bank Holiday Blossomtime
#CompostAwarenessWeek @TheBigAppleHfd #MasterComposter @gardenorganicuk
Sunday, 4 May 2014
Blossomtime day one.
#MasterComposter @TheBigAppleHfd @gardenorganicuk #CompostAwarenessWeek
I have spent a busy day based at my village hall just up the road, being Compostwoman at the Blossomtime event :) Lots of compost advice dispensed, lots of leaflets and chat and laughter and fun and a small amount of cider drunk, once I had finished talking compost to people :) Also sold loads of my tomato plants to fundraise for Garden Organic. I spoke to 35 people today about compost related issues, another 15 about gardening and plants and 10 people about keeping chickens :)I always love doing this event; it is usually the first event I do in the new season also it coincides with Compost Awareness Week every year :).
I also did some seed planting with children and we had lots of fun looking at composting creatures through my bug viewers :)
Home this evening to pot on more plants to sell for fundraising for Garden Organic at the Bank Holiday Monday Blossomtime event ( It goes on for two days) I have loads of Heritage Seed Library tomato and pepper varieties to sell :)
I feel a bit shattered after a very long day on my feet, but have had an excellent day.
Then to add the icing on the cake that was today, at dusk the Nightingales started singing and I listened and then rcorded seven males singing their hearts out to each other - I just hope there were some females around to be wooed by their wonderous songs!
Fabulous to be able to listen to something like that :)
I love where I live :)
Thursday, 1 May 2014
May Day
I spent a lot of this afternoon getting plants ready for sale at the Blossomtime event this weekend - two days of celebrations of cider and apples and the beautiful fields full of apple trees in blossom we are lucky enough to have around here.
I now have around 100 mainly tomato plants ready to sell with the profit going to Garden Organic.
I also spent a fair bit of time washing the very last of the pots. I set up a washing station at just the right height for me to wash things without hurting my back, which made the job a lot easier.
I just need to sort out all the leaflets and seeds and stuff I need for my composting stall at Blossomtime and I will be ready for my first "Compostwoman" event of the year :)
Tonight there was a knock on the back door - some people had seen a chicken up the lane and stopped to ask if it was mine - nice of them - so I walked up to have a look.
I spotted this handsome little fellow - a Silkie or Polish Bantam, but he would not let me catch him. I telephoned some neighbours but he was not theirs and he had gone the next morning. I do hope he found his way back home and was not eaten by the fox.
This is the view up the lane past our house, as you can see we have no near neighbours!
Sunday, 13 October 2013
h Energy marketplace event, Hereford
Sat 12th Oct was the start of h.Energy week -, a week long (12th - 20th October 2013) celebration of low impact lifestyles in beautiful Herefordshire
I was there doing my Master Composter and Gardener stuff, along with fellow Master Composter Martin.
I actually got to High Town at 8 30 am to set up the stall and spent all day there, manningthe Compost stall, doing a bit of shopping, looking at the other h. Energy stalls and also looking at the usual Sat market stalls
This is what it looks like to see the world through insect eyes :)
Same place without the bug eye glasses.
There were a variety of different events on during the day and it was really good to be involved. The hula hooping was excellent!
The h Energy event opened at 10 am and closed at 4 pm but I got there at 8 30 am and by the time I drove the car round to the square and packed up at the end, it was 5.30 pm so a very long day!
But, I spoke to over 70 people and had a really great time promoting composting, organic gardening and sustainable living. I was also given lots of tea and cake to sustain me during the day by the organisers :)
We are also hosting an Open House as part of h Energy so lots of tidying up is going in here!