The real gardeners, of course, probably still go in for composting, but you'd suspect that most of us rely on the nice sacks of John Innes, this and that or something of the kind. Nevertheless, in a corner of the garden, there is still a sort of turf-face heap, well cut into, showing layers from the years when composting was practised, if not professionally.
It is four or five feet high, and each year's layers of the new leaves can be distinguished. Occasionally the real gardeners of the family dig out a bucketful. It's dry as a bone and now rather a curio. What went into it no one can quite remember, for the trees have changed over the years.
Anyway, it was interesting to open The Field Book of Country Queries (published 1987 by Pelham Books). It is quite practical to make humus-forming leaf mould out of any tree leaves, one item says, but the quality is variable. Less satisfactory are sycamore and ash, for the tough stalks do not rot as do the leafy tissue. The result is a leaf mould that is difficult to rub into small pieces suitable for seed or potting composts. And it could be too alkaline for some lime-haters.
Oak and beech leaves, the item says, are best and make a mould of finely divided flakes and decompose fully, if slowly. Mould from pine needles accumulating over some years is likely to be acid, not very rich in nutrients, but humus-forming as it decomposes. Bracken makes useful leaf mould when well rotted.
Planting by the moon is a fetching sub-heading. Does anyone follow the old advice? The simplest of several theories, according to the book is: plant all crops maturing their produce above ground when the moon is waxing, preferably in the first quarter. Plant all crops maturing below ground, such as roots and potatoes when the moon is waning, preferably in the third quarter.
On the other hand, The Field expert points out, experiments have been quoted to show that the seeds of food plants maturing above the ground are best sown two days before the full moon. And to complicate matters further, Dr Rudolph Steiner, categorised as the anthroposophist, held that plants growing above the surface, such as leaf greens and brassicas, should be planted with the moon Mercury and Venus in the ascendant. Is that all clear?