PEAT DEPLETION

Photo: Not our sandcastle (maybe next year). We did a snail!

(Click on the title for a link to the Irish Peatland Coservation Council (ipcc))



MORE COMPETITION
I entered the sand castle building competition with my two lads last summer. It was all part of the festival fun of course, but I went with my big spade to shift some serious amounts of sand and create a giant sand snail. Embarrassingly enough for me, we won. To make matters worse there was a complaint from another group of children who reckoned that it was unfair to have a grown up helping to build, or sculpt as I like to call it, a sand castle. The judges had to change the rules to a grown up section and a children’s section….

Thinking about it though, I think it was a good thing that an adult won. We need more adults as well as children on the beach with our spades in hand to create sand masterpieces. Watch out. Next year, I’m coming with a J.C.B.!

PEAT
As I’m on the subject of digging things up I thought I’d talk about peat extraction. I was in Carndonagh last week to pay my car tax that helps keep the peninsulas roads in tip top condition. I then popped into the library and spotted an Enfo leaflet on peat extraction in Ireland. I remember visiting a large peat-processing factory fifteen years ago. The owner happily told us there is enough peat to last us 50 years. So we’re down to 35 years and counting! Since the 1940’s intensive methods of extraction have been used to produce the big bags of moss peat we see in the shops. This is exactly the same principle of open cast mining that is used to extract coal. Today less than 8% of the original area has been left undamaged.

In 1989 David Bellamy launched the Moss Peat Campaign in Ireland, U.K. and Northern Ireland. Its aim is to stop the use of horticultural moss peat in favour of more environmentally friendly methods. Here in Ireland, almost all of the peat used in gardens comes from raised bogs. Plants and animals unique to bog and wetlands are threatened with extinction as their habitats are depleted. Since the launch of the campaign many gardening groups and local authorities have gone peat free.

PEAT FREE ALTERNATIVES

Some garden centres stock peat free compost. John Innes is a good example. The larger D.I.Y. shops such as B+Q and Homebase stock their own range of peat free compost. The prices are slightly higher than peat based but it’s worth paying the difference. The alternatives to use are Coir compost- this is made up from old coconut shells. They were a waste product for years until their uses were exploited. (The product does travel a long way on ships to get here though, which will use a lot of fuel) Kitchen compost- your compost from the compost bin could probably supply you with all the potting compost you are likely to need each year. You could also try leaf mould. Leaves can be collected and put into dustbin liner bags. Wet the leaves and seal the bag. Leave for six months and you will have some fine compost.

By choosing alternatives to peat we can make a real difference to the future of the peat lands, its wildlife and plants.

SOIL IMPROVERS

Peat is a very poor product to use as a soil improver. It has no nutrients and you would need tonnes of it do bulk up light soil. If you want to improve the soil then use leaf mould, well-rotted animal manure or mushroom compost (This does contain a bit of peat though) As a mulch peat is pretty bad too, especially around here as it blows away in the wind. Try using bark, wood chips or co-coa shells instead.


Enfo have lots of leaflets about organic gardening and composting amongst other interesting topics. You can find the range in the libraries. The Irish Peatland conservation Council have a website giving more information about peat and its overproduction. The web site address is www.ipcc.ie, check it out, it’s very interesting.

Horticultural,environmental.