1 00:00:07,599 --> 00:00:09,649 ALAN POWER: Thanks for downloading this garden cutting 2 00:00:09,659 --> 00:00:13,029 from the National Trust. I'm Alan Power Head gardener at the 3 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:14,239 Stourhead estate in Wiltshire. 4 00:00:14,810 --> 00:00:17,680 In these shorter programs, I'm focusing on a particular aspect 5 00:00:17,690 --> 00:00:20,129 of our work. And today I'm in our walled garden. 6 00:00:24,819 --> 00:00:28,479 This is Emily Utgren. She's on the garden team at Stourhead and 7 00:00:28,489 --> 00:00:30,610 does a multitude of tasks. 8 00:00:30,610 --> 00:00:33,209 Emily, these are, I'm always quite proud of these compost 9 00:00:33,220 --> 00:00:34,860 heaps because they're really tidy, aren't they? 10 00:00:35,450 --> 00:00:38,450 You know, we can see grass clippings, you know, the soft 11 00:00:38,459 --> 00:00:42,240 green shoots from, from the plants around the garden and it 12 00:00:43,090 --> 00:00:47,040 goes into the compost heap is turned over, goes back into the 13 00:00:47,049 --> 00:00:47,439 garden. 14 00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:50,779 EMILY UTGREN: And we do it in six months, which is phenomenal. 15 00:00:50,790 --> 00:00:52,219 ALAN POWER: It's quite a quick turnaround isn't it? 16 00:00:52,219 --> 00:00:54,240 EMILY UTGREN: It's a really quick turnaround for a compost. 17 00:00:54,250 --> 00:00:56,770 It's certainly not what occurs at home, I can tell you that! 18 00:00:56,770 --> 00:01:01,319 And it's not this neat either. But, what we then have to do is 19 00:01:01,330 --> 00:01:05,099 we have to make sure that the particle size of the stuff we 20 00:01:05,110 --> 00:01:08,550 put in is going to rot down in six months. 21 00:01:08,559 --> 00:01:10,510 ALAN POWER: And how do you, how do you ensure that happens? 22 00:01:10,519 --> 00:01:12,410 EMILY UTGREN: Well, we're lucky because we've got a little 23 00:01:12,419 --> 00:01:16,269 shredder. And that's the best idea because it means we can 24 00:01:16,279 --> 00:01:20,209 even put things like, you know, the apple cut- prunings from the 25 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:23,949 apple trees annually, put it through the shredder and we can 26 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,440 actually get it to break down well enough in six months. 27 00:01:27,730 --> 00:01:31,879 But we're not talking a seed sowing compost. We're talking, 28 00:01:31,910 --> 00:01:36,059 quite a reasonably coarse compost, which we love here in 29 00:01:36,069 --> 00:01:39,959 the walled garden because it provides almost slow release 30 00:01:39,970 --> 00:01:40,680 nutrients. 31 00:01:40,690 --> 00:01:44,839 But if you get this nice good coarse material with a tiny bit 32 00:01:44,849 --> 00:01:49,260 of leaf still left in, it's also plenty for all of the animals 33 00:01:49,269 --> 00:01:52,069 living within the soil. Like the worms, they've got plenty of 34 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:57,160 food to drag down and that makes the the soil airy for instance. 35 00:01:57,239 --> 00:02:00,270 So it benefits so many different things to have (lots in your 36 00:02:00,270 --> 00:02:00,650 compost). 37 00:02:00,650 --> 00:02:03,599 ALAN POWER: By shredding and making the particle size smaller 38 00:02:03,610 --> 00:02:06,180 that goes into the compost by adding the grass to it and 39 00:02:06,190 --> 00:02:10,338 having, you know, your very easily accessible organic layer, 40 00:02:10,338 --> 00:02:13,770 you're balancing the carbon release in the compost heap, 41 00:02:13,779 --> 00:02:15,350 you're increasing the temperature because the 42 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,309 breakdown is accelerated, we turn it regularly. 43 00:02:19,669 --> 00:02:22,479 So the compost is turned. So it increases the temperature in 44 00:02:22,490 --> 00:02:25,000 different areas of it and it breaks down really quickly, 45 00:02:25,009 --> 00:02:25,369 doesn't it? 46 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,389 EMILY UTGREN: The grass clippings being the accelerant 47 00:02:28,399 --> 00:02:33,809 and produces good moisture and heat, but it has to be the fresh 48 00:02:33,820 --> 00:02:36,929 because if, if you're raking hay, for instance, all of the 49 00:02:36,940 --> 00:02:40,149 nitrogen is nearly gone already. So you just have to think a 50 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,669 little bit, actively, you know, it's a live thing, you know? 51 00:02:43,679 --> 00:02:45,529 ALAN POWER: I often call it cooking. 52 00:02:45,690 --> 00:02:45,809 EMILY UTGREN: Yeah. 53 00:02:45,820 --> 00:02:48,600 ALAN POWER: How's the compost cooking? Because it's exactly 54 00:02:48,610 --> 00:02:50,809 what you're doing, isn't it? So, where you're standing at the 55 00:02:50,820 --> 00:02:55,320 moment, Emily, you're standing on a compost heap, on one that's 56 00:02:55,330 --> 00:02:56,139 well rotted. 57 00:02:56,149 --> 00:02:59,350 So, it's two thirds of the way down the compost bay. The other 58 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,240 side is full and is green and is working hard to decompose. But I 59 00:03:03,250 --> 00:03:06,690 know for a fact that what you're standing on has had quite an 60 00:03:06,699 --> 00:03:08,550 interesting visitors in the past, hasn't it? 61 00:03:08,559 --> 00:03:12,830 EMILY UTGREN: We've had, we found, Grass Snake eggs, they 62 00:03:12,839 --> 00:03:16,139 find somewhere nice and warm. And if you find them in your 63 00:03:16,149 --> 00:03:18,710 compost, you know, you've actually got the heat, right? 64 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:22,270 It's not too hot and it's not too cold. So you don't even need 65 00:03:22,279 --> 00:03:23,750 to use a thermometer in them. 66 00:03:23,759 --> 00:03:25,669 ALAN POWER: I brought Matthew, my youngest son out to see it 67 00:03:25,770 --> 00:03:28,669 and I said, Matty come and see this. So he came out, we just 68 00:03:28,679 --> 00:03:30,899 came to the front of the compost heap and I lifted it up and we 69 00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:33,494 just saw the tail end of one of the snakes disappearing and he 70 00:03:33,505 --> 00:03:36,854 got so excited, lifted it up and the eggs were there and the 71 00:03:36,865 --> 00:03:39,375 other parents were still around and then within three or four 72 00:03:39,384 --> 00:03:41,335 weeks it was almost moving, wasn't it? 73 00:03:41,524 --> 00:03:44,425 There was, there was a lot of the Grass Snakes in there. But 74 00:03:44,434 --> 00:03:47,054 it, it's wonderful. You know, it's it's back to that whole 75 00:03:47,065 --> 00:03:49,815 cycle of, you know, looking after wildlife, caring for 76 00:03:49,824 --> 00:03:53,065 wildlife, even the compost heaps do it. You know, the whole thing 77 00:03:53,074 --> 00:03:54,804 is inclusive which is brilliant. 78 00:03:54,815 --> 00:03:57,014 EMILY UTGREN: It has to be a holistic way of looking at it 79 00:03:57,044 --> 00:03:57,695 for sure. 80 00:04:01,610 --> 00:04:03,429 ALAN POWER: Thanks for downloading this garden cutting 81 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,210 from the National Trust. You can make sure that you never miss an 82 00:04:06,220 --> 00:04:09,130 episode by subscribing on your player where you'll also find 83 00:04:09,139 --> 00:04:11,839 this month's full length episode of the National Trust Gardens 84 00:04:11,850 --> 00:04:13,720 podcast. See you next time. 85 00:04:19,429 --> 00:04:21,730 BETTANY HUGHES: I'm Bettany Hughes. I've been visiting 86 00:04:21,739 --> 00:04:25,299 National Trust properties all my life, but in this series of 87 00:04:25,309 --> 00:04:30,100 podcasts, I'm going beyond the delights of teas and topiary to 88 00:04:30,109 --> 00:04:33,670 reveal the surprising European roots of some of the most 89 00:04:33,679 --> 00:04:35,329 splendid sites in England. 90 00:04:36,220 --> 00:04:39,774 You can subscribe to my series by searching for Bettany 91 00:04:39,774 --> 00:04:44,929 Hughes's 10 places, Europe and us on your podcast app.