just two quick questions from a noob

hi there

Im planning on growing some things using a shopping trolley i found and filling it with compost.
the plan is to use some sort of plastic to line it with punctured with many small holes on the bottom, then wood scraps and sticks to fill out the bottom to middle of it and then finally compost on top. my question is do you think black heavy duty bin liners is a suitable plastic for the job?
or im considering i might try getting some industrial strength clear plastic from like a builders yard or something. any thoughts?
im living in ireland so its not exactly warm for much of the year, maybe black plastic would attract more warmth?
wish there was some non plastic viable alternative but i dont think there is in a shopping trolley.

one other thing, when i was even more of a noob than i am now i made a compost heap partly using a lot of soil from the garden, far too much for a compost pile, it now has a lot of food scraps mixed in with it. one thing though is that its from the garden which has for many years been used as a dogs toilet. i was considering using this possibly tainted muck to line the bottom of a proper deep raised bed i am hoping to get in a month or two, my instinct says no its probably full of pathogens and parasite eggs but at the same time if its got a layer of logs and on top of that a thick layer of compost then maybe it wont do any harm?

Cheers guys.

Hi Dean,

For a non-plastic option, have you thought about lining with wood?  I would think it would work a well as plastic, and you can drill little holes for drainage.

Just a thought.

Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:Hi Dean,

For a non-plastic option, have you thought about lining with wood?  I would think it would work a well as plastic, and you can drill little holes for drainage.

Just a thought.

Eric

thanks for the reply Eric, ive edited my original post so it now contains a bonus question.

to answer, i would line it with wood if i could, but i really am not much of a carpenter and i lack tools to shape and cut the wood to length for the bottoms and sides. it would be quite some task in itself. also unless i used very thick wood itd probably rot through in not that much time and start leaking my precious soil. im planning on using a no dig approach as much as possible so i want to avoid that.

Empty compost bags would work as well if you can get any, Straw would also work since I'm assuming you only want to use it for one year at a time.

Have you thought about using hessian to line your shopping trolley? You always used to be able to get it from carpet suppliers but I think they all use plastic nowadays. You could try some other fabric e.g. old sheets which would be porous anyway so no need to put holes in them.
I would not be happy using the contaminated soil in a bed I was going to grow edibles in but have no other suggestions to offer you there.

I would line the shopping trolley with cardboard, cause it's easy for me to get. If you put multiple layers, it should last a while. If you keep perennials growing in the trolley, their root systems will help hold the soil in place when the cardboard starts breaking down

I've put straight up fresh dog shit in all my hugel beds for years. I make sure it's in the lower levels of the bed or at least 8-10" down, and I don't grow any root crops there for a couple years. I also don't dig in the soil, so I won't be pulling anything to the surface by accident. If even that's too icky for you, only grow crops that will get cooked before eating.

Hi.
I think a shopping trolley is too small for a proper compost pile. It should have at least 1 cubic meter. I see the point on having a portable compost source, but in a small place I'd use worms instead. Plastic bags don't look sturdy enough to hold the weight and lixiviates. Being black is of no help if sun does not reach it, and you don't want sun to reach your plastic bags if you want them to last.

For pathogens, I think 18 months is the adviced minimum time.

I like the idea of using cardboard which I feel will work well.

It might need to be replaced every year though if it has degraded enough it might be worked into the soil.

If this shopping trolley is for flowers the manure or dog shit would be okay. As long as the flowers are not going to be eaten.

If it is for planting veggies then I would not consider that.