[savbo]

You can buy composts where the peat comes from a sustainable source, but they're not cheap

hmmm - is it really 'sustainable' - in the sense that it renews as fast as it's extracted? Surely that's impossible as it takes so long to form... Or is it (as I suspect) from sites that only extract a certain depth and then re-wet the area back to bog? That means the habitat is sustained but not the peat and its carbon...

interesting that most of the peat free compost in Ireland used to be produced by Bord na Mona, the peat extraction agency - so they know there's an end in sight!
sav

[mumofstig]

hmmm - is it really 'sustainable'

It's peat thats sieved from rivers
http://www.westridingorganics.co.uk/moorland-gold/

as sold in the Garden Organic catalogue
http://www.organiccatalogue.com/p494/MOORLAND-GOLD-40-Litre/product_info.html

[savbo]

I stand corrected MOS!

I now realise I had heard of that before...silly me

sav

[Kirpi]

You folks must be really unlucky with your peat free composts. I have used B&Q Peat Free organic compost and found it to be absolutely fine for seeds and potting on. If I want a finer compost for smaller seeds I just riddle it and very little is left in the riddle.

We must look after our peat bogs - consider the amount of CO2 locked in our peat bogs is greater than the emmissions from traffic in some of our larger cities. It has to make sense to use peat free.

[Lawrence]

I was told by an Irishman I met on holiday that the peat bogs are sustainable to a large degree.
The problem in the past was that they were drained of water and that led to the destruction of the bog .
Now they use a different process that enables the bog to recover.
I don't know how widespread this is, but he was very enthusiastic about what they were doing near him. He uses peat as fuel in his house and considered it "Carbon neutral"

[ilan]

It is said that it will take about 10.000 years for a peat bog to recover and grow back to its original depth  Peat is not in anyway sustainable nor can it be carbon neutral . The peat bogs not only tie up vast amounts of carbon , they also act as a store for water indeed the upland peat bogs are only just being understood   as a major component of the whole ecological system

[Lawrence]

I am only going by what he said, I have never even seen a peat bog!

Although I can see the point about carbon neutral, peat ties up atmospheric CO2 which is released into the atmosphere when it is burnt,
Seems pretty balanced to me.

[Madame Cholet]

I've used new horizon for years altough I seive it for fine seeds and the lumpier bits are ok for potting i'm. Everthing seems to grow well  in it
I'm expenrimenting with ways to cut down my usage and cost by more direct sowing  and planting out brassicas this year from very small plugs which are doing fine so far.

Joy larkholm sugests that many brassicas can be station sown she's tried it so i'm going to try it next year.

Trying to get my usage down to only things that need heat ie toms. With all these things its not just the carbon being realised it the manufacture/production/ transport where the carbon is used.