[harrymac]

I have a compost heap which is mosty made up of material from last autumn, so it's past the hot stage and quite stabe. I don't intend to use it until next year as there is a lot of tough material, such as bramble stems, within it and still needs to decompose a bit more.

I thought I might make use of it meanwhile and have one or two suitable plants growing in it. The most promising seem to be something from the cucurbit family. At the moment I have on the go:-

1) Courgettes (bush varieties)
2) Butternut squash
3) Pumpkin (Jack o Lantern)

The compost is held in a pallet wood container, approx 4' wide, 3' deep and 3.5' high. Immediatey behind is a chicken wire fence with 1" diameter holes. There is also scope at the front and one side to have something trailing over the edge of the box.

The compost doesn't quite fill the container - it's about a foot short of the top - so I reckon this might rule out the bush courgettes. So any thoughts on what might be best between squashes and pumpkins, using the fence as support as necessary?

... or is there another veg altogether that might be better suited?

[noshed]

All the old blokes on our site grow their pumpkins etc on their compost heaps. They just make a hollow, put a bit of soil in and put the plant in. At the moment they are protected by a bit of glass/netting (the foxes play on the compost heaps).
I tried it last year with courgettes and it did work, although you have to use slug pellets liberally. Mine is in shade so I think that's not ideal - the real experts' heaps are out in the sun. It does help to keep the plants moist though.
Give it a go!

[compostqueen]

dwarf french beans 

[RichardA]

if the heap is solid try a south american idea -- sweet corn and runner beans and courgettes or pumpkins beneath - you might know the idea behind this - beans provide nitrogen and beans climb up sweet corn whilst courgettes benefit from shade. Oh and the old native farmers always buried a dead fish in the heap
R

[harrymac]

Thanks noshed, I wondered about starting them off in some soil or bought compost . The heap looks a bit airy at the moment, so I will plant in a little soil to start with.

3 sisters - sweet corn, climbing beans and squashes - was something I was thinking of trying in the beds, but I suppose there's no reason why I can't try this in the compost heap!

Why dwarf french beans compostqueen?

Will there be any need to train or tie anything to the wire fence or over the sides of the container?

[compostqueen]

dwarf beans will sit on top of your pile quite nicely, they will grow on muck so if you have some of that bung that on top    the squashes will grow and hang down as will most of the foliage which leaves the top of the heap free for your courgette but if there's any room at the sides you could bung a few dwarf beans which don't take up much room

You could put supports up and grow the corn and climbing beans as has been suggested. World's your oyster 

I find growing in muck heaps that the growing compost etc gets flung about by blackbirds who root about in it looking for insects and they can soon hoik out your plants. I surrounded mine with some bricks to try and contain the heap. Looks neat 

[BobandJack]

I was thinking of planting squash (assuming they ever germinate) through plastic & into my muck heap, do you think this would work?

[mumofstig]

Yup that works

[harrymac]

I reckon I'll go with the 3 sisters for this - 6 sweetcorn, 6 climbing beans and one or 2 squashes should do it.

[Yorkie]

Might just be worth you doing a site search for the three sisters method - quite a few members have tried it in the UK (it's a US method) but with very mixed results.  At least you can see what they found difficult and perhaps take steps to avoid those problems.

[RichardA]

Some south americans call it the holy trinity and they claim it as being theirs long before the States of America were United. Has been attributed to the people of the first nations in north america and hence passed to Pilgrim Fathers thousands of years afetr being firts used etc.
Unless you are really pushed for space I suspect it is a waste of time as plants on their own are as likely to do as well if not better in proper spaced areas with individual feeding.
R

[harrymac]

Points taken Yorkie and Richard. I was going to try this anyway, but in a proper bed. By using the compost heap I'll not be losing anything if it flops. The squash(es) I can train over the front of the container so it / they shoud not be crowded out light-wise, and all 3 plant types should have plenty of nutrition available at the roots. I'll be growing all 3 separately in their own beds, so there'll be something to compare with.

If nothing else it will be a laugh watching people's reactions as they walk past the front of the allotment