Direct composting to improve soil in a problem area

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If you can find space for a compost bin this will be your best bet. It will be best in a warm corner, on soil, not concrete. Compost is very easy to make. Start now and you will be amazed how quickly it all rots down. Start with a few twigs at the bottom to improve air flow, then put all your raw fruit and veg peelings/waste in, plus teabags and coffee grounds, grass cuttings, clippings and trimmings from the garden, annual weeds (the "wet layer"), layered with dryer stuff - for example, straw from a guinea pig or rabbit hutch, torn up newspaper or thin cardboard, torn up egg boxes (the "dry" layer)- no shiny magazine pages though. Aim for layers (wet/dry/wet/dry) so you don't get a slimy mess. Never never use cooked food waste or meat or fish - cooked or raw - because that will encourage rats. I have had a compost bin in my garden for 30 years or more and NEVER had a rat problem. If you've got a tree in your garden, or you get a lot of leaf fall in the autumn, gather them up, put them in a black plastic bag, tie up the top then stab a few holes in for air flow. Put somewhere dry - shed or garage - and check in spring to see how it's doing. If it's dry and crumbly then it's ready. Spread across the top of the soil and let the worms do their job. This is the best free soil improver you can get. For something more instant, B & Q do bags of composted farm manure, ready to use, no weeds, no stinky smell - just spread across the top of the soil and let the worms dig it in for you. You can dig it in if you want to, but I follow a no-dig regime as I have a dodgy back! Good luck!

Interesting thread - I wish we still had a proper garden.
We had 2 homemade compost containers and can't ever remember seeing rats in them. (Probably full up on the chicken's food!)
We did once find some tiny jelly-like eggs which we found out were probably from grass snakes.

I’ve used this method for years. I allow one bed to lay fallow each year, trench it quite deeply and intersperse organic waste with shredded paper and cover with soil in thin layers. Come the autumn I plant green manure then later dig thar in well and leave nature and the worms to do the rest.

I have just ordered mini hotbin number 3. They stand on concrete slabs and take very little room but don`t half make compost (black gold) fast. Mine have a lot of compost worms in them. I don`t put anything in, other than uncooked plant material and I do spend a little time chopping with secateurs. Yesterday I put in rose deadheads, gooseberry branches, pulled apart egg boxes, catmint and lavender trimmings and some more comfrey bocking 14, which is infertile ie that variety does not spread and self seed. I had a patch on my last allotment, it always stayed put. Temperature in there today ia 98 degrees at 7am. Last week it was 110 and compost is made very fast

I do grow green manure, phacelia, that is a good one to grow op, chop it down before it sets seed, lightly turn over from the roots and cover with wood fibre, or cardboard for winter. I actually just received my fresh seeds

doh, I cover with weed fabric when an area is resting over winter, it adds that bit of warmth and that area can take a much earlier sowing in spring, while feeding worms on the phacelia all winter

Wow lots of people responding and thanks for that but unfortunately not about
Direct Composting
I've taken on board the trench filling responses and was just wondering what the percentage of garden waste, kitchen waste there should be to newspaper and cardboard.
I have been cutting the paper and cardboard into small pieces.
I had thought about starting a wormery because I have little to no worms in this area. does anyone have one and is it worth doing.
In our other property we spent over 30 years managing two rotating large compost heaps, but they never produced any compost which I would consider worth all the time and effort we put into it.
We have a small garden now so would have no place to locate one it even if we wanted.
Good idea to test the soil, I'll continue with the direct composting digging deeper as suggested and use the chicken pellets I've just purchased.
Thanks again to everyone really appreciate you
suggestions, masses of information for everyone.
Keep safe

Lots of experience and advice to read through here! Here's a bit more, with science to back it up, suggested by DH who's a botanist:

puyallup.wsu.edu/lcs/

Good luck!
(don't use egg shells if your soil turns out to be limey)

Back to the reality of direct composting, no harm done in trying as long as this stuff is put in deep enough and definitely don`t use anything animal based or cooked. Trouble is that some plant material will not rot down for a long time eg I keep my potatoes in the ground once the haulms are cut off, the soil preserves them for weeks, just done that with charlottes. To have a fighting chance, cut everything as small as possible and avoid potato because their eyes will grow up to form potato plants

The nearest I came to this was in 3 new tall raised beds, last house and I was going to plant 3 apple trees with M26 rootstocks. Too much compost required so I put in lots of cardboard and newspaper at the bottom, 10 years later the trees were thriving. I have to admit that I have never put fresh veg matter directly into the soil, except a surfeit of comfrey leaves, just laying on the top around plants

What you are almost talking about op, is an underground compost heap but that would not have air, which is vital. It might break down but might end up as a layer of slimey goo

No it doesn’t end up as slimey goo. Firstly you need (in my experience) about 30-40% paper or straw from the chicken coop. I use a paper shredder for best results. I also use dried leaves as we have loads of trees down our street Each layer has to be shallow - just about 4” deep and left open to the air until you cover with a shallow layer of soil.

I might put about 3 layers into one trench. Then I’ll start a new trench alongside the old one and so on until that bed is complete and ready for planting with green manure.

Many of the bacteria that break the vegetable waste down are anaerobic which do not require oxygen.

Over time the worms move in and churn everything up beautifully.

PS the final stage is when you are ready to dig in the green manure, dig everything over deeply and leave exposed to the elements and keep digging it over.

I've just thought of another one, if you live near the coast -
"Seaweed is a great natural fertiliser that all your plants will love. It can be used as mulch or as a fertiliser."
Our neighbour used to use it for his prize-winning leeks.