Urban Agriculture & The Climate Emergency
Common-Sense
Compost Making by the Quick Return Method
by Maye E. Bruce
This book describes a way of making compost, i.e. humus, which is simply, labour saving (no turning) and quick, both in ripening the compost and in getting results in the soil. It is adaptable to all conditions and to every size and type of garden, allotment or farm, the process being based on nature’s own methods.
Miss Bruce tells how to make use of the natural heat of disintegration, which liberates the vitality of the plants; how to retain that vitality within the heap, and how to quicken both the disintegration of plants and the energizing of humus by treating the heap with a simple activator. This is a herbal solution which contains in living plant form the chief elements necessary to plant life; formulae are given.
Miss Bruce tells how to make use of the natural heat of disintegration, which liberates the vitality of the plants; how to retain that vitality within the heap, and how to quicken both the disintegration of plants and the energizing of humus by treating the heap with a simple activator. This is a herbal solution which contains in living plant form the chief elements necessary to plant life; formulae are given.
– Published 1946
A short book by Maye E. Bruce is about early compost work and the role of herbal biostimulants to make Q.R. compost. Her simple explanations are very good and is recommended reading!
It is provided by Journey to Forever and came via the works of Gerry Gillespie and his ‘Returning Organics to Soil’
“A very viable covered alternative, inoculated using herbs, is a smaller batch system used during World War II to grow vegetables in the UK. It is a very high quality product, very dense in humus content. This was designed by Maye Bruce. Her compost takes only 6 weeks from start to finish. Her entire 32 page book is available free.” G.G.