Peat Free Gardening

For once I am going to attempt to be serious.

I have read about Jiffy Pellets and like many other people, from horticulturists to the allotmenteer and the home gardener, I thought 'what a great idea'. Just add water and up pops a little growing cell; in goes your seed and some time later up pops your seedling. What a way to get children's' attention too! The bio-degradable mesh even allows the roots to grow through it so you can transplant the whole thing meaning both you and your precious seedlings avoid unnecessary stress.

They sound too good to be true.

Sadly, they are. They are made from peat. And peat is a non-renewable resource; its extraction destroys the natural habitat of countless numbers of plants, invertebrates and birds. Every year 2.5 millions cubic metres of peat are used by people like us in Britain, people who love nature with a passion. According to the boffins at Kew 94% of the UK's peat reserves have been damaged or destroyed, all within our and our parents' lifespans. Common sense says that this can't go on unchecked.

I am by no means a 'doom merchant', I believe that the decline in our wildlife has reversed in recent years with, for example, many increasing populations of birds. But this hasn't happened by itself; it has come about following the efforts of conservationists by actively engaging those people who can make a difference in the process. Many farmers are now conservationists, whereas ten years ago they were demonised for causing the threat to our wildlife.

It is up to us to make this change, the whole industry is focused on us, the end-user. At the moment it's difficult to find good alternatives to peat. But what did we all do 50 years ago? Yep, we can make our own compost and many people do. But we must force the industry to find economically viable alternatives and, if we put pressure on them, they will. If we create the demand they will follow; some of you will remember the corporate scramble to 'go green' in the 90's. What exactly triggered this groundswell escapes me now but almost overnight even the least 'green' industries were desperately jumping onto the bandwagon, and they still are. Demand an alternative. Do it for the birds.

If anybody out there can point me in the direction of good peat-free growing mediums please let me know, nothing I have tried so far has been particularly good. Peat free Jiffys would be really good.

Have a look at Kew's web-site on this subject and, of course, the RSPB is always worth a look, especially their page about peat-free gardening.