♻ Compostons Ensemble – Grosbreuil
🌿 Manure · Compost · Wood Chips · Straw
How to make the best use of the Grosbreuil platform materials
The Grosbreuil composting platform offers several complementary materials: manure, compost, wood chips and straw. Used together, they make a winning combination for your garden: improved soil structure, lasting fertility and better water retention.
1 – Know your 4 materials
🌿 Wood Chips
Shredded green waste used as a surface mulch. It builds soil by adding humus and stimulating all soil life, including fungi. A true sponge, it efficiently retains water in the soil. Essential for a fertile garden.
🕐 Spring or autumn📦 5 to 10 cm thick
"Wood chips are quite special — they help build soil, foster all underground life, fungi included. A true sponge, they efficiently retain water in the soil. Essential for a fertile garden."
🌾 Straw
The ideal surface mulch: straw prevents evaporation and limits water loss from the soil. Very effective against weeds. As it decomposes, it continues to retain water and enriches the soil with organic matter.
🕐 Spring (after planting)📦 5 to 10 cm thick
💶 €2.50 per bale
♻ Compost
Made from your bio-waste: a balanced amendment that slowly feeds plants and boosts microbial activity. Platform compost is fully matured and usable year-round.
🕐 Spring and autumn📦 2 to 4 kg/m²
🐄 Manure
Rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Improves soil structure. Must always be well-composted (6 to 12 months) before any spring application.
🕐 Ideal in autumn📦 3 to 5 kg/m²
2 – Preparing your garden for spring
1
December – January
Apply composted manure
- Spread well-matured manure on the surface (3–5 kg/m²) over the areas to work.
- Do not dig it in: let the earthworms do the work.
- Avoid areas intended for sensitive crops (see section 3).
2
February – March
Light soil cultivation + compost
- Lightly rake the surface to 5 cm to aerate.
- Work in 2 to 3 kg/m² of mature compost.
- Soil should be workable (not too wet, not frozen).
3
March – April
Planting + mulching
- Plant or sow according to the seasonal calendar.
- Apply 5 to 8 cm of straw or wood chips around plants (not touching stems).
- Straw prevents evaporation and retains water — even as it decomposes, this property remains. Wood chips act as a true sponge and enrich the soil with more humus.
3 – Le fumier convient-il à toutes les cultures ?
No, not all. Here is a quick reference guide:
| Crop | Manure | Compost | Wood Chips | Straw | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🍅 Tomatoes / Squash / Courgettes | ⚠ Autumn only | ✓ Ideal | ✓ Mulch | ✓✓ Ideal | Fresh manure = burn risk. Always compost before spring use. |
| 🥔 Potatoes | ✗ Not advised | ✓ Moderately | ✓ Mulch | ✓✓ Ideal | Manure promotes common scab. Prefer mature compost. |
| 🫘 Beans / Peas / Broad Beans | ✗ Unnecessary | ✓ Light | ✓ Mulch | ✓ Mulch | Legumes fix nitrogen. Too much manure = excess foliage at the expense of pods. |
| 🥬 Lettuce / Spinach / Radishes | ✓ Automne (décomposé) | ✓ Ideal | ⚠ Not in contact | ⚠ Not in contact | Coarse mulch can impede germination; prefer fine compost on the surface. |
| 🌳 Trees / Shrubs / Hedges | ✓ Spring | ✓ Ideal | ✓✓ Excellent mulch | ✓✓ Excellent mulch | Wood chips or straw as thick mulch (5–10 cm) around the base. |
| 🌹 Roses / Perennial Flowers | ✓ Autumn | ✓ Ideal | ✓ Mulch | ✓ Mulch | Autumn application for roses; surface compost in spring. |
| 🥕 Carrots / Turnips / Beetroot | ✗ Avoid | ✓ Moderately | ✓ Fine mulch | ✓✓ Ideal | Too rich = forked and hairy roots. |
| 🧅 Onions / Garlic / Leeks | ✗ Avoid | ✓ Moderately | ✓ Fine mulch | ✓ Fine mulch | Excess manure = too much foliage at the expense of bulbs. Prefer a light, well-matured compost. |
| 🌿 Lawn / Grass | ⚠ Only if matured | ✓ Ideal (sieved) | ✗ Not advised | ✗ Not advised | Chips/straw would smother the grass. Use finely sieved compost for overseeding. |
4 – Conseils pratiques & questions fréquentes
Start by observing your soil. Sandy, poor soil needs more organic matter than clay soil.
The golden rule: several small applications are better than one large dose.
When in doubt, a moderate compost application is always safe.
Yes! An ideal programme for a vegetable bed:
- Autumn: composted manure spread on the surface
- Planting time: compost lightly worked in
- Printemps / Été : paille ou broyat en paillis — la paille est particulièrement efficace contre les mauvaises herbes et pour retenir l'humidité ; le broyat enrichit davantage le sol en humus
Le compost et le fumier bien décomposé peuvent être légèrement incorporés (10 cm).
Le broyat et la paille, eux, doivent toujours rester en surface : enfouis, ils consomment de l'azote
instead of releasing it (nitrogen hunger effect). Straw prevents evaporation
and continues to retain water even as it decomposes. Wood chips act as a true sponge.
Adding coarse wood chips and fibrous compost improves aeration.
Avoid compacting wet soil. Work in autumn to let frost and
earthworms do the natural loosening.
It depends on the material and your crops:
- Straw and wood chips: renew every year, as they decompose gradually. Straw often disappears in one season, wood chips a little more slowly.
- Compost: an annual application of 2 to 4 kg/m² is ideal to maintain soil fertility and feed microbial life.
- Manure: every 2 to 3 years is enough on well-maintained soil. Too frequent, it can oversaturate the soil with nitrogen and encourage weeds.
Some manure from large cereal farms may contain persistent herbicide residues (aminopyralide).
Prefer the platform's manure, sourced from known and controlled local farms.
📍
Collect your materials at the Grosbreuil platform
As a member (€2/year), you can collect:
🐄 Manure
♻ Compost
🌿 Wood Chips
🌾 Straw bales €2.50/bale
Open Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am to noon · Stock variescompostons-ensemble.fr
