11/10/2026
Gardening on the Other Side of the Fence - no.32 (Eastry Village News October 2026)
So, July ended up a totally dry month here in Eastry and despite a dry start August ended up being just under the average. As usual when you have a good amount of water storage it doesn’t take long to go from the drought to having more than you need to use. I have been making the effort to get as much of it onto the garden as possible. I have also setup a series of three open-topped plastic troughs that take the rain from one downpipe and deposit the overflow into the next drain. They have been planted up as mini-ponds and two frogs appear to have taken up residence in preference to our proper pond.
As an avid composter and recycler, the issue that has caught my eye is that of food waste collections. Prior to the introduction of the nationwide “Simpler Recycling” strategy in April, unlike here under Dover and much to my surprise, over half of the UK’s 317 local authorities did not collect food waste from homes. Some councils have even requested temporary exemptions on the basis that they cannot afford the specialist vehicles required or,incredibly, there being a national shortage of the caddy bins that each of us has to have. I have seen the 'commotion' caused by the roll-out in neighbouring Thanet. Many refusals to take part, claims of not being collected properly or thrown in the normal waste by binmen; flies/rodents etc etc.
But what many don't get, is that councils pay for waste disposal by weight. So if they can remove heavy,soggy food waste from the normal rubbish, it reduces their costs and therefore,in theory, our council tax (Yes, I know............…). Depending on the council, it is then turned into compost or/fertiliser or goes to an a variety of energy producing plants.
In my dream world all gardens of a certain size would be required to have a compost heap. (exemptions allowed, I am not claiming they aren't a lot of effort) but there would be council or community shredding services to help. I would start with a lower council tax and then charge you to collect your rubbish by weight. I am sure that some people would then fly-tip or put it in their neighbours bin etc but one of the side effects would lead to consumers choosing products from manufacturers reducing their packaging. They are already being charged for this by the govt – have you noticed how many drinks are now in aluminium cans rather than bottles?.
Because I am from a generation whose parents lived through the war and rationing we barely produce any food waste and as a couple we are able to put our black bin out for about 1 collection in 3 so we are reducing the councils costs but get absolutely no financial reward for doing so.
Jeff, the Bee-Friendly Gardener.
