Welcome to the QR Composting Solutions Website
Thank you for visiting our website.
The main purpose of our website is to bring about awareness of Quick Return (QR) composting . The addition of organic matter (that which is derived from living organisms) is essential to establish and maintain a healthy living soil, and in turn the health of plants and animals on this planet. As an effective means to return our organic waste materials to the soil, QR has been proven to provide a fast and reliable method of making compost for almost 100 years.
Composting, primarily using the Quick Return method, is at the forefront of everything we do at QR Composting Solutions, whether it be our gardening talks, courses, gardening services, activities at Buttercup Meadow or the products we sell in our store.
QR Composting was invented back in the 1930s by Maye E Bruce (one of the founder members of the Soil Association), as a means for gardeners and farmers to make fertile compost in a matter of weeks. To read more about the background and history of QR please click here.
The main purpose of our website is to bring about awareness of Quick Return (QR) composting . The addition of organic matter (that which is derived from living organisms) is essential to establish and maintain a healthy living soil, and in turn the health of plants and animals on this planet. As an effective means to return our organic waste materials to the soil, QR has been proven to provide a fast and reliable method of making compost for almost 100 years.
Composting, primarily using the Quick Return method, is at the forefront of everything we do at QR Composting Solutions, whether it be our gardening talks, courses, gardening services, activities at Buttercup Meadow or the products we sell in our store.
QR Composting was invented back in the 1930s by Maye E Bruce (one of the founder members of the Soil Association), as a means for gardeners and farmers to make fertile compost in a matter of weeks. To read more about the background and history of QR please click here.
About Us
The origins of the business began, literally, in the soil.
The origins of the business began, literally in the soil, through the interest and passion developed by myself (Andrew Davenport) for composting, in particular for 'Quick Return' (QR) Composting.
This type of composting proved very successful - it radically improved the structure and health of the heavy clay soil and combined with an increase in the diversity of planting, subsequent improvement of the biodiversity and eco balance in the whole garden has been realised.
It also dramatically changed my life with the writing and publishing of the book 'Quick Return Compost Making' and my subsequent change of career from engineering into horticulture.
Following 25 years of gardening organically, a garden design and maintenance service was established in 2010 employing organic and sustainable principles. Through the knowledge and experience gained of the soil, composting, growing plants, as well as practical skills and knowledge through an engineering background, we can provide a comprehensive garden development/design/construction and maintenance service.
A passion for propagating and nurturing plants developed into the establishment of a plant nursery in 2014. The nursery was run on sustainable and organic principles,. with potting composts made from our own compost and locally sourced waste materials including spent hops and volcanic rock dust.
The garden at Gardener's Cottage, where we lived, evolved and developed, side by side with the nursery and gardening business, first opening to the public under the National Garden Scheme from 2017 and also as a private garden from 2018.
Through the experiences and knowledge gained over the 21 years we gardened at Gardeners Cottage and through organic gardening work in customers gardens since 2010, we are able to offer Talks and Workshops related to 'QR' Composting and regenerative & organic gardening.
Working in customers gardens has given us the wider experience and view of how all gardens are different in everything from soil type, aspect, shade, elevation etc. When compared to gardens where the soil is neglected , it is most notable how practices such as composting and mulching really do have far reaching benefits in the gardens where they are practiced - the difference is very stark. Often it is the lack of wildlife in the garden that indicates this. Primarily we view ourselves first and foremost as composters - gardening follows on from composting and being mindful of this brings great reward and means little goes wrong. One of the visitors to our garden once said 'It's more than a garden its a philosophy'
In 2015, a nearby 5.5 acre field was purchased. This was named 'Buttercup Meadow' by my father due to the proliferation of golden buttercups throughout the summer. The field has been planted up with over 900 native trees to increase biodiversity and improve carbon capture. We also aim to introduce wildflower meadow areas, ponds and forest gardening which we commenced in 2019. The field is also used to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for sale locally through the business. Local charity and community groups such as People's Kitchen and Living Woods North East visit us on a regular basis, helping with the growing. Everyone involved gets a good day out, stimulating the senses, gaining knowledge about growing/tree planting, improving health and well being and doing something good for the environment.
In 2024, sadly we moved on from Gardener's Cottage. This enabled us to concentrate more on our activities at Buttercup Meadow and carry on doing the 'Good Stuff' from there.
This type of composting proved very successful - it radically improved the structure and health of the heavy clay soil and combined with an increase in the diversity of planting, subsequent improvement of the biodiversity and eco balance in the whole garden has been realised.
It also dramatically changed my life with the writing and publishing of the book 'Quick Return Compost Making' and my subsequent change of career from engineering into horticulture.
Following 25 years of gardening organically, a garden design and maintenance service was established in 2010 employing organic and sustainable principles. Through the knowledge and experience gained of the soil, composting, growing plants, as well as practical skills and knowledge through an engineering background, we can provide a comprehensive garden development/design/construction and maintenance service.
A passion for propagating and nurturing plants developed into the establishment of a plant nursery in 2014. The nursery was run on sustainable and organic principles,. with potting composts made from our own compost and locally sourced waste materials including spent hops and volcanic rock dust.
The garden at Gardener's Cottage, where we lived, evolved and developed, side by side with the nursery and gardening business, first opening to the public under the National Garden Scheme from 2017 and also as a private garden from 2018.
Through the experiences and knowledge gained over the 21 years we gardened at Gardeners Cottage and through organic gardening work in customers gardens since 2010, we are able to offer Talks and Workshops related to 'QR' Composting and regenerative & organic gardening.
Working in customers gardens has given us the wider experience and view of how all gardens are different in everything from soil type, aspect, shade, elevation etc. When compared to gardens where the soil is neglected , it is most notable how practices such as composting and mulching really do have far reaching benefits in the gardens where they are practiced - the difference is very stark. Often it is the lack of wildlife in the garden that indicates this. Primarily we view ourselves first and foremost as composters - gardening follows on from composting and being mindful of this brings great reward and means little goes wrong. One of the visitors to our garden once said 'It's more than a garden its a philosophy'
In 2015, a nearby 5.5 acre field was purchased. This was named 'Buttercup Meadow' by my father due to the proliferation of golden buttercups throughout the summer. The field has been planted up with over 900 native trees to increase biodiversity and improve carbon capture. We also aim to introduce wildflower meadow areas, ponds and forest gardening which we commenced in 2019. The field is also used to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for sale locally through the business. Local charity and community groups such as People's Kitchen and Living Woods North East visit us on a regular basis, helping with the growing. Everyone involved gets a good day out, stimulating the senses, gaining knowledge about growing/tree planting, improving health and well being and doing something good for the environment.
In 2024, sadly we moved on from Gardener's Cottage. This enabled us to concentrate more on our activities at Buttercup Meadow and carry on doing the 'Good Stuff' from there.
Our Environmental, Social, Health & Wellbeing Aims
We are not a charity, however we will gratefully accept donations which will allow us to keep on doing the good stuff (below) that we believe in.
Purchasing our products or services helps us to achieve the following:
Purchasing our products or services helps us to achieve the following:
Over 900 trees have been planted at Buttercup Meadow
Engineering and Sustaining a Carbon Negative Footprint through :
- Composting waste materials from local businesses including woodchip, horse manure, spent hops, coffee grinds, egg shells plus all vegetative wastes from our garden and home. These are applied to the land that we own and used in the growing media we use in raising plants, helping to improve carbon capture.
- Educating gardeners and growers, through workshops and talks, on how to make compost and grow organically, so they improve their own carbon footprints
- Applying locally sourced volcanic rock dust to the growing areas at Buttercup Meadow so that carbon is permanently captured in the soil. The increase in soil carbon is up to 17%, (adding compost can add up o 0.5% soil carbon which still exceeds the target of 0.4% set by the Paris climate summit.
A diverse range of plants in the garden creates habitat and food for wildlife
Increasing Biodiversity at Buttercup Meadow:
- Planting over 900 trees and creating wildflower meadows in the first 5 years.
- Continually adding compost and natural mulches to increase soil biodiversity. We believe that biodiversity starts from soil upwards. Each year we bring in at least 30 tonnes of natural waste materials for composting and mulching purposes. This includes local waste materials such as spent hops and woodchip. The increase in bird visitors (and residents) since we started doing this is a good indicator of its success.
- Rewilding a large portion of Buttercup Meadow for habitat creation including - allowing the hedgerows to grow - not mowing a large portion of the land, introducing native wildflowers and trees that are suited to the conditions at the meadow -
- Coppicing established and young woodland including willow, hazel, ash and oak to create habitat as well as usage for firewood, in crafting and practical aspects of the field such as bean supports etc
- Introducing a large range of wild flowers, herbs, trees, shrubs, to create habitat and food for wildlife at Buttercup Meadow.
- Collecting rainwater for watering and employing water capture irrigation techniques, to minimise water usage.
Community groups involved with fruit and veg growing at Buttercup Meadow
Promoting health and well being in the community through the following:
- Providing a stimulating and relaxing green space experience for our visitors
- Involving community groups in tree planting and veg growing at Buttercup Meadow including Formation of the community group 'Friends of Buttercup Meadow'
- Educating gardeners on how to grow organically. Growing organically equates to - healthy soil=healthy plants= healthy animals and humans feeding on those plants. Maye Bruce (the inventor of QR) said 'Give back life to the soil and abolish disease in plant animal and man'. Words that can now be backed up by scientific fact i.e research carried out locally at Nafferton Farm by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Organic food has greater nutrient content, mineral and disease fighting properties and is grown without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides etc. which potentially harm our vital insect and wildlife populations and subsequent ecosystems.
