Bought a vintage steam bucket today.

​


Not a particularly good photo,but you get the idea. There is a kettle element at the bottom so I guessed it had to be filled with water. It was PAT tested and had a sticker from 2010 on it. It didn't look as though it had been used since then so I took a risk and bought it for just under a tenner.

The top doesn't fit snugly, but I am going to use a towel over the top for my next batch.

I wanted to gather pine straw to use as mulch. Its free, so a 12p per bucket steam to get rid of any fungus and pathogens seems good to me.

Its like an old fashioned kettle with no safety switch, so I am going to put a timer on the plug socket from the extension lead. Then let it switch off after 15 minutes. Leave the bucket to cool down by itself.

I need to find a bigger bit of wood to put it on. I don't want it to crack one of the pavers, or go live and electrocute me with the water dripping out of it.

​This was the first test. I am going to take a picture of the steamed mulch now!