Hi there

I hope someone can help!

We've recently cleared our allotment and over the last 4 weeks, planted our pots,onions and garlic. We have earthed up the potatoes and put the onions & garlic in a bed with 'quite' a fine tilth...

We have noticed that the top soil is very dry & quite hard to manage. Although we have got the bashing/raking/pull & pushing etc down to a fine art

I am keen to try to recitfy the soil a little bit & although I know it will prob take a good few years, is there anything immediate that will help? compost/green manures? I really want to get the beans/salads/carrots/beets in soon... and I am worried that the soil will be too dry to work with. Also I do have some redundant land which I was just going to cover over

Also, my potatoes, although I have already earthed them up & they are starting to poke through... when do I need to do this again? and if the ground is too dry, can I put some compost over the top instead?

manure will have to wait until the winter now, I assume!?!

Thanks for your time
Louise