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  • #1

    Feeding my soil

    Not sure if this thread is most appropriate here or in the New Shoots section, so can someone tell me off if it's wrong?

    I'm a bit worried. Well, very worried if the truth be known.

    Having had a reasonable amount of success last year, I find myself approaching this year thinking I've done everything wrong. I haven't made any attempt to feed my soil over winter. Much of the stuff I read about soil bangs on about adding organic matter to improve the soil. Well, I haven't done it.

    I've got a compost heap, but I don't really know how and when to use it. I think the contents should be quite good - there's a good mix of stuff on there, from kitchen scraps, horse muck & grass clippings, to shredded paper, cardboard etc. I even turned it once.

    I've got a horrible feeling that this year I'll be trying to grow things in soil that's depleted of nutrients, and my harvest will be severely affected as a result.

    So, is there anything I can do at this late stage to rectify the matter? A few weeks back I dug a small bean trench and threw in a couple of buckets of the compost, but that's all I've done.

    Now I've found this site I'm sure I'll be more on top of things this year, but I think I need some advice now.

    My grow list is here.

    Any assistance is much appreciated, thanks.

    MBE

    Oh, and when I first typed the title I accidentally wrote "Feeding my soul", so if anyone can help with that too, that'd be great, thanks.
    Last edited by mrbadexample; 24-04-2011, 09:19 AM.
    Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
    By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
    While better men than we go out and start their working lives
    At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling
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  • #2
    No need to panic!

    We had a neighbour on our previous lottie who never dug anything in- ever. She fed with chicken pellets and growmore and her idea of rotating crops was just not to plant in the same spot 2 yrs running.

    She had a wonderful lottie!!!


    Also- I've noticed that my neighbours over here don't go so much in for digging in compost.The soil is very sandy and fine ( well- dust really)
    ...but grows wonderful crops.

    Some crops like courgette,beans etc seem to do better though with a good rich compost dug in first.

    Maybe we get too hung up on adding compost????? ( just a thought???)...perhaps it also depends on how organic you want to be too?
    "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

    Location....Normandy France

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    • #3
      Well, that is somewhat reassuring, at least.

      I have a problem with crop rotation, in that almost everything I like to grow appears to be a brassica. Even radishes! I also haven't been very organised with planting. The runner beans will be in the same place for about the 4th year running.

      As for organic - the fewer chemicals I can use, the better I like it. I restrict myself to a few slug pellets (admittedly, not organic, just the cheapest), and Ultimate Bug Killer for the sawfly. Sawfly are my pet hate. There's a line, and they're so far over it that any means of control is completely justifiable, in my book.

      Is it ok to be putting manure in with my compost? Should the two be kept as separate entities?

      Chicken pellets. How many and how often?

      Oh gawd, I really haven't got a clue.
      Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
      By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
      While better men than we go out and start their working lives
      At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

      Comment

      • #4
        Only add the manure if it's composted down and looks more like soil....but yes- they can be mixed.

        You can also get organic chicken pellets
        As for how much to use- well....one handful per square yard is roughly what I used to do.

        And don't worry about asking....we've all been utter beginners and made loads of mistakes- it's by nattering on here that we're able to learn from other peeps mistakes- and their excellent advice!
        There's tons of stuff most of us have yet to learn....so ask away- I do!!!!
        "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

        Location....Normandy France

        Comment

        • #5
          Originally posted by Nicos View Post
          ....so ask away- I do!!!!
          Oh, you can count on it.
          Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
          By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
          While better men than we go out and start their working lives
          At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

          Comment

          • #6
            I always feed the soil not the plants and compost is great for adding nutrients and structure. Dont be to anal is its not all perfectly crumbly, any odd bit will soon break down when dug in.

            Comment

            • #7
              Originally posted by pigletwillie View Post
              I always feed the soil not the plants and compost is great for adding nutrients and structure. Dont be to anal is its not all perfectly crumbly, any odd bit will soon break down when dug in.
              Ok, but can I be adding it at this time of year, or should I wait for autumn / winter?
              Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
              By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
              While better men than we go out and start their working lives
              At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

              Comment

              • #8
                You can add compost at any time of year. As you said, it's good in bean trenches, also in planting holes for courgettes and squashes, and I use it as a top dressing on the rhubarb and asparagus.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Each time I harvest something from a small area (sometimes less than a metre square) I add a large flexi bucket full of homemade compost before planting the follow on crop.
                  My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
                  to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

                  Diversify & prosper


                  Comment

                  • #10
                    I think I need to stop faffing about and start chucking it on. It ain't much use in the bin, after all.
                    Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
                    By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
                    While better men than we go out and start their working lives
                    At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      It's great this time of year as a mulch - I put 2 barrows of home made compost on my 'to be sweetcorn' bed yesterday. I'll plant through it when the corn is big enough and the worms take it down. It will have another layer when cleared in autumn before crops go in for the winter.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Originally posted by zazen999 View Post
                        It's great this time of year as a mulch
                        Agreed, and I always turn my daleks early spring for this reason.

                        If your soil is as dry as mine, make sure you water well before you mulch on the top, to trap the moisture in the soil

                        You don't need to dig compost in. The worms will do it for you, and they prefer to pull it down for themselves
                        All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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