Courgettes love it Onions hate it!

[luvmegarden]

My soil is heavy sometimes gets water logged and I'd like to grow a lot more than beans and courgettes which ALWAYS do really well. Any tips to start me off?

[Aberdeenplotter]

can you drain it at all?

[salome2001]

raised beds and truckloads of organic matter

[helensusan]

raised beds and truckloads of organic matter

By organic matter I assume that you're referring to the likes of home-made compost. I need this on my veg plot too, but I just don't make anywhere near enough. Never been sure where to get "proper" compost from and particularly that which doesn't cost a king's ransom bearing in mind quantities needed. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Matt94]

By organic matter I assume that you're referring to the likes of home-made compost. I need this on my veg plot too, but I just don't make anywhere near enough. Never been sure where to get "proper" compost from and particularly that which doesn't cost a king's ransom bearing in mind quantities needed. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Do you have any trees near to where you I've, collecting the leaves in the autumn will create a good soil conditioner for the following year

[salome2001]

By organic matter I assume that you're referring to the likes of home-made compost. I need this on my veg plot too, but I just don't make anywhere near enough. Never been sure where to get "proper" compost from and particularly that which doesn't cost a king's ransom bearing in mind quantities needed. Any suggestions? Thanks.

home made compost, pony poo, leaf mould, bought compost, community compost if your council does it, coffee grounds.. anything that will help boost the organic content of your soil and get those nice worms breaking it up. The raised beds simply to help drainage

[arpoet]

ask your neighbours to save you thier kitcken peeling, etc, and grass cuttings. Also ask your local shop for unsalable friut and veg....
ask local offices for shredded paper...
find a micro brewery and get thier spent hops....

[Veggieman]

Compost will be your best friend in this case, but if it really is impossible for you to source at a good price, try pulling the top layer of your soil up into a heap to create a raised bed just for the onions. The aim is to have a patch of ground that is higher than the surrounding soil so that excess water drains out to ground level. Onions hate being wet all summer, so creating a dryer patch of ground is important. A the end of the season you can spread the soil back onto the area where it came from. By then you may have made some more compost for next years bed.

[Marcher]

Grow onions in a container or dedicate an area of your veg patch to onions and change the soil. They've grown well for me in sand where most other things wouldn't grow.

[luvmegarden]

It looks like I'll be creating a raised bed! Thanks so much for all your replies all I need now is a bigger garden... bring on a lottery win ha ha!