moggins
|
Too Easy?LOL, the things that start to worry us when things go well 
I dug my patch yesterday, it turned over remarkably eaily, the soil is so fine (apart from the obligatory half peg, deflated balloon and the mile of couch grass root) it almost looks like compost. There's no clay, hardly any stones (apart from a half brick my fork found).
So now I'm starting to worry because of the fineness of the soil exactly how good it's water holding properties will be, yes I know I should be grateful that it only took me 21/2 hours to turn over a patch 15' x 10' but I'm expecting sods law to creep in somewhere now.
|
Sarah D
|
Plenty of humus dug in - FYM, home made compost, green manures at the appropriate times - or sheet mulching with bulky organic matter will help to build up the soil's moisture holding abilities. Also mulching while crops are in the ground.
|
moggins
|
Okay, how do I get bulky organic matter (manure I presume) with a hatchback car and no trailer without it needing fumigating when I get home?
|
joker
|
Start a compost heap on site you could allways rent a truck for half a day and move the required materials in that . There may even be someone on this site with an appropriate vehicle willing to help 
|
cab
|
| moggins wrote: | | Okay, how do I get bulky organic matter (manure I presume) with a hatchback car and no trailer without it needing fumigating when I get home? |
Compost. My home garden thrives on compost produced at home. Every scrap of compostable material (except bones, excessive newspaper, cardboard and woody stuff, which all goes in the council compostables collection) gets composted in our compost bin or on the heap. Been doing that in the garden for over four years, and I'm delighted to say that our garden soil is really healthy now.
|
cab
|
Oh, and have a word with local allotmenteers. Someone around there will probably deliver a whole heap of *ahem* for a nominal fee.
|
moggins
|
The compost bin is going well, after I extracted the carrier bags which darling son plonked in. (I must remember when asking an AS child to transfer the contents of his guinea pig hutch that I must explain he empties the contents out of the bags and not just throws the whole lot in )
And when the kids are back at school I will haunt our local allotments (if they are still being used) to find a friendly face to ask about ****
|
Bugs
|
I wonder if you think the local allotments are not being used, would you be permitted to take one over and grow your own compostable crops on it (comfrey, phacelia, that kind of thing)? Or is it in the rules that you must grow edibles? I wouldn't suggest growing this kind of stuff *instead* of edibles, but if they aren't being used at all it would be better than having them overgrown, and wouldn't mean spending hours there tending stuff?
|
moggins
|
Bugs, that is not a bad idea!! They're not being used to a combination of council bloodimindedness and vandalism due to being next to a pathway leading from a main road to the schools.
The council won't let the allotment holders run a waterpipe through, so any water has to be transported from your home to your allotment.
We did have an allotment there about 6 years ago and it was just a nightmare so we let it go, but your suggestion is a good one, thanks
|
judith
|
Moggins, I have transported poo in the back of an estate. Collected it from a nearby stables - they even gave me the stout feed bags to put it into as well. Had to do the digging myself, but that was OK.
Spent mushroom compost is another brilliant soil conditioner. If you can find a source of that, a few bags should go in the back of your car no problem.
|
nettie
|
I put stable manure in the car too. The plastic haylage/chaff bags are the best, and I line the back of the car with polythene. Horse manure smells go in seconds if you drive up the road afterwards with the windows open
You may have to fill the bags yourself, I found if they were more than half - two thirds full i couldn't lift them into the car.
|
wellington womble
|
There's a guy round here who delivers trailerloads (on the back of a tractor) for 25 quid, but lots are free to collection.
There is also a woman up the road who sells manure from her gate for a quid a carrier bag. Now it doesn't take a genius to work out the econimics, but I tend to go for the bags, as I've no access for a trailer, and couldn't use a load in month of sundays! they are quite easily transportable, too.
LETS scheme might be worth looking into - even if only for the trailer.
|
Treacodactyl
|
We have a similar problem with light chalky soil. We've added plenty of compost and some manure. Late last year I split up a bale of straw into an empty bulk bag that sand comes in. It's been rotting over winter with the aim of me adding some mushroom spawn. If it fails (it probably will  ) then I'll use it on the garden to keep the moisture in.
A bale of straw is easier to transport in a car than bags of manure. Some 'human' activator can help with the decomposition.
|
moggins
|
| Treacodactyl wrote: | .
A bale of straw is easier to transport in a car than bags of manure. Some 'human' activator can help with the decomposition. |
I think the other half may threaten me with the nearest loony bin if I ask him to tinkle on the compost heap
|
Treacodactyl
|
I beleive gardening is for both sexes. 
|
Nanny
|
too easy?and here's me moggs with a shed load of the best stuff in the world and you are too far away to come and collect..............
life is cruel.....................
|
moggins
|
Tell me about it 
|
Treacodactyl
|
We need some form of national manure network. Have you both looked at a freecycle scheme in your areas?
|
moggins
|
I have, joined up with mine too.
Lots of sofa's and chairs but no manure on offer yet
|
hardworkinghippy
|
We've got loads of manure and so have all our neighbours, its a shame it's not easier to transport.
Talking about easy gardening, we've been enlarging our garden with our new toy. Note the lovely earth - with no digging whatsoever, just chickens on it all winter. Once the plants are planted and have grown up a bit, we mulch and that's it!
HWH
|
Pilsbury
|
Found out a couple of weeks ago I have a mushroom farm about a mile away under one of the bridges on the A406 so when i get my raised beds built i know where i will be visiting for stuff to fill them
|
Treacodactyl
|
| hardworkinghippy wrote: | | Note the lovely earth - with no digging whatsoever, just chickens on it all winter. |
Now theres a good topic, gardening with chickens.  Ours do hoover up the bugs and if we had more they could easily dig over the soil, ideal rotovators.
|
Bugs
|
| Treacodactyl wrote: | | Ours do hoover up the bugs |
It's true, that Treacle nearly had my hand off tonight because I wasn't quite nimble enough with the mixed corn 
|
