Re: The March gardener

by Dandelion 29th March 2020, 10:50 pm

Do you want a root or two of comfrey Ploshkin?

by Ploshkin 29th March 2020, 11:08 pm

Actually Dandelion, i found a largish patch today behind a shed that must hsve rooted from bits dug up with weeds. Ive no shortage of nettles.
Thanks.

by freebird 30th March 2020, 10:05 am

Ploshkin wrote:Its not that long since you moved Freebird is it? Your worms are quick workers. I'm lucky if I get a finished tray of compost in a couple of years.

Really!!? When I'm properly up to speed, I get three 'harvests' a year. Perhaps you're not feeding them enough, Ploshkin. I generally empty my bottom tray in March/April, as the top one will have filled over winter, then again in July when the new top tray is full, and lastly in October before I wrap them up for the winter.

I do separate out my kitchen waste, so the worms get as much as I can give them that is suitable - excluding onion and citrus and anything with seeds in. Anything left will go onto the general compost heap.

I find the worm compost invaluable for top-dressing pots.

by Ploshkin 31st March 2020, 12:40 pm

The Romanesco and PSB seeds have arrived. Very many thanks Freebird. Very Happy

by Dandelion 31st March 2020, 11:14 pm

Can I ask for some advice? The main growing in my garden happens in raised beds, but I also have some borders with soft fruit, a pear tree, and also flowers. The soil in the borders is clay which at the moment is in very poor condition thanks to all the rain we had over the winter. It is crying out for some organic matter, but the compost I make is very rich thanks to keeping hens, and I don't want to enrich the soil too much as I want to grow annuals. But I do need to condition it. I suppose the ideal thing would be a bag of two of the soil conditioner they sell at the local council recyling centre, but this is now closed for the duration. Any ideas?

by freebird 1st April 2020, 8:37 am

Do you have any amount of spent compost, Dandelion? Old growbags, emptied out seed trays, that sort of thing. I think, in your position, I would use whatever spent compost I could muster, mix it in with good compost to give it some nutritional value, and perhaps shredded paper for bulk. It probably wouldn't look pretty, but would help whilst nothing else is available. I would also initially hoe the existing bed, and then lay the mix on top rather than dig in.

by Chilli-head 1st April 2020, 9:19 am

Adding wood ash is said to help with heavy clay, though it does make the soil more alkaline if you go overboard. Green manures if you can afford to miss a year growing something else ?

Can you make some more dilute compost by padding it out with corrugated cardboard from packaging, paper, etc etc ?

But yes, my allotment soil looks much worse for the weather. The late summer rains meant I couldn't get my nanure delivery as the track was too wet, and the soil has slumped into a rather heavy compacted state.

by Chilli-head 1st April 2020, 2:57 pm

I wanted to make a new strawberry bed - not easy to buy fresh plants, so I planted up some of my own runners onto the hugelcultur bed yesterday. Now the hard work of clearing the rest of the old bed to put in more potatoes.

So much to do. I almost envy the people who are off work completely ! I can never understand people who don't know what to do with themselves without work - serious lack of imagination !

by freebird 1st April 2020, 3:58 pm

I am off work completely! Today is the first day of no longer being a registered gas fitter, as we haven't renewed our registration. Sod's Law that someone turned up at the door today with a boiler problem! But, like you CH, I am left mystified by people who can't fill their time in any meaningful way. I'm struggling to find time to do what I need and want - even more so, now there is an allotment to think about.

by Dandelion 4th April 2020, 6:15 pm

Thank you very much for the help and advice (and sorry to ask the question then not turn up for the answer for a few days! My youngest daughter is working from home while she's with us, and my laptop is a lot more efficient than hers, so I haven't seen it much this week!!)
Yes, spent compost could be the answer, as I have a whole collection of planters which I haven't touched much for the last few years, which need to be turned out and re-planted in the autumn. So I can use the compost from those. Thank you too for the suggestion for hoeing - it does need something to break up the hard cap but I'm determined not to return to digging on any scale. And wood ash, I can do that too. It's brilliant to have recourse to other people's brains!!

by Dandelion 4th April 2020, 6:16 pm

And yes, neither Mr D or I have been bored over the last couple of weeks! And I suspect that when life gets back to normal we still won't have finished all the things we wanted to do - thank goodness for the prospect of retirement!

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