manuring

[Elderflower]

Oh - I see - thank you.

[Johnboy]

Hi Richard,
As somebody who comes from a farming background consider how much manure is spread at this time of the year before winter sown crops and this is in places that do have ditches and streams aplenty.
Now consider the amount of manure that will ever get anywhere near most allotments and your word insignificant pales into insignificance.
I feel that no allotmenteer should even consider the leaching aspect. Now there are those who will regard that last sentence as irresponsible and to a degree they may be right but only maybe.
For those who rely on mulches do remember that you are relying on leaching to do the work for you.
In certain quarters Leaching is frowned upon as a deadly sin. If you are growing brassicas next year and you incorporate the manure now it will be in the right place for them next year when needed.
You may have read my previous posting saying that I use manure on the surface and allow it to be saturated and then covering with HD Polythene which suits me to the ground but that is because of the soil I have which has been tilled for close on 300 years by the same family. My soil damn near digs itself but if you have heavy clay soil get cracking incorporating Sharp Sand and as much organic matter be it manure or anything else. Do not be afraid to double dig clay soil spreading sand and compost through the layers and after a few years you will be able to grow Parsnips to about 18"long and superb Carrots. Prior to moving here I was on Hertfordshire Clay and in the 20 years I lived there the soil went from almost solid clay to two spits of good soil that was a joy to dig.
JB.

[gowerbass come gardener]

Johnboy,when you say `sharp sand` would that be builers sand .if not where can sharp sand from.or would builders sand be alright that has been sitting around for a year?

[Johnboy]

Hi Gowerbass Come Gardener,
Sharp Sand is concreting sand and has a grit content whereas Builders Sand has no grit and should not be used horticulturally.
The grit content in sharp sand gives drainage and also helps to prevent the clay sticking together again. If you then combine as much composted material as possible that too will have the same effect.
I know people dislike clay but really of all soils it probably has the most nutrition and learning how to harness this nutrition is the name of the game.
I have no clay on my site so my method of manuring, allowing it to become saturated and them covering with h/d Polythene is probably not the best for those who are growing on clay because it may dry out and become too solid to work.
In my previous posting about growing in Hertfordshire on solid clay it was before Polythene was available in sheeting form otherwise I probably would have tried it.
JB.

[gowerbass come gardener]

ta very much johnboy.

[Mike Vogel]

Primrose, you asked me to tell you how my cardboard mulch has been working. I don't really know, but I have just been planting garlic round the edge of some raised beds on which I want to grow roots. The garlic is to deter carrot fly.

On folding back the cardboard I have found the leafmould underneath looks like lovely friable soil and the dibber goes in effortlessly. No weds.

Elsewhere I've taken off the cardboard completely to put in 2 rows of Solent Wight garlic. The compost I had under the cardboard has been taken down by worms and again the soil looks and works very well.

The cardboard which I have put round the base of my gooseberries and blackcurrants has kept them free of grass growing round their stems.

So far I'm pleased with the effects.

mike

Never throw anything away.

[Johnboy]

Hi Mike,
I find that the h/d polythene has the same effect as the cardboard in as much that the worm activity is fantastic and the soil friable underneath and a very light forking is necessary simply for uniformity.
On one bed I am about to take the h/d Black Polythene off and replace it with lightweight clear Polythene and await the growth of annual weeds and then I shall fork those in with the light forking.
I will allow the bed to be saturated again and cover back up with the black Polythene and uncover again around mid to late March to begin my planting out.
JB.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I usually cover the manure with cardboard and weight it down and as you say the worms do a lovely job over winter.

It is quite a good way to catch lots of slugs when the weather starts to warm up - just turn the cardboard over and let the birds eat the slugs, or do a little dance on them and give them a good stamping so they don't escape.

[Primrose]

Mike - glad to know the cardboard worked well. We've just had a number of items delivered in cardboard boxes, so I currently seem to have a good supply of it. Unfortunately I suspect I might be a little too late in the season to make use of it now unless I could put it at the base of my climbing bean trench and let it rot down over the summer. Do you think this would be too solid a membrane and that newspapers would be better?

[Mike Vogel]

I'm sure that would be a great idea, Primrose. I also use it as a mulch for my paths, collars round the base of fruit bushes, collars round newly-planted brassicas to stop the cabbage root fly getting into the soil, dry matter for the compost bins, a mulch for sweet potatoes, which don't like to be pestered by weeds, and even making biodegradable pots for courgettes, beans etc. And yes, JB, worm activity is fine.

mike

Never throw anything away.

[Johnboy]

Hi Mike,
I am sure that anything that encourages worm activity must be the way forward. I do not think that the job that worms do is fully appreciated by a great many people.
One of my experiments was to grow Carrots after a plot had been manured by laying it on the surface and covered with h/d black Polythene for the winter.
All the surplus that the worms had not taken in was simply raked off and the bed lightly forked and the Carrots sown. You would imagine that my crop would have been all gnarled and twisted and into multi-forks but this was simply not the case. I had a super crop.
JB.

[girdhar]

I think that manure kept on the upper surface get easily washed with the water but at the same time slow or mild rain helps to percolate the minerals in the soil and helpful for the plants. thank you

[Mike Vogel]

Hello JB,

I'm sure if I used h/d black polythene I'd be as happy with the results as you are. As I am unable to get to the allotment all that often and also have access to loads of cardboard packaging, I use that instead, because it can eventually break down and becoe part of the soil. But then, I try to be as organic as possible without getting paranoid about it.

mike

[gowerbass come gardener]

Hi Peter and welcome

I spread the manure and leave it over the winter. I dig it in as I need the land in the spring, or if it's starting to get very weedy.

would the manure have matured,or can you put on fresh manure and leave it to mature in situ?

[Johnboy]

Hi Gowerbass come gardener,
Fresh manure, and I mean fresh, has a tendency to sour the soil and is best left to temper down a bit.
Manure that has been 'laid' about six months and kept in a heap is probably about the earliest it should be used. You will note that in the countryside that farmers leave the manure in heaps to temper down.
Fresh manure has far too much urine in it. I know urine is fantastic for compost heaps but animal urine is somewhat stronger than human urine and very much over the top.
JB.