Kitchen Garden Forum

I am shortly going to plant my overwintering onions (Radar) and garlic (Solent Wight and another whose name I can't just remember). The same bed will also later have the shallots (Jermor). Normally, I would have copiously manured the bed last year but because of the aminopyralid problem then, we didn't. This year, the bed held courgettes and marrows which were grown on a small mound of soil filled with manure, so there is SOME manure in the bed. Now the question: should I plant the onions and garlic into the bed as it is and start feeding them in spring or should I provide some nutrients NOW, like Growmore?

My rotation is perhaps a bit unconventional. As I follow the Early Potatoes with Leeks I use the same bed for Garlic and Japanese Onions after I clear the Second Earlies. The rest of it has Onions in next year, including Onions after the Leeks. This is a well fed bed like you normally use but I still feed it with Fish, Blood and Bone on the basis that it will last through the Winter. I use Phostrogen in the Spring on the Garlic and Japanese Onions. You could try the same routine.

Dear Monika, i'm with Geoff, i would give them a light feed of, Fish, Blood and Bone, or just Bonemeal. I would keep away from any feed that has a high Nitrogen content, or you will end up with soft growth, that will get clobbered by the terrible Winter we are going to get.

Many thanks, Geoff and OH, I will follow your sage advice.

OH...Terrible winter..where is the faith?? It will be mild, minimum snow, sunny spells leading into the best summer ever - even if we have to water a bit it will be fine! My advise is Metcheck but expect you have countryman's lore..tell us! (I can tell you if the roos move then drought is coming but doubt that will be useful)

Westi

Dear Westi, i can only tell people such infomation face to face, so i'm afraid you missed your chance last year.

But i will be back to Dorset one day.

You disappoint OH! I was on Studland (treading carefully), waiting for you to ride by

Westi