Kitchen Garden Forum

Can you advise how to improve the soil in my veg plot. I've added some compost in early spring but because of the continued dry weather and restrictions on watering my veggies are suffering. What do you use to improve your veggies production. I have tried to be organic, but the results are indifferent.

Hi Larkspur,II suggest try using the methods in the synergistic garden thread here, I have not needed to water my plants in the synergistic beds except a little from a watering can when planting,and we have had far less rain than most other areas here in the south east. Mycelium can extend the plants roots and help them survive drought, root grow is recoomended by the RHS. i am converting more of my beds to this method this autumn, ready for spring planting with some rootgrow.

I can only suggest compost and more compost. Year on year you will see improvement. Green manures are another very useful method, as they stop the soil leeching in winter time. In October and November I become an amateur streetsweeper and the bags of leaves I collect provide leafmould for where I intend to sow carrots. I put them into a container made from finely meshed metal [left over from a building site] and in one year the leafmould is ready to spread on the bed.

Try planting through cardboard or newspaper to conserve moisture. Last autumn I put a thick layer of newspaper on one bed to suppress weeds and prevent leeching, and this year I planted lettuces through the layer, whichhad become quite hard. Despite the dry spring, I watered them only once a week and they didn't bolt till mid-July.

My advice would echo Mike's but you must also feed particularly in the early years. You can be organic but the feed will cost you more, note the quantity required of say chicken pellets. See related thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8691&start=15

I also use lots of home made compost which also contains hen manure and wood shavings from the hen hut(well rotted).

Sometimes, every couple of years or so if an area of the garden seems to be producing poorer crops than usual, I add a good application of 6X or similar composted hen manure with added seaweed to give things a boost. I also check the Ph and add lime, to sweeten up the soil, as Dad used to say.

Growmore granules are also a good booster raked in a week or so before planting.