featherstick wrote:That soil looks very good. How deep is the topsoil? I'd question whether you need raised beds, to be honest, the soil looks deep and fertile enough.
It's very very stoney, looking up the history of the site, it used to be a river bed way back in time! The good soil isnt more than a spade and a half deep and then you hit clay which is really deep.
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
The good thing about clay is that it can be turned into topsoil and will be very fertile. Double-digging is the key, but it is hard work.
Dig a trench out and save the soil in a wheelbarrow. Then break up the clay subsoil, and mix generously with manure.
Move to next trench and use the topsoil from that to cover the subsoil in the previous trench.
Repeat to the end of the bed. You'll end up with an open trench which you fill in with the soil from the first trench.
The worms and microbes then get down into the manure you've mixed into the subsoil, and work the whole lot together, turning it into topsoil.
It's hard work, and needs a lot of manure, but it would be worth it as clay is fertile once it has enough organic matter in it. (I'd love to be on clay, we have fine silty loam on chalk here, with all the fertility and dryness problems that brings). Doesn't all have to be done at once, you could plan for it once the boards on the raised beds need replacing.
featherstick wrote:The good thing about clay is that it can be turned into topsoil and will be very fertile. Double-digging is the key, but it is hard work.
it's very hard work, Mr D worked really hard doing that first bed, thankfully he enjoyed the work!
Dig a trench out and save the soil in a wheelbarrow. Then break up the clay subsoil, and mix generously with manure.
Move to next trench and use the topsoil from that to cover the subsoil in the previous trench.
Repeat to the end of the bed. You'll end up with an open trench which you fill in with the soil from the first trench.
The worms and microbes then get down into the manure you've mixed into the subsoil, and work the whole lot together, turning it into topsoil.
It's hard work, and needs a lot of manure, but it would be worth it as clay is fertile once it has enough organic matter in it. (I'd love to be on clay, we have fine silty loam on chalk here, with all the fertility and dryness problems that brings). Doesn't all have to be done at once, you could plan for it once the boards on the raised beds need replacing.
we've been round to a local stable yard and they are more than happy for us to take as much manure as we want, free of charge so that's going to add in lots of goodness.
Also, we now have 10 cauliflowers, 3 pumpkins and 1 courgette sprouting up! Got potatoes chitting in egg boxes, life is happy here at the moment!
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
Try to get the oldest manure. Aminopyralid and clopyralid pesticides are a big problem at the moment. Farmers use them on hay crops and they then persist through the hay, through the animal's digestive system, and into the manure, where they kill your spuds and pumpkins. If in doubt, grow a couple of plants in a small amount of soil with unknown manure. If they come up really twisted and stunted, avoid. Plenty of info out there. The stables won't necessarily know what has gone onto their hay so no good asking them.
featherstick wrote:Try to get the oldest manure. Aminopyralid and clopyralid pesticides are a big problem at the moment. Farmers use them on hay crops and they then persist through the hay, through the animal's digestive system, and into the manure, where they kill your spuds and pumpkins. If in doubt, grow a couple of plants in a small amount of soil with unknown manure. If they come up really twisted and stunted, avoid. Plenty of info out there. The stables won't necessarily know what has gone onto their hay so no good asking them.
Good point!! In that case, we will start our own manure pile and leave it till next year before putting on the beds. Then it will be safe to use and we can add our own organic waste into the heap!
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
Been at the Lottie today and planted the onions. Mr D bought a mattock earlier in the week and this has made it so much easier to break up the clay clods and get at the roots of those pesky Brambles!
Realised also that the pumpkins are going to be absolutely monstrous in size if they get as big as they should then we are going to struggle to get it in!!! It's the "Hundredweight" variety and it certainly is, we currently have 3 on the go
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
Decaff wrote:Been at the Lottie today and planted the onions. Mr D bought a mattock earlier in the week and this has made it so much easier to break up the clay clods and get at the roots of those pesky Brambles!
Realised also that the pumpkins are going to be absolutely monstrous in size if they get as big as they should then we are going to struggle to get it in!!! It's the "Hundredweight" variety and it certainly is, we currently have 3 on the go
Not sure if you're intending to eat your Pumpkins, but if your hundredweight variety are anything like Big Max that I grew last year, you're in for a big disappointment. They didn't cook at all well and the flavour was pants. The texture was more like a Marrow than Pumpkin. Apparently there are pumpkins for carving/competition and pumpkins for eating. If you're wanting to eat them make sure you have a pie/eating variety but even then the flavour is nowhere near as good as winter squash.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain~anon
Decaff wrote:Been at the Lottie today and planted the onions. Mr D bought a mattock earlier in the week and this has made it so much easier to break up the clay clods and get at the roots of those pesky Brambles!
Realised also that the pumpkins are going to be absolutely monstrous in size if they get as big as they should then we are going to struggle to get it in!!! It's the "Hundredweight" variety and it certainly is, we currently have 3 on the go
Not sure if you're intending to eat your Pumpkins, but if your hundredweight variety are anything like Big Max that I grew last year, you're in for a big disappointment. They didn't cook at all well and the flavour was pants. The texture was more like a Marrow than Pumpkin. Apparently there are pumpkins for carving/competition and pumpkins for eating. If you're wanting to eat them make sure you have a pie/eating variety but even then the flavour is nowhere near as good as winter squash.
Very true. You just need to store the naff ones til October and then be the envy of the neighbourhood.................
Also, anything that is a disappointment to us is merely redirected to the poultry, do you know anyone with a few chickens that would enjoy picking at cooking rejects?
Oh no!! The seed packet says delicious in pies and soups.... Oh well, I will try one in soup and if not nice to eat then my niece will have two instead of one to carve out! Mind you the seeds should be nice once toasted in the oven, hopefully! That is of course if we get any at all!
Nope, no one I know has chickens but if all else fails, it can go in the compost!
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
Very very windy here today, went over to the Lottie and planted a row of garlic, someones poly tunnel had been flattened and the remains were flapping about!
Got chatting with the guy opposite and he said he had parsnips stuck in the ground from last year and every time he tries to get them up they snap!! strong root system he said he will have to try to dig them out when the ground is softer!
Had to leave it for the day not long after as stinging rain and freezing wind gave me earache
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
if they get as big as they should then we are going to struggle to get it in!!! It's the "Hundredweight" variety and it certainly is, we currently have 3 on the go 
Oh well, I will try one in soup and if not nice to eat then my niece will have two instead of one to carve out! Mind you the seeds should be nice once toasted in the oven, hopefully! That is of course if we get any at all! 
