Topic: Help needed !

[B7jac]

I had an allotment about 8yrs ago which I must admit was hard work along with bringing up a family ! but very worth it, there is something really rewarding about growing veggies, harvesting, cooking them and serving up to your family !  Unfortunately  I had to return to work and found that I just didnt have the time anymore.  We have now got a very large garden and although I still work ( I do have Fridays off ! and the weekend) and am keen to get back into it, my hubby has sectioned off a small area at the end of the garden about 10ft x 12ft so this should be ok for my family !
I would like some advice though on how to enrich the soil now for this year, should I buy some compost, or is topsoil good enough ?
Also I did grow a few things last year but have not been successful with runner beans, the flowers always drop is this due to not watering enough?  any other advice would be welcome.

[flowerlady]

Hi!  Always good to hear of folk going back to the soil. ;)

We only get the the plot in the evenings during the week, but do agree it is very worth while, clears the brain and all that, Plus the reward of veggies!

Flower drop in beans does seem to be indicating a dry period!

As for soil enriching, it is personal preference!  If you buy in manure, it is not necessary for the whole site i.e. brasicas like lime and solid soil!

My preference is home made compost, put where and when I need it, with good old fish blood and bone as a top dressing.  I also have chicken manure pellets for that purpose.

If in doubt about the soil's abilities, try a soil test in various areas, this will roughly indicate which bits, if any truly need that little bit extra help!

Now shall we wait for some real advice ....  ;) ;D

[John_H]

You could try digging a trench in early spring on spot where you are going to plant the beans. Fill this with   lots of screwed up single sheets of newspaper and any old compost you have and then put the soil back over the top. This will help to create a good absorbant layer underground which will act as a sponge and hold on to more water than soil would on its own.

When I am growing beans, I also get some 2 ltr empty plastic drinks bottles, cut the bottoms off them, remove the tops, turn them upside down and bury them upto the rim about six inches away from the bean plants. In the summer I can then add water to the soil just by filling the upside down plastic bottles. The advantage is that the water is taken right down to the roots rather than running around on the surface of the ground. If you just water onto the surface of the ground it encourages the roots up to an area of the soil which is prone to drying out in hot weather.

[supersprout]

Ooh good luck with your garden plot!
Until this year I never had a good supply of compost to lavish on the plot. Now I'm convinced - the garden and the veg just LOVE juicy mulch, compost, anything you can throw at it that's not wildly acid or alkaline, and has preferable rotted down a bit. If you have a compost bin in the kitchen and feed the compost heap, plus throw in all the rest of the garden goodies, your garden will be a happy one. Oddly enough if you search on 'lasagne' you will find some great advice on compost heaps here, that's how mine are done now.
Lucky you being able to run out to the garden for your veg! have fun  ;D

[jennym]

Yes I too think the best way you can enrich your soil is home made compost, start a heap now!
But I notice you are in Herts, if the soil is clay it will be pretty fertile anyway, may just need improving.

[john_miller]

Also I did grow a few things last year but have not been successful with runner beans, the flowers always drop is this due to not watering enough?  any other advice would be welcome.

Besides lack of water runner bean set can also be affected by excessive heat, an issue I confront every year. The nectar in runner bean flowers is low in sugars making them less attractive to the promiscuous pollinators, bumble bees mostly, that runner beans rely upon. In a home garden there may be other close by plants flowering simultaeneously so the bees will ignore, or visit less frequently,your runner beans.

[redimp]

It's amazing how much compost from the kitchen one can create in a day.  Tea bags, coffee grounds, peelings, cardboard, paper, boxes, fruit cores etc etc. 

Even so I still do not produce enough.

[redimp]

I have a 220l bin at home and two 220l and one 330l bins up the lottie.  I also have 20ish black bags of leaves and a pile of banana skins under plastic.  Think I am going to need a few more bins though.  When I look at the size of my lottie and then compare it to the amount of stuff that I have rotting down, I just do not have enough.  I would like enough compost to pust a 6" layer all over my plot  ;D  Homemade compost is the only stuff that you can really trust because you know exactly what went into it.

[redimp]

I have a small patch of comfrey - got some from cleo last spring.  Needs to come on a bit before it is much use.  The banana skins are going in my potato trenches with compost as they are rich in potassium.  I am also going to put banana skins under all fruiting plants - I collect these of the kids at school.  The rest of the fruit I get from school goes in the regular compost.

[undercarriage plan]

If I reply to you Wards, are you going to clean after so I look like I'm chatting quite merrily with myself?   :-X ;)

[undercarriage plan]

Erm...can't now...I've gone all shy... :-\

[redimp]

I shall be making a variation of Phil's pipe as well.  Would like to rig up some sort of tap at the bottom so as to reduce mess and waste.  There might be something amongst the camping gear that I can cannibalise.

[grawrc]

I dug a trench back in October where I intend to plant my runner beans. Every couple of days I have gone to the plot with a (biodegradable)  bag of kitchen rubbish - egg shells fruit + veg peelings etc ( thinks what's the etc? ::) ;)- and bury it in the trench. The idea being that it will rot down in the soil and provide the yummy scrummy rotten stuff that runner beans thrive on. :D

[B7jac]

I do have a large green plastic compost bin from the council, which I regularly fill with kitchen wastes and grass clippings. I know it rots down as sometimes it is full and then goes right down, however Im not sure on when to use the compost I've always left it till the autumn where the underneath is ok but the top layer 6" or so hasnt changed also the total useable compost is only about a couple of bucket fulls ! What am I doing wrong? Also am I wrong in throwing in egg shells as they never seem to rot ! I'm a little confused on keeping it dry or wet and circulating air (aren't the council bins made to compensate for this as I cant reach the bottom to turn it over)

My main problem is that I need a tonne or so of soil to fill up the area I have what do I buy for this ?

[dandelion]

I think it's worth crushing egg shells before adding them to the heap. I also use crushed egg shells around my hostas to protect them from slugs.
If your heap is slimy and smelly it's too wet (add more woody material and cardboard). If it's got a white mould growing on it it's too dry (add leafy material and  water, or even urine a la Bob Flowerdew!). Turning the heap makes a big diffence, but is not easy with a Dalek. I have 2 Daleks in my garden. I fill up the first one, then start on the 2nd. When the 2nd is 2/3rds full I lift the first one (the contents of which have settled down by then). I move the top layer to bin number 2 and use up the rest. It's  never 100% rotted down, but I don't think that matters. The worms can do the rest!
Volume makes a huge difference to, so I've just started a mega-heap on my new plot. Haven't got a bin yet, at the moment it's just covered with a sheet of plastic. I'm thinking of asking my kid's school for their fruit peelings like Redclanger.

[Robert_Brenchley]

When I run out of dalek space I just build a mountain, leave it for a year or two, however long it takes before I get round to clearing it, and it always rots right down. The stuff in the daleks is never fully rotted, but it's far enough gone that it vanishes quite satisfactorily when spread. My heaps never go slimy, but I don't put grass cuttings into them. We have tons of cuttings dumped by the car park every year, and that pile is always really slimy for a while until it gets really rotted.

[dandelion]

Popped into the school office today to ask about the fruit peels. As I suspected, it al gets thrown away. So now I've arranged to pick up a bag every Thursday, because Thursday is banana day ;D. 270 kids... 270 bananas.  Can you put too many bananas on a compost heap? :-\
I'll just  have to layer it with the guinea pig bedding!

[supersprout]

Clever you, what a great idea!
You could always get coffee grounds from your local coffee shops, bet they would layer well wiv banana skins  ::)

[B7jac]

Coffee dregs!!    I have loads of these as I have a coffee machine, didn't realise that I could use 'em, but thinking about it now...I've used tea bags before !

I just dont know how everyone gets so much to put in the compost bin.  Is it not advisable to use grass cuttings then?