Topic: soil advise

[nitiram]

Have just come back from the lottie and as lots of folk were there all at the same time for a change have been able to have a good look at their plots. Why is my soil just like concrete and not friable like most of the others. I had dug it all overwinter and it is weed free and I had though with hoeing and raking it it would be nice and fine...wrong. It is rock hard and trying to get some seed drills in has been a nightmare. I have come to the conclusion that something is lacking in my soil..but what? Have absolutely no idea. Or is it just the fact hat all the others on site have been there for 25 years on same plots and I have been here 18 months???  But my site was well used before me and only empty for 5 months?    Help  :'( :'( :'(

[Tee Gee]

I have come to the conclusion that something is lacking in my soil..but what?

HUMUS !!!

I don't think you can ever put too much humus making materials into soil.

There is a bit on 'soils' here; http://tinyurl.com/yeg5lr

[nitiram]

Thanks for link...nothing on humus though so daft question for a beginner...what and how do i put into the soil to improve it?    We don't get manure delivered to the site now for some reason, we did for a few months last year but nothing since September.

[Trevor_D]

Do you have a stables nearby? You might be able to collect, or they might deliver. Try asking round, or get together with other plot-holders. Otherwise it's home-made compost. We have a stables on-site and I spent yesterday afternoon shifting several barrow-loads of the stuff. Over the years it has transformed my sticky London clay into  a nice loamy soil.

[jennym]

Must agree about horse muck, nothing better in my opinion. I guess you have heavy clay in your area. But also, really, anything that you can dig in, dig in - if you haven't got a compost heap, start one now and put all your kitchen waste on it to rot down and dig that in. Pile up weeds, let them rot down a bit and dig them in too, as TeeGee says, humus is the answer and you will only build up a good level by adding vegetable matter of some sort.

[nitiram]

How many bags of manure can i get in my bike basket do you think???   We don't have a car. Will look in local paper though tos ee if any stables offer free muck.