Topic: Autumn approaching - what to do now?

[Easywriter]

Hi everyone

I'm well into the harvesting phase now, potatoes in particular have done better than in my wildest dreams [not that I often dream of potatoes!], onions and leeks are looking good, spinach is excellent. Even my insect-riddled cabbages are making a comeback.

What next though? I've got compost [for onions/leeks/carrots] manure [for everything else] ready to spread next month, when I'll also be giving the whole plot a good dig [my back's hurting just thinking about it!].

Questions though:

• Spread manure, then dig it in as I dig the lottie, or dig the lottie first THEN spread the manure, dig it in next spring?

• Mustard, clover, other nitrogen fixers - plant these now, or does manure put nitrogen into the soil?

Just when I thought I was beginning to figure this vegetable growing lark out . . . :-\

[saddad]

If you dig and then spread you probably won't need to dig it in in Spring... many people don't like spreading it and leaving but I find it works well on my heavy clay
   :-\

[chriscross1966]

Does depend a bit on the soil... on something sandy you'll want the green manure to try and trap stuff for you, so dig in the manure then plant the green manure as well. On really bad clay you want the weather at it so trench the manure in under a layer of clay and leave, don't sow the GM until early next spring, on "normal" soils then I'd say dig, get the GM sown then later, once the GM is up and established mulch with the manure and dig through or rotavate in spring.....

Horses for courses really and you'll get lots of opinions in a broad spectrum fo rall soil types....


chrisc

[Easywriter]

Thanks for the reply chrisc. Er, GM ???

[Easywriter]

Ah, Green Manure! Stupid of me, sorry :-[. We've got clay soil by the way.

EW

[BarriedaleNick]

It is amazing the variety of opinion and techniques.

I am on heavy clay and tend to leave the clay over winter to weather down a bit and then add my manure early on (march-april) and give it a very shallow dig or just fork it in a bit.
My next door plot just covers his plot in manure and leaves it over winter - mind you he has been doing it for years and now has a foot or so of lovely organic matter..

[chriscross1966]

I'm planning on putting 8 tons of manure into my plot this autumn/next spring, four beds each 5mx6m, 2 tons on  each.... if I do it next year as well it almost won't matter what I started with it'll be good by the end of that :D

chrisc

[Deb P]

Come Autumn I remove summer crops. fork out weeds, than either cover with a good layer of cows muck and leave overwinter (depends what I'm growing on that bit next year), or leave until spring and empty my compost bins onto the non manured beds. For beds that are manured and are to be planted up early the next year ( e.g potatoes), I'll cover them with black plastic to start warming them up and drying them off in early Feb. In Spring, I'll just fork over the manure layer that by then had usually been about halfway incorporated by the worms and plant up! ;D The tricky ones are the overwintered beds such as brassicas, I follow them with legumes so will add some compost and a bit of manure from the remains of the pile after harvests are complete in the Spring.

[Digeroo]

I have been putting in recycled compost and then sowing a green manure in some areas.   Other places I am risking some ordinary manure and mixing it well in.  I had no contamination issues with areas which were manured and well mixed in the autumn.  Definitely no manure going in Springtime. 

Starting to take down the beans and get seeds dried out.  Hope to empty the compost bin not my fav job.  Then I can fill it up again.

Hoping to hibernate soon.

[antipodes]

Yes, I start to pull up the spent plants, harvest the squash, save the seeds of various things, dig over the beds and weed. Then I spread manure or stable waste or compost over the beds and leave them. I usually start covering a section where the onions will go so I don't have to dig in the cold when it is  time to plant them. I also put a thick layer of straw around the rhubarb and herb bed to protect them.
Oh and I also prepare and plant the garlic bed! This year I want to try some onion from seed so in a few weeks I will be sowing those too.

[chriscross1966]

Yes, I start to pull up the spent plants, harvest the squash, save the seeds of various things, dig over the beds and weed. Then I spread manure or stable waste or compost over the beds and leave them. I usually start covering a section where the onions will go so I don't have to dig in the cold when it is  time to plant them. I also put a thick layer of straw around the rhubarb and herb bed to protect them.
Oh and I also prepare and plant the garlic bed! This year I want to try some onion from seed so in a few weeks I will be sowing those too.

I'd sow them now in modules and then you get to plant out small healthy plants in a few weeks.... ground sowing onions at this time of year can be fraught.... I've never made it work properly and I grow a lot of onions (indeed all my spring/main onions these days) from seed.... the only ones I grow from sets are heirloom specials like potato onions and tree onions.... 2-3 seeds per module, plant as a clump or thin to bes seedling in th emodule.... plant at 6-8 inch gaps in rows 8-14 inches apart (depends on how big you want them to get really....)

chrisc

[pigeonseed]

That's good - I will try a few more onion seed then. Slugs or some animal ate a lot of my onion seedlings in their trays. So not many to plant out. I was disappointed.

I'll try a few more!

[chriscross1966]

That's good - I will try a few more onion seed then. Slugs or some animal ate a lot of my onion seedlings in their trays. So not many to plant out. I was disappointed.

I'll try a few more!

I put mine up on some aluminium staging (bare aluminium).... I find that slugs and snails don't seem to crawl up that very readily.... It's outdoors, they don't need to be covered really though I only let them stay out in the rain for one day then I bring them under the carport for a few days.... they don't want to dry out but they don;'t want to get too soggy. Apparently Toughball is the one to go for but I'd already got some Senshyu and Hi Keeper so I'll be going for them.... ground sowing the HK's last year was a disaster for germination cos it was so dry in September adn early october....another reason for modules I guess... you've got more control...

[manicscousers]

just planted my long red florence out, put in where the squash came out  ;D

[chriscross1966]

Note to self, Sow some LRF, you've got tons of seed..... :D... got some Sneshu in modlues and started some Hi keeper a couple of days ago.... guess I ought to get a tray of LRF going too if folks seem to be of the opinion thtat its hardy.....

chrisc

[pigeonseed]

Thanks for the advice Chriscross.

I think that it was probably a mouse not slugs, because there are teethmarks in a book left out nearby - little rodent teeth. And the slugs and snails left the onions alone for ages. Well - I admit it's not exactly cast-iron proof actually! Okay, I admit I don't know who ate them. I just know it wasn;t me  >:(