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Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Digitalis on June 04, 2009, 16:57:31
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My soil is very lumpy, even after working hard at digging it over.
I've been advised to get a Wolf Soil Miller, but these are quite expensive. Are they worth it?
Would it make the soil suitably fine for a seed bed?
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Depends when you dug it over and what structure your soil is(does it have a lot of clay in it)have you tried wetting it the day before then having another go the day after
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i have lumpy clay soil and have used a seive to get the larger bits out and it has been fine. Hard work, but works.
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Give a right good soaking if you can and then shuffle about all over it.
Raking is the last task and just makes it look nice.
Shuffling is what does it!
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I use a Mantis Tiller Great Little Machine :)
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Would it make the soil suitably fine for a seed bed?
I don't think you have to go in to the expense of machinery for a seed bed.
I have a spot that I bring on seedlings etc and it is about 12ft x 2ft and I find this sufficient for I all the sowing I do.
This bed got particular attention to get it as I wanted it.
It was dug and redug, mucked, dug and redug, and over a couple of years I got it how I wanted it!.
It is now like sugar compared to the rest of my plot.
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I've pretty much had to start everything off in pots at home, except my spuds and peas.
I need a bigger greenhouse!
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I'd say its all about how much organic matter the soil contains.
If there isn't enough decomposed plant material in the soil, then heavy clay soils are like concrete in summer and freezing cold waterlogged glue in winter. At the other end of the spectrum, sandy soil dries out in just a few hours.
I've got 12 "no-dig" beds in my garden. They started out as a very heavy clay with almost no organic matter at all. I dug them just once to start with, and it was an awful task, with the clay sticking to the spade. I incorporated nearly 2 tonnes of eelgrass seaweed, which simply disappeared in the soil within 12 months. Since then I just pile on as much well-rotted compost as I can............and I make at least 6 cubic metres of compost a year. I also "earth up" my potatoes using eelgrass seaweed.............it decomposes before I plant onions and leeks there the following year.
If I want a fine tilth I simply pass the top layer of soil through a steel grating, rake it about and gently pat it down with a rake. The result is brilliant due to the high organic matter content.
These things cannot be rushed, but working this way , the lumps of clay disappear within about 2 years. I'd say that without adding organic matter, the soil will gradually decline into the stuff that farmers grow their crops in. :(
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Our site is very heavy clay, and I've been told that the only way to get fine tilth is to add tons of compost and to dig it over in the autumn/winter and let the frost break up the lumps.
Mine is lumpy and the best thing I've found to break it up is an Azada, literally chopping the pieces up. Is backbreaking work though!
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After reading comments on this forum I bought myself an Azada this year, and would also highly recommend it, for starters it's been brilliant for earthing up :D which ultimately will help break the clay up, but as others have said organic matter is needed, and needed regularly. If you look around your site you will see the plots that have been worked for years and have great soil, its a matter of work / time / manure :D
1066
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My soil was a lumpy mess when I started, but things grew in it anyway. As I've added organic matter over the years, the structure has improved enormously without my doing very much else.
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Until I'm happy with the state of the soil on my plot I'm planning on starting most things in modules and plating out small plants..... have just tried sowing some stuff direct onto the best bit of soil I have and I stirred in the remains of a bag of multi-purp compost into the soil.... hoiping tha tthe damp weather will have the pickling onions I sowed up in about a week......
chrisc
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For sowing seeds I have found that on lumpy soil, laying a row of compost and sowing seeds into that gives them a better chance.
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I've got one and it's a brilliant tool. My soil isn't particularly heavy though and breaks up really easily wet or dry.