What can I do next?

[fitzsie]

I have a small raised bed from which I have lifted potatoes ( about 10 lbs of Eddies ). It seems a waste not to use this space over winter and wondered if I could plant some spring cabbage.
I guess the soil will need nutrients for this ,however my compost hasn't completly rotted down. I have turned it over and mixed it but there still some "larger bits". Can I still use it and mix it into the bed or should I leave this for something else, in which case what can I do for the raised bed.
Should I be even using the bed any more this year?   Actually I just remembered that I had savoy cabbage in there last year which didn't grow well at all and ended up pulling them out.
Being a newbie I just don't know what to do and I want to maximise what little space I have.

( I do have a courgette plant which will be finishing soon, should I put the cabbage plants there instead?)

Any thoughts?

[fitzsie]

[Digeroo]

I am putting cabbage into my potato beds, but I did not have brassicas there last year.

I mostly dig in partly rotted compost it soon breaks down in the soil but I do not have enough so for me the brassicas have to make do with chicken pellets and BFB.   I would reserve the compost for next years courgettes.

[fitzsie]

I mostly dig in partly rotted compost it soon breaks down in the soil but I do not have enough so for me the brassicas have to make do with chicken pellets and BFB. 

Apologies for my ignorance but what is BFB?

[galina]

I mostly dig in partly rotted compost it soon breaks down in the soil but I do not have enough so for me the brassicas have to make do with chicken pellets and BFB. 

Apologies for my ignorance but what is BFB?

No need to apologise, it is blood fish and bone fertiliser.  something like this
http://www.greenfingers.com/superstore/product.asp?dept_id=200532&pf_id=LT0148D&co=fr&gclid=CN6u4avUzbECFTMhtAodFzEAhQ

[tomatoada]

I am going to put some cabbage and cauliflower plants in my early potatoes bed.   Bed dug well over.  Lime added and raked in.  Growmore going on this week.  Netting posts put in after that.   Did this last year and did well.
By the way I stamp the ground to firm it.  Put the plants in quite deep.  A few slug pellets and net.

[manicscousers]

We put leeks in the potato bed, we've put phacelia green manure on another, ready for planting the overwinter onions and garlic in later in the year  :)
Or, try some late dwarf french beans, that'll put some nitrogen back when they're cut down

[John85]

Sow some lamb lettuce may be.Easy and don't need manure.

[Toshofthe Wuffingas]

I had to cut my potato haulm down because of blight and I have been gradually clearing the 2 early rows first -Foremost (which got scabby) and Casablanca. We have had ample potatoes and still haven't completely cleared the rows, maybe less than a quarter left. As I cleared them i put in a bit of compost and have put in by turns, Tendergreen french beans, Shiraz purple mangetout and most recently some small purple sprouting broccoli and a Chinese form of broccoli, interplanted with some lettuce seedlings.
Today I started lifting the maincrop of Charlotte, nice sized tubers for all that they were cut down over a fortnight ago but not that many of them. I have cleared half the bed and intend lifting the rest in the next day or two. I will probably sow phacelia as green manure while I scratch my head over what to put in but I want more ruby chard. I have tons of french beans growing already. I have more PSB seedlings so may plant more out.

[pigeonseed]

Sounds very efficient, Toshofthe Wuffingas.

Leeks and purple sprouting brocolli etc need to be sown early in the year and planted out now, and I don't know if you have plants already, Fitzie. You might find some being sold off cheap in garden centres, looking a bit ragged, but they do seem to come back okay when planted out and protected from birds and butterflies.

But I think now there seem to be so many seeds available for overwintering stuff - like chicories and endives and various kinds of mustard green. They seem to be a bit slug prone this year, and I'm having trouble getting any to make it past seedling stage. But normally they're pretty reliable and quick to grow. And it's definitely not too late to grow.