Re: new veg bed soil prep?

On Mon 09 Nov, Donna Wilson wrote:
> I'm starting 3 new raised beds for veggies next spring. 
> 
> I've gathered mountains of leaves.   Is there anything other than mounding
> them up and letting nature takes its course that I could do to encourage
> decomposition.
 
> Donna Wilson
Can I suggest that you mix the ideas of a compost heap and a mulch
system, that is put everything on your beds, don't dig but mix it all
well. The next choice is how best to cover it for two purposes, one is
to suppress growth of any undesirable weeds, the other is to retain
warmth and prevent it drying out. The techniques here range from polythene, old carpet, newspaper in layers, a soil capping, or just leave it and kill off any undesirables that show through, best choice here is glyphosphate which is total
ly biodegradable. In this connection I had a stack of old hay about 5 foot
high and a thistle appeared at the top. I traced its stem back to the
root and it had come all the way through from the soil below so that
shows what you are up against. Assuming all is well and the heat has gone out
of the pile the best idea for your first crop is to plant tallish things
through the undisturbed layer into the soil below, or even bury potatoes
there. You should find the soil much improved by the action of the mulch
above. At the end of the season you have the option to mix it in or carry on
building up the layers which would be a bit at a time if it is unrotted
additions. To get back to your original question, if you really have a
plentiful supply of leaves you would do well to have an additional
heap of those.They rot relatively slowly but would rot best in a
separate heap, pure leafmould is most desirable both as a soil improver
and as a potting medium in its own right but is low in nutrients so
plants need feeding. You may get it rotted in one season, two is more
likely.



-- 

Allan Day  Hereford HR2 7AU allan@crwys.demon.co.uk
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index