Re: my garden here in Wales
On Thu 23 Sep, arzeena@tvorganics.com wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Sep 1999 20:44:08 +0100 (BST) Allan Day wrote:
>
>
> > My main problem with good compost is to get enough for everything that
> > would benefit from it. At the moment my main problem is to transform
> > over an acre of clay to something workable and I can't afford to put all
> > of it in one trench. Help may be at hand, as the local council recycle
> > garden waste and they have dropped the price of their product to a point
> > that large loads are affordable, as long as we have the effort to
> > collect it.
> >
>
> Allan,
>
> Have you tried growing green manure crops like fall rye, oats, crimson
> clover etc to help incoporate organic matter into your soil? Compost is
> pretty expensive on the scale you're growing on.
>
> Are you growing on a full field scale or on beds?
>
> Arzeena Hamir
Allan replies
I do grow on beds, particularly in the four polytunnels but also on
part of the outside area. I have stocked up on grazing rye for green
manuring but the last two seasons it turned so wet in the autumn/fall
that I was unable to cultivate and sow. Fortunately Nature gave a
helping hand in that the weeds, particularly the grass took hold of the
area and probably did as good a job on green manuring as if I had got
the seed in. Perhaps things will be different this year but after this
week's heavy rain I doubt it.
We got 26 sacks of that council compost yesterday at about 2 to the
dollar and spread it on new ground in the polytunnel and rotavated it
in. It looks fine, dark and crumbly, and has the merit of being fully
composted and therefore hopefully weed free, unlike the horse/farmyard
manure previously used which always has chickweed and other undesirables
in it. For the record I am all for such methods of soil improvement but
also use the best of new techniques and do not class myself as an
Organic grower in the current (legal) definition of the term.
--
Allan Day Hereford allan@crwys.demon.co.uk
