Farmyard manure

[Dannyj]

I'm not sure if this is in the right section,

Iv got a large veg plot that's only in it's third year -

First year beds were made/prepared and we got some great late veggies-
Sweetcorn,beets,radish,lettuce and peas aswell as loads of herbs

Last year was a complete write off- having a very unwell newborn we didn't get Out into the patch other than one day when me and my little girl cleaned it up best we could and planted a few radish beets and either leeks or spring onions

Again with the little lad now fine we got back onto the patch 2week ago where Iv spent days weeding each bed and adding more topsoil and compost

We have planted again beets,carrots,radish,lettuce,peas and beans

Sorry to waffle now my question

I want the patch as organic as I can, I'm worried there is not enough goodness in the soil

What and when can I put on the soil?

[Organic Kitchen Gard]

Hi Danny,
Glad to hear all is fine with your little one.
Sounds like your soil is in reasonable condition as you got great results the first year; if you want to get the best out of growing organically and you have plenty of space the best thing to do would be to practice crop rotation. Different 'families' of veg use different nutrients in the soil, grow their roots to varying depths and are prone to different types of pests and diseases. If you have a simple bed system and rotate the different types of veg around each year it will make best use of the nutrients and lower the risk of serious p&ds occurring.
A 4 year rotation could be legumes(eg peas/beans), brassicas(eg cabbage/brussels/cauliflowers/radish/rocket/swede), roots(eg carrots/parsnips/beetroot), potatoes.
Legumes actually add nitrogen to the soil via nodules on their roots, but obviously everything else takes nutrients out so you are quite right, soil improvement is needed each year ('Feed the soil not the plant').
Soil improvement for this 4 year system could be manure(well rotted and from an organic source if possible) applied to potato bed, leaf mould applied to roots bed, compost(home made if possible) applied to brassicas bed and a compost trench dug or compost applied for the legumes bed.
Organic principles say you should minimise inputs to your garden so if you can find the space to make your own compost and leaf mould and install a water butt or two you'll be well on your way!
For this year I would guess that you'll be OK to carry on growing the crops you mention as you've had a year out to rest the soil, and none of them are particularly heavy feeders.
Sorry for the long reply but hope some of it's useful!!
Happy growing!

[vegetable-gardener]

Hi Danny

Glad to hear that the baby is ok.

We have 13 raised beds and do try to rotate the vegetables we grow. We grow organically and by rotating you have less chance in diseases affecting the plants.

We like to look after the soil so we add plenty of horse manure, homemade compost and grass clippings to feed the soil.

It's not always possible to rotate so for instance I just pulled up the swiss chard from last year. I dug it over added some garden compost and grass clippings and am going to plant perpetual spinach - of course this isn't recommended but I have no room any where else - so it has to be done.

We also add chicken pellets as a manure - you can buy them in garden centres.

For the rest just enjoy the garden!

[Dannyj]

hey guys thanks for replies only just seen them

Last year i didnt use the veg beds but im going to crop rotate from now on,

got a few beds now

1 - beetroot, raddish and carrots
2 - strawberries - lots and lots of them - planted them 3 years ago now
3 - peas and beans
4 - lettuce and mixed leaves
5 - onions, sweetcorn and the other end swiss chard
6 - (was a huge herb bed) now has cabbage and brussles in

iv been on the plot all day weeding, planting on etc - i chucked a few chicken manure pellets over each bed - not sure if it was a do or dont but i did

[vegetable-gardener]

You sound like you have been very busy. My theory is gardening has to be easy - otherwise it just doesn't get done - so throw the chicken pellets on - but be careful not to put it to close the the plant stems which will get burned and then will die. Ask my hubby he did that last year and killed some cabbages!!

happy gardening