Veg plot position help needed please

miecherox

Any help with this would be appreciated -

I have a veg plot at the bottom of my garden which has previously been used for growing veg, I cleared it last summer and there was some veg left over. It's in a really good position in terms of garden but i'm a bit concerned because it's next to/on top of the septic tank:eek:. This has so far put me off sowing anything in case it will be contamintated. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Also, the soil is quite wet and boggy even in summer I dug it over last year but wondered if this is going to be a problem?

And finally! I have two compost bins a conventional one and a green johanna - I am very annoyed :mad: because DP continued filling it with fresh cut grass depite me constantly telling him not to the result? A sludge... Can I rescue it or shall I start again?

Thankyou in advance.

conradmum

Oh, I wish I had a veg plot on top of a septic tank!

I really wouldn't worry about it. I should think the previous owners sited it there on purpose. If you're concerned about parasites or bacteria from the contents just be careful to wash your hands when you've been working there, and wash all the produce you take from there. But the plants themselves won't take anything in from ordinary domestic sewage. If it were an industrial site with contaminated soil it would be a different matter. No, your plants should thrive on all those nutrients.

You can quite easily rescue your sludge. Dig it out, mix it in with about a third the volume of ripped up cardboard (toilet rolls, egg boxes, cardboard boxes - our pizza boxes go in the compost ), then pile it back in and forget about it for a few months.

Are both bins full? I usually keep filling one until it stops going down (takes about 6-9 months to do this) then leave it to 'mature' while filling the other one. If both your bins are full, maybe find a quiet corner to pile the contents of both of them and cover the pile with some plastic. Then start filling a bin with uncooked veg, old cardboard and grass clippings. As long as you include some cardboard you shouldn't have this problem again. Although you will get little flies. (And when the worms climb to the top, they aren't trying to escape because they don't like your compost, they're migratory and are apparently just off on their travels. (I never let mine go, though, and carefully scrape them off the lid and return them to the bin mwuahahaha! :rotfl:))

miecherox

Thankyou for the advice,

I've just been and raked the veg patch and it's looking ok if a little boggy still but i'm hoping we'll get some frost to break it up a bit. As for the compost bins i've hoofed some of the sludge out and mixed it up as you advised fingers crossed it will be ok!

Thanks again if nothing else i've had an hour of fresh air and exercise!:D

valk_scot

I think your main problem is going to be the "wet and boggy" part, not the septic tank. Most vegetables don't like to be waterlogged and it's guaranteed to encourage slugs. My first thought is to ask whether you could put the vegetable plot somewhere else in the garden? Somewhere in good light all day and more free draining soil would be better.

If however you're stuck with the position, consider building raised beds to improve the drainage a bit. If there are any overhanging shrubs or trees, cut them back to allow the soil to dry out as much as possible. Double dig the beds and incorporate some sand and grit. If the drainage problem persists then consider digging a drainage sump to solve the problem.

If you're generating a lot of one kind of composting ingredient, like grass clippings, keep them seperate in a bin bag untill you have some balancing ingredient to layer it with before you add it to the compost bin. I find newspaper run through the office shredder (or torn into narrow strips) works very well with grass clippings.

miecherox

Thankyou Val for the great advice.

I've been out in it today, unfortunately moving it's position isn't really an option I will definately consider some raised beds today it isn't so much wet beacuse I could use a fine rake on the top to get rid of winter debris etc and it was pulling up the top soil no problem however when you stand on it you sink into it a good couple of inches... I will keep an eye on it.

Thanks again