How to prepare soil for growing veg?

ellebee1986

Sorry for all of the questions today folks,

My question is, I have a border that outlines the hole of my garden. I have no idea what type of soil it is but how can I find out and how do I prepare it so its ideal condition for growing my veg?

Ive started off with pots but as many people have noted, compost is very expensive and whats the point when i could potentially have a perfectly good veg patch with my existing soil.

Thanks

poppysarah

How big is the border?
How much sun does it get?

You'd need to dig it over to plant in it.

grannyjo

I have been trying to prepare my patch and improve the poorish compacted soil. I have been digging a trench about a spade deep and putting all my veg peelings , egg shells, dried stalks off other dead plants etc. At first I used all my homemade compost heap but that has been used up now. Then I put the soil back so it ends up about 3 inches higher- its probably a bit higher as the soil loosens up when dug. I am going to plant my seeds( or greenhouse plug plants)- in a bit of shop bought compost mixed up with the soil. I've also bought some chicken manure pellets to sprinkle in if the plants like a richer soil. (some don't)
When I've done one trench, I start another, with a small pot in the kitchen, to keep the peelings etc in. Its supposed to rot down and worms mix it up . Last year I did this in a potato planter bag and the 6-9 inches at the bottom was beautiful soil when I tipped it out in the autumn. Good luck.

ellebee1986

poppysarah wrote: »

How big is the border?
How much sun does it get?

You'd need to dig it over to plant in it.

Heres a rough pic, you can see the border on the right hand side, I can make it as wide as needed and it spans all the way round the garden. The gardens south facing so the sun is on it for most of the day, maybe slight shading with the fence at certain times.

ellebee1986

grannyjo wrote: »

I have been trying to prepare my patch and improve the poorish compacted soil. I have been digging a trench about a spade deep and putting all my veg peelings , egg shells, dried stalks off other dead plants etc. At first I used all my homemade compost heap but that has been used up now. Then I put the soil back so it ends up about 3 inches higher- its probably a bit higher as the soil loosens up when dug. I am going to plant my seeds( or greenhouse plug plants)- in a bit of shop bought compost mixed up with the soil. I've also bought some chicken manure pellets to sprinkle in if the plants like a richer soil. (some don't)
When I've done one trench, I start another, with a small pot in the kitchen, to keep the peelings etc in. Its supposed to rot down and worms mix it up . Last year I did this in a potato planter bag and the 6-9 inches at the bottom was beautiful soil when I tipped it out in the autumn. Good luck.

Thanks for that tip! Do you need to wait for all the peelings etc to compost before planting into it?

poppysarah

Runner beans will love a trench as described.
But make trench now and plant out late May.

You could try spuds too and they'd be less fussy too.

Broad beans are fab and easy for the kids to plant out and grow. You almost can't kill them.

Sambucus_Nigra

ellebee1986 wrote: »

I have no idea what type of soil it is but how can I find out and how do I prepare it so its ideal condition for growing my veg?

You can find out what it is by digging some up. Sand will be sandy, clay will be clayey and a mix will be a gritty clay. The darker it is will show not much organic matter you have.

What I would do with that is to buy a bulb planter and some modules. Sow your seeds into your modules, dig out any weeds this spring and when your veg is big enough, plant out your seedlings with the bulb planter.

Apart from carrots and parsnips - which you should sow direct.

You then only need a little compost [which you could use multipurpose with a little sand mixed in for sowing and multipurpose on it's own for potting on] and not buy any other. Your soil probably won't need it at this stage.

grannyjo

I read that the compost breaks down quite quickly if in the soil well covered - but don't know really. I saw the tip myself when planting potatoes in the plastic grow bag. It said something like 6ins of fresh compost stuff- then 2-3 inches of soil- then the seed potatoes (I just use the ends of the potatoes that I buy to cook- that have started to sprout . Sometimes I leave them on a windowsill in egg boxes to encourage a bit more sprouting- its a lot cheaper than the seed potatoes that you buy)- then put about 3-4 inches of soil on top and it said by the time the potato roots get down to the fersh compost it will have broken down or worms will have made it usable . Certainly it works long term. My father had a large allotment and always told me to put fresh compost at the bottom of a bean trench (if no rotted down compost available) I would try not to put the baby plants into it. they need a bit more protection. - The other tip I've had several times and it seems to work is plant potatoes in fresh not too good ground and they break up the soil for you. my neighbour swears this works.
Peas and beans are good in that they create nitrogen producing roots which enrich the soil. They are both easy to grow- and children love going out and picking a fresh pod to eat.
I agree with you that if you can do things economically or free- ita a lot better than spending a lot of money at garden centres.

ellebee1986

Well Ive just dug a patch up to check and it looks like clay its mostly dark brown with hints of orange. So where do i go from here? How deep should I dig and how wide should I make the border?

My carrots and shallots Ive already started off in pots so will have to leave them but my tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, leeks, broccoli (calabrese) are all in seeds trays at the mo germinating so if I can prepare the soil in time can put them in the ground rather than pots. Also got some Runner beans which I havent started yet and maris pipers chitting which I was planning on putting into a dustbin but again Im assuming I could put these in the ground instead?

poppysarah

Dig it wide enough so that you don't have to step on it to get to the back to weed.

So crouch and lean and see how far away your feet need to be to be on the grass still.

grannyjo

if its mainly clay- you need to dig in some grit for drainage. if it has never been dug since the house was built, the chances are its very poor soil- mainly sub soil with building rubbish in it like broken bricks, concrete bits, plastic etc. IT takes quite a bit to get it to good soil. I had to do it with areas of my garden. will it crumble at all? . I had big lumps of pure clay that stuck together and was reddish brown in colour a bit like plasticine. I dug quite a lot of it out and threw it in the bin gradually but it can eventually break down with lots of grit/ gravel for drainage, and compost. If it is very sticky, make sure it can drain spare water away. perhaps dig a spadeful deep and pour water in to see if it drains. Have you seen any worms- the more you see, the better as it shows plant matter in the soil.Small plants do not like sitting in sodden compost. Mix some decent compost in with the soil. Also see if any locals advertise free horse manure to put down- but not so it touches plants- you can mix it with the soil to improve it too. If you want the veg patch wider than you can reach, you can put in a few stepping stones.(Some of the bricks you might find in the soil)- its probably best to start small and see how it goes. Its easy to extend it later in the year if you want. Your onions could go in quite soon. they are usually hardy and usually prefer a less fertile soil. Carrots need a long easy run down into the soil. they don't like sticky clay or stones.. You could also use pots or carrier bags to grow things in for some of this year. There are a lot of different views about how far down to dig. The extremes say go down 2 spade depths- the extremes the other way say only dig a hole for the seedling- then add fertilisre, or compost on top of the soil and worms will dig it in. I try to go down about 6 ins as I want the roots to find their way fairly easily.- joanna