The Poultry Keeper

Barny_Velder · Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 149 Location: North Wales Coast

hi I have plenty of space but the land is very very poor, couple of inches of soil then a very hard layer of impacted clay and rock.
Any suggestions on what to grow? Last years was pitiful Sad

I think maybe raised beds is the only way to go unless someone can suggest a food crop that will grow in the above poor soil. Food for me or the birds is fine, i'd just like to make use of the land insteadof letting it just sit there.

CP · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:09 pm Post subject:

I'm no expert but could you start to improve the soil by growing a green manure crop? Confused

And spreading composted chicken manure too, of course! Wink

kated · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1232 Location: norfolk

I am no expert either but you could always try a raised bed - that way you could have a try at what your climate was good for. Although checking what your neighbours grow is good for that too. I always find that carrots are worth trying on poor soil. Even when it's not deep you can grow those short stubby carrots. Just be sure to cover them in horticultural fleece or grow african marigolds close by to keep off the carrot fly.

Barny_Velder · Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 149 Location: North Wales Coast

No neighbours really, opens onto fields used by horses. Just grass:(

jaydee67 · Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 6:22 pm Post subject:

I would definately go for raised beds - that way you don't have to dig either!

Clucky · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2049 Location: Shropshire

Barney Velder, we have the same problem and last year from a blank canvas we had an amazing crop runner beans!! We couldn't eat them fast enough. All we did was dig it over as deep as we could and use some of are nearly raw compost waste that we had collected.

My parents have grown these for years and my mum says, now is the best time to dig down as far as you can and put as much garden compost(raw or rotted) into a trench and cover it over. In the spring dig up the top bit and put your beans straight on top of the compost that you dug in and hey presto. Mind you we grew ours indoors from seeds last year, before planting them out.

In the autumn cut down the stalks to ground level but leave in the roots as these are full of nitrogeon but rotate the plot so you don't plant the beans in the same place the next year....try something else. Don't bother with carrots though, clay is a pig with them. We tried potatoes too but not brilliant, hopefully this time next year the soil with all the garden/chicken poo/compost waste it will be much better.

wemfish · Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 167 Location: Wem Shropshire

We had a problem when we lived in our first house in Wem, no root vegetables would grow, beetroot rotted in the ground or only grew to about an inch, celeriac, was the same, some carrots made it to about 2 inches but then rotted, tomato plants grew well then the fruit rotted on the plants, but the Runner and French beans grew so well we could not keep up with them!

Attila The Hen · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 296 Location: Shetland

At the risk of repeating what's been said before - your soil sounds not at all dissimilar to what we have (to put up with!) here in Shetland - a few inches (more than 6-8 if you're lucky) of soil then a hard level of compact clayish rocky substrate. Grim!

What we've done for veggies is partly traditional, and partly cheating - double digging, burying the turves upside down at the bottom of the trenches before back-filling with soil. Digging in organic matter (well-rotted cow muck, and well-rotted chicken manure / shavings / kitchen waste). Surrounding the plot with black-painted scaffold planks to raise the soil level by 10 inches. And then topping up with topsoil - we didn't have to buy it in, as significant building works left us with a good mound from elsewhere on our land, but otherwise I'd have cracked and bought it from elsewhere.

Year one planted with clover to dig back in, then tatties, and onto rotation thereafter.

Keep topping up with manure. Horrifically hard work, and baffling how stones keep surfacing despite my best efforts to remove them at the outset (!), but it's something you can be very proud of when you've got a veg patch that defies the local odds.

Attila

robgodfrey · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:31 am Post subject:

Agree with the deep bed construction.
Mark out the beds about 15' x 5' and fork over the topsoil. If the soil is poor don't mix the subsoil with the top. Scrape the topsoil off the 'paths' between the beds and this will add a bit more depth.
Add as much muck/compost as you can get your hands on.

If there is already turf on the land peel it off and use them upside down to act as walls for your beds (removing any couch grass/doscks/dandelion roots first).

Woodburner · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:50 am Post subject:

Unless you can reach the ground 2' 6" from the toes of your boots I would limit the width of the beds to 4 foot width, less if your reach is less than 2 foot.
I reckon that robgodfrey probably meant 5 foot including 1 foot for a path.

Attila The Hen · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 296 Location: Shetland

I recognise the logic, and agree unless... you are gardening in a very exposed site, in which case a bigger plot helps to shelter the plants on the inside from exposure to the elements. A bigger plot is generally more productive. I tend not to be too precious about walking into a vegetable plot to access the bits that aren't accessible from the edges!

Attila