Improving Veg Patch for Next Year

[cuffbertt]

I harvested the last of my vegetables from my raised beds a few weeks ago, and now they're empty. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to put all the nutrients back in so I get lots of veg next year. I have a few bags of manure (can't remember what brand, I bought it from Wickes when it was on offer a few months back) and some compost that's been rotting down since last year.

Do I just need to put a load of manure and compost (and top soil?) into the bed and mix it all in with a fork, or is there more to it than that? If that's right, when do I need to do this? Now or in the spring?

[4Shoes]

Many people are going down the cover with wet paper or cardboard and then compost / mulch to hold that down. Idea is that the card will stop the nutrients leaching out and the compost will break down the card ready for next season.

[SarrissUK]

I second what 4Shoes says, and would probably add anything that can break down - leaves, shredded paper, then paper/cardboard, and use the compost to weigh it down with. Personally I'd save the manure until the spring, but I can't really explain why.

[veggiechicken]

Put the manure where you're not going to grow root veg next year.

[burnie]

I Put manure(or dung as it's known round here) on as soon as the beds are empty, I don't quite go with this leaching away idea, farmers have done it for centuries and it's going down to where the roots will find it, you don't want the food on the surface really. Compost depends on what it is where it's going, fairly fresh for beans can go in now, but I tend to put finer compost on when I sow roots seeds in the spring.

[4Shoes]

I Put manure(or dung as it's known round here) on as soon as the beds are empty, I don't quite go with this leaching away idea, farmers have done it for centuries and it's going down to where the roots will find it, you don't want the food on the surface really. Compost depends on what it is where it's going, fairly fresh for beans can go in now, but I tend to put finer compost on when I sow roots seeds in the spring.

Changes days I'm afraid. I used to spread much over winter, but farmers are limited in what types of muck they can spread over the winter months. The exclusion may be limited to slurry, but the legislation is based around damage to environment caused by run-off and specifically details organic materials "leaching" into the waterways.

Not sure is it is 1st November or 1st December, but goes through to around March.

[burnie]

Muck spreading round here this past week, solids not slurry though.

[Bluenowhere]

I go with the principle of spreading manure over all beds (except as VC says those I’m going to grow root veg in). My principle being weeds will take out more nutrients if it isn’t covered than I’ll lose in the leaching and everything is tidy, and it’s getting distributed by worms ready for spring.

I don’t have access to cardboard etc so I use what I’ve got for free, we get big deliveries of manure from the police stables.

Followed the lead of the old hands on our allotment who always have great crops and don’t use loads of artificial fertiliser so I don’t think leaching can be that big an issue.

[burnie]

The problem of leaching into rivers has increased dramatically since artificial fertilisers heavy in nitrates occurred, the Basin at Montrose used to be bare sand when the tide went out, it is now green with algae. This didn't happen when manure only was used, now run off from slurry is a different matter as it remove oxygen from the water if it runs in and kills everything.
In a garden or allotment, unless adjacent to a water course, then I would suggest nutrients won't go too far from where our crops can find them, nature does after all deposit plenty of nutrients on the surface and worms and other beasties carry it under ground. Also it is a good idea to add manure well before adding a feed like B.F.&B, which I add as a top dressing a couple of weeks before sowing/planting.

[cuffbertt]

Thank you for the replies everyone! Sorry I've taken a while to come back, it's been a busy few days!

So if I put a layer of cardboard down, then put a mixture of manure and compost on top. Leave it until the spring and then give it a bit of a dig shortly before I put any seeds or plants in?

What should I do if I'm planning on growing root crops like carrots etc? Do I need to leave a bare patch where they're going to be and then add some other kind of fertiliser next spring?

Also, just to complicate things a little bit more, I am planning on putting some garlic into one of the beds in the next few weeks, so I am assuming I should avoid manure in that area too? What's the best thing to do in that section so the garlic has all the nutrients it needs?

I always think I've learned a lot about growing veg over the last year, but then I get stumped on simple things like this haha.

Thanks again for the replies

[bario1]

You don't need to dig over the beds in Spring, the compost/manure mix should be fine to plant into. A quick raking over to get a finer surface tilth might help though.

For roots, just add your home made compost rather than manure. Sometimes I rake in a bit of blood fish and bone a few weeks before sowing.

For the garlic you could do the same now - just rake in a sprinkling of blood fish and bone or something similar to give the soil a quick nutrient boost, then let it settle before planting.

[ESBkevin]

Try to avoid putting still green uncomposted material in the soil, it can help to harbour slugs over winter. Cardboard that is wet and covered in compostwill break down quickly in the wet winter and the worms love it. Remove any dry cardboard from the edges after a few weeks to further discourage those slugs.
Otherwise you are on the money.

[cuffbertt]

Great, thanks all I guess it makes sense if I plan to put my carrots, onions and garlic all next to each other in the bed, so that I can just leave one area manure free.

I've not used blood, fish and bone before, but I've heard it mentioned a lot. I'll pop down to Wilkos or something at the weekend and stock up. Think I need to get some more top soil when I'm out as well, as it's amazing how much the soil level has dropped on my raised beds over the year, although they were mostly filled with really dusty compost to start with so maybe that's why!

Cheers!

[ESBkevin]

Just a note on the manure free for root crops. Studies (by the likes of Charles Dowding and others), suggest that digging in and mixing the manure is the cause of root crop problems like splitting and forking. If you just place it on top of the surface and plant into/through it there are no problems, on the contrary the carrots etc. are wonderful/straight/tasty and the gound is kept in good heart. I have moderate experience of this from one season and will be extending the proceedure next year.

[cwmmawr]

Just a note on the manure free for root crops. Studies (by the likes of Charles Dowding and others), suggest that digging in and mixing the manure is the cause of root crop problems like splitting and forking. If you just place it on top of the surface and plant into/through it there are no problems, on the contrary the carrots etc. are wonderful/straight/tasty and the gound is kept in good heart. I have moderate experience of this from one season and will be extending the proceedure next year.

This is my experience huge parsnips this year in a bed with manure on top not dug in