what do you give back to your veg patch

[predator]

just thinking what should i give back to my veg patch its been 3 years now and feeling i should treat the ground to either a rest or something to revive/recover etc its full of worms looks healthy and i manured it last year and run the garden fork through it all etc should i get it rotovatored and rest it or carry on and re plant etc & no spudz either last year so any advice would be greatful

 

ps all thats in now is some old cabbages there for next doors chickens and a strawberry patch but really want to leave that part alone for strawberrys this year etc

[mark_goldfinch]

Poo and lots of it. Horse that is not mine!

[renewablejohn]

I use wood ash sparingly

[Aicchalmers]

As long as you've been keeping an ok rotation up there's not much reason to leave it now considering the work that's been put into it, it's a pretty mild winter though so you could think of sowing some hardy green manures to take you over until the spring sowing season then dig them in.

For any gardens I'm involved in I like to add 1 m3/10m2 of greenwaste compost to start it off and then just whenever I can get my hands on some poo and manure add it in. One cool one to do if you have any coffee shops near you is to get their used grounds as they're happy to give it away, I like to grow oyster mushrooms on them too though.

Apart from that leaf mulch, comfrey/nettle mulches, straw, anything compostable all goes either straight into the garden or on the compost heap. Don't tend to worry about it too much everything seems to do fine.

^As long as it's not too ridiculous (I have seen somebody make a bed with about half of it being wood ash **** you not) clean wood ash from wood burned without any plastic or treated wood is a good source of potash and can be put on in pretty large quantities.

[predator]

I use wood ash sparingly

 

why sparingly is it bad to much etc

[the village idiot]

Charcoal makes a great soil conditioner. Make sure it's British lumpwood though!

Break it up into pieces (small as you can) and dig it into the soil, even better with lots of poo, as mentioned above. The charcoal- aka biochar (cue ridicule) will hold onto the soil nutrients and make them available to your veggies.

You will also be locking away some carbon, and contributing to the sustainable management of our woodlands. Got to be a winner!!

[mark_goldfinch]

Also I know it's a bit late for this growing season but at the end of next summer you could try growing green manures for the following year.

[felixthelogchopper]

Leaf mulch and well rotted horse manure every winter.

[John in Scotland]

I keep adding my garden compost and some wood ash each year. We also use comfy tea(homegrown) during the year. and we don't grow the same crop in the same place 2 years running(except rhubarb and any other perennial crops(strawberries/blackberries)

[renewablejohn]

why sparingly is it bad to much etc

 

I use it instead of lime to increase the ph but not all plants like a high ph so you have to be selective where you apply. It is also high in potassium so very useful in a crop rotation.