March 2022
Preparations Autumn Vegetable Planting
Have you ever had new soil delivered only to find it doesn’t grow anything?
Or used an old bed made up of composted manures that have been insitu for a few years.
Only to find that when watered there is a boggy waste land where you want your veggies to grow or it is so compacted the water runs off to the side and doesn’t penetrate the soil.
Ideal veggie soil should have excellent structure, good drainage and be able to support biological activity. It needs to have nutrients present for vegetables to take up via their roots.
To achieve good soil structure, add 30 percent washed course river sand, 30 percent well composted manure and 35 percent coco peat, 5 percent bentonite clay or volcanic ash added to the mix and every growing season add a cup of Dolomite lime per square metre to add calcium for plant development.
Plant growth is assisted by air pockets in the soil, this is acheived by the addition of washed course river sand, the biological activity of the little critters in the organic matter and by a seasonal fork over of the entire plot. Ensuring the optimum air soil ratio allows water to move through the mix and be available for plants to take up moisture needed for plant growth.
Well composted manure means manures that have been heated during composting, to the point where all weed seeds are obliterated as does the word washed in washed course river sand mean weed seeds have been removed. Weeds growing in amongst new vegetable seedlings is certainly not ideal. New little delicate vegetable seedlings can be easily damaged when pulling out weeds flourishing next to them.
Weeds also compete for plant nutrients in the soil not to mention the water supply!
Cocoa peat helps to add organic structure and water holding capacity for the mix. Natural elements such as Bentonite clay or volcanic ash assist chemical exchange and uptake to the plant by bonding soil elements.
Sourcing the ingredients for producing this ideal mix may be challenging! Ordering in vast quantities of washed course river sand (when the product only come in tiny little bags) along with the other ingredients for the formula from Nurseries and or Landscape Suppliers can be expensive and a lot of wheelbarrowing! Finding organic ingredients is usually pre-mixed in bags.
Trialling various mixes in small plots and sowing the same vegetables in each plot will give you the answer to which variety works for you!
Which ever way you go, have fun growing the seasonal vegetables!
To plant now:
Lettuce, Carrots, Chives, Onions, Garlic, Potato, Cabbage, Broccoli, Coriander, Parsley, Asian Greens, Peas, Spinach and Silverbeet. Nothing tastes better than home grown fresh vegetables and herbs!
