The message
from Mark Allison contains these words:

Anyway, I have a rectangular area of land to improve measuring 25m x 5m. So
in all that's about 125 square metres of land. I intend to buy some
horticultural grit and the largest pile of muck you ever seen. Question is
where should I get a large quantity of my required substances? I reckon I
need at least a ton of grit, and I'm having trouble sourcing a large
quantity of manure at the moment. The land will be used mainly to produce
vegetables and herbs next year, I'm spending this year preparing the soil.

I suggest you halve the plot. When you get the manure, spread it over
the whole plot. It doesn't matter whether you put the grit on top or the
other way round, though I'd tend to put the grit on the manure.

Cover one half with straw and old cardboard, get the cardboard wet
through then peg black polythene over it and leave it for a year. (ish)
You can make small discs of plywood, metal, plastic, make a hole inthe
middle and drive pegs through them and the polythene to collect water
and let it through. The pegging will give a quilted effect, and the rain
will run into the depressions and through.

The other half, I'd really go to town on. Cover the manure and grit with
old cardboard, woollen carpets without foam backing (if you can get them
now - firms aren't supposed to let you have old carpet.) more manure,
then cover the area with one thickness of bales of straw.

Save as much urine as possible and water the straw with it, diluted,
until the bales are wet through. Cover with black polythene and leave
like that for two years.

After the two years (or when the worms have done their work) se the new
plot and then treat the other side the same way as your heavily strawed
part.

--
Tony
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