"Jonathan Culver" wrote in message
...
Which vegetables thrive in heavy soil?

It's the second year of planting in this patch.
I had success with potatoes (Wilja) Spinach and French Beans lasy year
but a poor show of onions and as for the radishes!

The patch has received 2 loads of horse manure/straw, but it is still
hard work. The soil does not till very well, clups of soil form on the
rake.

Thanks

Jonathan

Jonathan, quite a good few years back I bought a house with half an acre of
Wilderness. I managed to get the weeds, nettles, brambles etc etc down to
ground level and went over it with a very old cultivator which used tines
faster than that because of the ground.

I am not a gardener, but I experimented with black plastic and compost. I
spread compost about 2 inches deep in rows and covered this with black
plastic which had crosses cut at about 2 ft centres. Through each hole I
stuck a spud.

I was able to lift the edge and take what we wanted, when we wanted them.
They grew and cropped so fast that I gave sacks full away to the neighbours.
(I was flavour of the month!!)

That process, with the compost being worked into the ground by nature,
turned the soil into a manageable consistency and it wasn't toooooooooo hard
a work either :-))

Mike

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