In message , will
writes
I've only just finished clearing an area of turf to create some
vegetable beds. I have some top soil arriving next week, and I also
have a great heap of farmyard manure.

I'm just wondering if I've left this a bit late for getting a decent
crop of veg this year, or will I be OK?

Nah you'll be ok most things aren't planted yet, or even for quite a
while yet.

I appreciate that the books
normally say about breaking up the soil and leaving it exposed should
be done the previous winter, but as it's a new patch with new top
soil, can I safely miss out this step?

Well some approaches to veggie gardening miss out the digging altogether
anyway.......

Of course there may be the 'best' way to approach something, but plants
are pretty easy going things on the whole they want to grow. Give them
some reasonable soil with at he necessary fertility, some water and
light and they will do the business. Maybe not perfectly, maybe not with
the biggest yield possible but they'll do ok. If you didn't plant
anything they wouldn't grow at all.

Assuming that I'm OK, could someone tell me what I should do next? Do
I need to rotivate the soil before adding the top soil? At what point
should I add the manure, and do I need to add any other stuff like
lime or sand? The soil is clay, and seems to be in good condition.

Are you planning to use raised beds ? (I wondered about the extra top
soil). I would probably dig over or rotavate the existing soil at least
one spit deep maybe more. I would certainly work in some of the
manure,you could consider working some coarse grit into it as well to
help keep it open and drain a bit better, but I reckon the most
important thing is oodles of organic matter.

I'd then spread on some more manure, then the top soil, and then some
more on top and then work it all in.

I wouldn't worry about liming it now, wait and see how things go in the
future.

Do I need to leave it a while before planting anything (potatoes in
particular, which I've been chitting), or can I go ahead once this is
all finished?

If possible I would leave it settle for a few weeks, but if something
needed planting I would get it in. Potatoes aren't going to be fussy
anyway. You can be thinking about getting some things going though in
propogators to put out later though

--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html