"Rhiannon Macfie Miller" wrote in message
...
MikeCT wrote:
Hi,

It's still raining where I live and my garden is completely saturated. I
haven't even put in my runner bean poles or sown any beans and I'm
getting worried. Is it too late now, perhaps I should grow water melons
instead?

You could try starting them off in the greenhouse? I have heavy clay soil
and have learnt through experience that it's better not to attempt to sow
*anything* direct into the ground.

Glad to see I'm not the only one with that problem. I have had to resow my
spring onions and beetroot, spinach, lettuce, radicchio etc in the
greenhouse as the failure rate has been phenomenal, and I even covered the
seedlings over with plastic to get them a better start this year. I even
grow carrots in the greenhouse now, just to start them off, even though
you're not supposed to transplant them. Last year I lost two complete
sowings of carrots, though that might not have been helped by sowing them
early in poor weather.

I'm working on improving the soil but it takes huge amounts of organic
matter. Perhaps I should just stick with thigs that like heavy clay?

Andy.