anthony123hopki wrote:

Hi

As I eat my way through this years summer veg I am thinking about the
over-wintering situation.

I don't have enough space to both over winter some veg (which I would
like to do), and dig in lots of well rotten manure and leave till
spring.

if you dig a deep enough trench and bury the
manure it will still be there and extra cured when
you dig it up in the spring (or late winter after
the veggies are done). probably a bit compacted
but still useful. or if you put it down a good foot
it will probably be ok for the crops, but i would
imagine that it would stimulate more soft growth
than you might otherwise want (which is why i
would bury it deeper).


I guess I could just chuck in loads of fertilizer, but I would rather
not.

I have 3 beds, on a rotational system.

Any advice on how I can have my cake and eat it much appreciated.

i dig trenches and fill them with stuff as the season gets on.
once in a while i put some dirt on top after the stuff has mostly
dried out and had some fungus start on the lower layers. i'll
water it if it looks too dry and then start the next layer. by the
end of the season when i dig the trench next to it i bury it
under at least six inches of dirt so that the roots from the
plantings that go over aren't fighting through the stuff that
is breaking down.

gradually it is turning mostly clay soil (with some added
sand) into nice black dirt as i keep moving it back and
forth from year to year. the shoveling helps break up
the bigger stems that haven't quite finished breaking down.
most of the rest of it is perfect. the worms love it.

this year i am going to dig a deep and narrow trench and
fill it with dry stuff and some wood pieces i have, put some
flat metal over it and then close off most of the ends and
light it on fire, after it gets going i'm going to smother it and
see if i can get a good percentage of charcoal pieces leftover.
any big chunks i'll save for the next round. i don't have much
woody stuff around here so it will be a slow addition.

hmm... *pondering* we have an old wood burning stove
outside as decoration, but i'm not even sure it is functional.
have to fight the hornets... hmm, worth a look actually, i
might use that instead. must investigate further...


songbird