[Knoblauch]

I put down my lack of success in growing root veg last year to the bad weather - all I got were a few stubby carrots - and so far this year have grown great cabbage and radishes.  However the Japanese onions and turnips don't seem to be doing anything:- the former are still like large spring onions; which latter are still smaller than chives.

Chatting to the neighbour today and she said they had tried for decades and finally given up and sown a lawn over the veg patch.  Green stuff was fine but potatoes were like marbles and carrots like pencils.  They had tried everything - horse muck etc - but to no effect, and same with their other neighbour.

So can anything be done about this?  The soil doesn't look bad, I can dig down 2 spade spits in a lot of my garden and it's not noticeably sandy.  Would raised beds be another solution - build a dedicated root bed and fill with fresh topsoil/compost initially?  There are certainly allotments nearby and at least one other forumnite who works one - what do they do?  Given modern intensive farming practices I always thought it was a case of "put the nutrients in and get the produce out", but perhaps there is more to it than that?

[Trillium]

Sounds like mostly root crops have trouble in your soil (assuming your neighbour's is identical to yours, which isn't always the case) so perhaps some dedicated raised beds just for those items would help a lot. I'd recommend you fill them with a decent soil mix and a good dose of sharp sand to keep things light.
As for the existing soil, years of horse muck should have lightened even heavy soil to a nice tilth by now so I wonder if the neighbours were diligent about adding lots of horse muck every year. Along with twice annual rotovating, my clay soil gets whatever manure I can get hold of, lots of shredded leaves (free from the township who are happy to get rid of the truckload) and incidental ammendments like bonemeal, compost, etc. All are tilled into the soil in fall and left for the worms who do a fantastic job of breaking things down. Do check your soil to see if any worms are living there. If none, then there's a more serious problem of soil pH which should be tested. Spring gets another rotovating and perhaps compost if I have any. I also mulch with shredded leaves and straw which are left to decompose for winter. 5 seasons later the soil is becoming nicer but still has a way to go. Nothing is instant or permanent. Tilth can 'evaporate' if not fed yearly.

[Kristen]

Carrots in containers, Potatoes in gro-sacks?

[Salmo]

You say the soil is not noticably sandy. Is it noticably anything else e.g clay, chalk, organic matter?

I would certainly do a lime test. Buy one of the kits with tubes and tablets rather than a probe. Test both in the top 6 inches and 12 inches down. The pH should be between 6 and 8.

If the lime is OK you could then buy a soil testing kit to test for phosphate and potash levels.

Shortage of phosphate may well be the problem. This could either be at low levels in the soil or be unavailable to the plants due to the soil being very acid or very alkaline. Plants with phosphorous defficiency have poor root development and the leaves may show a bluish or red tinge and look dull and a bit curled. Leaves may become yellow round the edges and eventually blackened.

[Knoblauch]

The soil just looks like 'dirt' - can be a bit thin and pulverous (thin and dusty but not sandy yellow or orange) on the top but also often looks quite rich and peaty when digging it.  If lime = pH then I had it tested and it is just slightly acid, 6.5 or over.  I've only noticed the bluey/purpley tinge in plants grown in compost, but I will get a soil testing kit next as you suggest.

There are certainly worms there - maybe not the 6 per spade width or whatever but a definite vermiculture all the same.

I'd definitely like to grow decent carrots - shall be looking out for a discarded bathtub next!