[chrisnchris]

Hi and thanks for stopping by to read my post 

Contrary to what I said the other day, I'm not going to give up, well not just yet anyway 

I have never done this before & I must confess, it goes against the grain rather 

But I've bought.....(I must be mad) these plants.

http://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Vegetable-Plants/A-Z-Vegetable-Plants/Broccoli-Claret-F1-Plants.html#.U8voqfldXTo

They will be planted in a bed which is against a fence. There is about 3ft between the fence & the "lawn". The fence faces SSE.

Last year the bed was "improved" with a fair amount of well rotted horse manure.
The soil though is naturally very poor, basically running sand, with a nutritional value about as close to zero as you can get.
My efforts didn't seem to have any noticeable effect.

I am buying these plants (I have taken advantage of free P&P this weekend, Mr Fothergill's enter code F15ESUMMER) out of desperation.
Nearly everything I grow from seed fails, so I thought I would give these a try.

They will be despatched from the middle of September so I've got plenty of time to prepare their new home.
One of my first purchases will be some form of netting. The Cabbage Whites aren't getting them   
But what about the soil, what should I do between now & September.

Help me out please 

Last chance saloon

Before I hang up my trowel for good 

[mumofstig]

Sandy soil can be acidic, I think, so get a test kit to find out the ph - it may need some lime added to grow brassicas

[chrisnchris]

Thanks mum, that's a good start

[3759allen]

get as much rotted organic matter in there as possible, they are hungry feeders.

[surbie100]

You're not on your own - I've just had to buy both kale and broccoli because my efforts are lining a slug's tum...

I have clay soil so not the same prep as you, other than perhaps adding a fair amount of rotted manure before they go in. And firming the bed.

[Goosegirl]

Good point from Surbie about firming the bed, especially as it is sandy. Really tread on it all over then, when you plant, almost hammer around the base of the plant to firm it in, but not right up against the stem as you could damage it.