[Chrysalis]

After a long break for WEATHER  and illness  We have at last got some garlic and shallots in! 

Our grow bags have been great for a few years (4 Winters and three Summers), but the soil has just about had it.  We supplemented it with our own compost and fertiliser, but yields weren't great in some things and we had leek moth in the garlic and leeks.  So this week we had two tonnes of fresh topsoil/compost delivered.  Lots of barrowing still to do - to empty the bags and refill with lovely new soil, but it's half done now.... Not bad considering the chest infection and general weakness of yours truly.  OH doing a fantastic job.   The spent soil will be used on flower beds and for a new hedge.

Just wanted to share the good feeling of having started.  C

[diospyros]

Hurrah well done!

[Mbmyco2]

well done where did you get your soil from and how much did it cost

thanks

[Chrysalis]

Well it wasn't cheap!  I got it locally from Staffordshire, but they deliver everywhere.  If I could use 4 tonnes I could have got it cheaper from a local recycler, but that was too much and I can't have it all dumped on the road outside the house!

So, we went to a topsoil seller (not sure if I can name them on this site) and bought it at about £80 a tonne.  That seems to be the average for good stuff that's pre-mixed.  We've had similar stuff before from another firm and, as I say, it's done pretty well.  I just wish I could have had the other stuff, as my local allotment site seems to do well from it.  That stuff comes from a biomass/digester thingy and is really cheap at £10 a tonne.  I suppose that's the price you pay for going it alone and not having a lottie    But then I think of all the travelling and carrying to and fro of tools etc, and think it's worth the dosh every few years.... And it looks nice as a kitchen garden.

At least it's kick-started me into activity again... and planning the crops for this year..

[Yorkie]

You can mention the company as long as you have no commercial connection with them (e.g. work for them) 

[Chrysalis]

Thanks,Yorkie.  Now all I need to do is remember what they're called.....dementia setting in! Or is the antibiotics?