Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Russell Atterbury on January 08, 2021, 08:34
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Around the end of October/early November and after a bit of chat on the site. To improve the soil in my little vegetable garden I covered it with a first layer of fridge freezer packaging (plain strong cardboard), then about 100mm of aged cow manure, and to finish another good layer of thick cardboard. It has been constantly wet, but up to now shows no sign of degrading at all. The soil is poor and doesn't have a healthy worm population, but i always see some small ones when digging. Would you all think that it is going about right, regarding breaking down?
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It may help to put some "greens" amongst the brown waste such as veg peelings etc to help with aeration and encourage more worms.
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Try forking it a bit that’s a lot of card take off top layer
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I have made a start on Snowboard's advice, it seemed like a good plan. We are under about 6" of snow so it's a bit difficult going, planks that hold the top layer of card down are stuck. But all in all underneath it looks like things could be ok by the spring.
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There should be no need to have the top layer of card.id take it off when your ready to plant & use it as the base layer elsewhere or put it in your compost bin. The worms will come given time, if every year you add more well rotted manure or compost you’ll soon have a lovely growing medium
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Putting kitchen waste on the ground at this time of year will give you a rodent problem.
You still have a good 2-3 months before most crops can start going out. I would leave the weather and worms to do there job but take the top layer of cardboard off to let the rain at the manure.
A healthy horse manure pile that’s been there for years will often be full of worms. Cow poo tends to get scraped off a concrete floor and used straight away so doesn’t come with many worms.
If you don’t mind the investment and are planning to be there long term you could buy some worms.
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Hello check the card board when it's gone through the double backer derry board maker one side may have been lacquered to stop the contents corroding if you have it lacquered side up moisture wont get into it jezza
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I managed to get the top layer rolled up in it's pieces and off. I have forked over a good bit and only an hour or so to finish left for today. As of Ema's suggestion i will not risk putting kitchen scraps with the mix. Interesting comment by jezza has me trying to recall if the cardboard looked to be lacquered. I made sure i put non plastic coated down, and the stuff used seemed a dull colour. It does break up quite easily when twisting a fork in it, only the cow manure makes the going hard by clogging the prongs.
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Do you have a datcha Russell?
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The thought is a nice one missmoneypenny, but i personally hardly have two pennies to rub together, it's what became of being a traveler all my life. On top of that i'm not without the experience of knowing how life in a dacha is. A friend has a fantastic place on 7 hectare, in the forested countryside of no man's land between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast. The land is 90% rough grassland, with a good sized pond full of frogs and great-crested newt. The man of the place and i are toying with the idea of trying to create a large wildflower section to the ground, which is one of the reasons i post such a reply. It may come around that i need to ask many a future question on this site, regarding how to attack this feat.
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Well it all sounds quite exotic and adventurous Russell, a change the usual English scene! Good luck with the wildflower section if it comes off.