[Richard Yates]

Our council gives 2 20l bags away for free. I'm more worried about people putting dog muck and the like in it, as well as grass with weedkiller in it

I am not keen on compost from recycled domestic waste, because whilst it has been through a proper composting process whoich should have dealt with dog/cat muck, etc, it's too often contaminated (IMO) with stuff like chipboard, cardboard, plastics various, none of which I want anywhere near my plots!

[Yorkie]

If using mustard as a green manure, just don't forget that it counts as a brassica for crop rotation purposes.

I once tried winter grazing rye as an overwintered green manure. Never again - it was blimmin' hard work to dig in, and even months later it still hadn't fully decomposed!! 

[bobbyt]

I have quite heavy clay soil too, and there were suggestions on here to use green manure. I'm keen to try this method using Phacelia. I've looked at the ways to sow the seed on line, and it always says dig over the soil, and rake to a fine tilth, and scatter sow......well if I could actually do that, I wouldn't need the green manure anyway    Then it says rake the seed over, well all I'd be doing is moving the lumps around if I did that 

Would lumpy soil be ok, it's difficult to break up to a bit smaller than tennis ball lumps, will it still germinate ok? Anyone know from experience? Also is it still alright to sow late September. Thanks for any advice.

[Yorkie]

You might just get away with it in late September, particularly given you're not too far north.

But germination will be poor if the seed is not in proper contact with the soil. Lumps will prevent this contact, depending on how big they are. I would try to break the soil down into smaller particles once there has been enough rain to soften it up.

[Nobbie]

I have quite heavy clay soil too, and there were suggestions on here to use green manure. I'm keen to try this method using Phacelia. I've looked at the ways to sow the seed on line, and it always says dig over the soil, and rake to a fine tilth, and scatter sow......well if I could actually do that, I wouldn't need the green manure anyway    Then it says rake the seed over, well all I'd be doing is moving the lumps around if I did that 

Would lumpy soil be ok, it's difficult to break up to a bit smaller than tennis ball lumps, will it still germinate ok? Anyone know from experience? Also is it still alright to sow late September. Thanks for any advice.

I think it would struggle with lumps that size as it will fall down between them too deep to germinate. I think late September leaves very little time for a decent amount of growth. You could treat it as an experiment and see what happens. What about using a little rotavator to break up the lumps? My mantis tiller does a great job of this once it dries slightly.

[Anton]

Yes, I've used composte from a cycling centre. It was still fuming when delivered so left the neighbours fuming about the smell.
I've seen bales of hay being sold cheaply by farms in my area. Useful for mulching and digging into the soil afterwards!
Straw has saved a lot of my plants when water was low and the temperature was high for a long period of time.

Anton

[bobbyt]

You might just get away with it in late September, particularly given you're not too far north.

But germination will be poor if the seed is not in proper contact with the soil. Lumps will prevent this contact, depending on how big they are. I would try to break the soil down into smaller particles once there has been enough rain to soften it up.

Just an update, spread some phacelia seed on part of my plot beginning Sept, about a foot high after 3 weeks. Spread some more end of Sept to a different part of plot, they have all germinated by the look of things, so fingers crossed. I did have to do some hard slog on the soil to break it up, it wasn't too bad as it had rained a few days before, managed to get it down to smallish lumps. Will see how it all gets on now.

[snowdrops]

thanks everyone, its really helpful. Ive contacted a few stables, seems quite a few people ask so might have to wait my turn on that one.

Ive wondered about green manure route, tempted to try an area and see what happens

I'm also going to chat to a few other plot owners about getting a very large trailer load of rotted manure delivered and split the costs.

Thanks everyone

If it’s fresh manure add it to your compost production, it will help heat it up and speed it up with a few turns and get it ready sooner. I’ve got my 5 cubic meter bins all insulated with phenolic foam, they really heat up then.

[rowlandwells]

we have grown white  mustard seed have done for several years  but this season we went for mustard brown its also said to be more hardy than other mustards I've just ploughed in in and it seems to be ok but the proof of the pudding will be in spring when we start cultivation

[Yorkie]

Just bear in mind that mustard is a brassica, either if you have clubroot problems on the plot, or if you grow brassicas already and need to take of this for crop rotation reasons

[wcndave]

Do you have stables nearby if you can collect bags of horse manure even fresh...

Quote from Gardners World

Weedkiller contamination is another potential danger to be aware of. Ask if the pasture fields have been treated with hormone-type weedkiller used to combat broad-leaved weeds, because the chemical remains on undigested material eaten by horses. It may persist for years and, if contaminated manure is added to your soil, can lead to damaged and distorted plants.

[Harry998]

You might just get away with it in late September, particularly given you're not too far north.

But germination will be poor if the seed is not in proper contact with the soil. Lumps will prevent this contact, depending on how big they are. I would try to break the soil down into smaller particles once there has been enough rain to soften it up.

Just an update, spread some phacelia seed on part of my plot beginning Sept, about a foot high after 3 weeks. Spread some more end of Sept to a different part of plot, they have all germinated by the look of things, so fingers crossed. I did have to do some hard slog on the soil to break it up, it wasn't too bad as it had rained a few days before, managed to get it down to smallish lumps. Will see how it all gets on now.

You will notice a huge difference I'm spring. If you have a poke about you will see all the phacelia roots - they can get so fine and dense it looks like the soil is covered in white mould!

Once you get into cover crops they become as much a hobby as the main crops, even our "paths" are cover cropped all year now. We just walk on it and what survives survives and what doesn't gets crushed under foot as a mulch!