[Christine]

Well I find that this can help a lot but they can be a bit difficult to follow sometimes.

On the garlic packet today it said a) sunny (no problem, sunny allotment), b) fertile soil (jolly well should be with the really good compost that has been dug in this week) c) free draining - oh come on this is only 19 months work to date on a heavy clay soil with two wet seasons and not enough compost or manure worked in to make any impression overall (remember we don't go on site till January or February for some on reason in our town).

Funny but the garlic has been good for the past 2 years (inherited some that had been left when I went on 2007) despite the soil drainage which I don't yet rate.

But it's the instructions on packets that say prepare a seed bed and rake to a fine tilth. The only person who can do that on my allotments site has been with his allotment for 10 years and has been working up his raised beds with compost, manure and then some more and a bit extra too for all that time.

I want them as writes the instructions to come and do the heavy labour on my plot for a couple of seasons please.

Or is it just me? :roll:

[gobs]

The only persons on my site who can rake it to a fine tilth are the ones who have been there since WW2.    Or not but rotavating it...

We all grow good alliums of all sorts, well, the soil and the alliums do, not much to do to them.

There is also no dig gardening. With great yields, too.

[Bombers]

I hand crumbled all my soil around my cloves today.......





NOT!

Just whack 'em in they'll be fine!

[Christine]

Oh but I did just put them in as I have done the past twice. Third time ....

I like the picture of it taking from WWII to get a decent soil  :mrgreen: Bit before my time that (only just though by a month or 2).

[WirralWally]

I find that garlic will grow in any soil that isn't too wet.

Mine ended up in what turned out to be a bog last year.
It still grew and was usable, but was much smaller than expected.