[Juli]

Hi everyone,

Several garden beds in our new garden were covered up when we got here. Judging by the 2008 picture on google earth they have been kept covered for a long time. I've uncovered them, dug them over, added blood, fish and bone meal and a concentrated manure/seaweed mix. The soil itself isn't too bad texture-wise, but there really isn't much life in it. I didn't find a single worm while I was digging. Is there anything else I should do to bring it back to life before planting?

Thanks,
Juli

[compostqueen]

Strange there were no worms. Now you've unveiled it should burst back into life. You could add some home made garden compost from your compost bins. If you've not got any then you can't start one soon enough. Do it today with the kitchen scraps (no cooked food though o'course)   With home made compost you always gets tonnes of worms in it

I like natural fertilisers too but you can have too much of a good thing, so go easy

You could get some manure in from a local source which you can rot down and then top dress your beds again in autumn/winter.

[Juli]

Thanks, I'm already composting busily    Does anyone else find though that you keep adding kitchen waste etc to your compost bin and it just keeps disappearing? It never seems to fill up, if you know what I mean. At this rate it's going to take several years to fill a bin...

[mumofstig]

it will never fill up 
Use the bottom bit as soon as it looks composty.That's why dalek type compost bins have a bottom door 

[Juli]

It just always seems to go straight from the sludgy stage to disappearing without the composty stage in between 

[SG6]

Odd about the worms and only a guess, worms drag stuff down to feed on, leaves being one. Just wondered if having been covered for so long they had gone elsewhere due to the lack of feeding material.

[angelavdavis]

I agree with SG6.  Once you apply some compost to your beds, you will find them returning.

[Hamani]

Try sowing a green manure in there.

Having plant life will naturally start to attract local bacteria, flora and worms. Then in spring cut it back and dig it in to rot down into the soil. Having some root systems in your soil will help hold any nutriants in over winter too.

Its a little late in the year but what you can sow depends where you are. I'm in the manchester area and just about getting away with a late sowing of fenugreek a few weeks back, but its not growing fast. Unless you're somewhere particually mild now I would go with field beans.

The food thing about field beans is that you can compost the leafy green tops in spring to help your compost but leave the roots in the ground to rot away and help structure.

Hope this helps,

- Gary.

[allotmentann]

Juli, once you get your garden going you will start to fill your bins! I have two daleks in the garden, one to fill and one composting down and I have to  keep emptying the 'composting down' one to start a new one to fill. I fill eight to nine big sacks each time. It does disappear down as it composts. I am wondering though if you are adding enough brown stuff to your compost. My compost is never sludgy unless I add too much green in one go. Brown stuff is things like cardboard, sawdust, twiggy bits, shredded paper etc and you need at least half brown to green (some sources recommend more), to make good compost. All green stuff will go sludgy and smelly.

[sunshineband]

You can mix shredded paper and grass cuttings, and they will soon bulk up your compost, Juli

and as allotmentann said, once your plot is in production, you will have plenty of compost. I have three daleks and a pallet bin, and I find there is always plenty to keep them going, so I am sure you will too

[Juli]

Thanks everyone. We've actually got a lot of cardboard boxes lying around after moving, so I might try adding some of that (after taking off all the tape of course). I think you're right about the green/brown balance. Most of what goes into the compost at the moment is kitchen waste.

You made me smile by calling your compost bins daleks  I will never look at them the same way again...

[shokkyy]

I've got 4 big wooden bins and 3 daleks, and I've never got any room in them

I put loads of everything in my compost, kitchen waste, lawn mowings, old plants, weeding stuff, twiggy stuff, everything you can think of, as well as a few chicken manure pellets, but it still seems to take well over a year to turn into decent compost. And I do turn it once or twice a year.

[Salmo]

If your beds were covered with plastic sheet for a long time they will be very dry and the worms will have either left or died. Leave them open for the Winter and they should recover quickly.

[ptarmigan]

Hi

The soil on my allotment had hardly any worms in it when I first took it over and set up a bed system.  2 winters of leaving manure on top/home made compost/light scattering of grass cuttings/green manure (depending on when the bed became vacant and what I had to hand)  has made all the difference.  Even my husband, on his twice yearly visit to 'help' noticed how many more worms there are. It's much easier to work, weeds come out more easily and its getting easier to work the clay soil.  I only covered them with natural mulch - not fabric or anything.  Noticed that a couple of my neighbours are using cardboard which I might try on a couple of beds to see how it goes.