[richyrich7]

Little Tip that my Bro  gave me years ago:
sometimes when you sow seeds direct into clay soil, after rain or watering the soil creates a cap which the seeds can't push up through. Simply create a drill in the soil with your rake or hoe to the right depth, water the drill, sow your seeds and cover with potting compost rather than the soil which you removed and water again.
Hope this helps someone, helped me no end on my first plot.

[Dan]

Sounds good to me ! i shall try it as my soil is very clay based. part of me thinks i may have decided on doing this anyhow as it seems sensible.

[Annie]

I do this,it works well,I don`t normally have to start this early in the year though!It also means that you can spot weeds between rows more easily.

[Dan]

Another good point !

[Trillium]

Having been abnormally lucky in my choice of houses, all with building brick clay soils, :cry: I can say with experience that you can never get enough sand to work with this junk. All sorts of veg matter like shredded leaves, compost and manure are dandy, but for fiddly work like planting seeds, I'd dig a shallow trench, lay some sand down for the seed to not get so waterlogged, set down the seed, then top with a bit more sand and compost. The sand lets water through and can't form the tough crust that clay will, and the seeds can easily push out. For root crops like carrots and parsnips, dig in as much sand as you can get hold of, or build up (1-2 ft high) with lots of sand and some soil, and you stand a chance of getting good crops. Swedes don't go down as deep and aren't that fussy.  

[beerhunter]

Little Tip that my Bro  gave me years ago:
Simply create a drill in the soil with your rake or hoe to the right depth, water the drill, sow your seeds and cover with potting compost rather than the soil which you removed and water again.

I do this,it works well,I don`t normally have to start this early in the year though!It also means that you can spot weeds between rows more easily.

Brilliant tips, thank you! Having clay soil I'm definitely going to try this out.

[corndolly]

Thanks for the tips ,never tried sand in the drills before !