Putting my back into it, again

I had planned on writing this before but as usual other things got in the way. During a spontaneous trip to the countryside for what I was hoping would be a nice break inevitably turned into getting roped into helping extend the vegetable garden. Talk about allotment creep, this will be the 2nd extension in 6months! Oh well, there is always something else to grow and try out and its nice to have green space to easily do this. It must just be a coincidence that plot extensions always seem to coincide with my visits!

So with the plot already marked out I set to work taking off the first layer of turf. With the soil being predominantly clay and rather solid I decided against my initial deep bed double digging plan. Documented below are the steps I took to  dig out the new patch. Compost and sharp sand was also added to break up the heavy clay and give a nutrient boost to the soil.

1. Mark out the area you wish to cultivate. Be reasonable by setting a manageable size, remembering you can always extend later!

2. Using a spade or turf cutter (if your lucky enough to have one) remove the top layer of grass. These turf layers make great topping layers for keeping heat inside compost heap in the colder months

3. Now, you need to dig and break up the soil. Thus will depend on your soil. I chose to tackle the area in strips, digging about 1.5 spades down and loosening the clay clumps

4. For each strip/area dig/mix in a good amount of sharp sand and compost . This will also depend on soil type but for a 2m square plot you want about a wheelbarrow each of sand and compost.

 5. Do this for each strip/area of your marked out plot until you have covered the whole area. You can use your spade or rake to level out the finished area and there you have it, a new bed ready to go!