What do you add to your garden to keep your soil healthy, I mostly use seaweed, which I just throw on to the soil and let it rot down and it seems to work, also recommended is rock dust which adds various minerals and ofcourse garden compost and manure but what would you recommend for a health garden
Nothing! Mine is left to its devices - autumn leaves are left where they fall.
The only things I add are when planting - like chicken manure pellets in planting holes for beans.
I use chicken manure pellets, home made compost, loam off the bog, and farmyard manure when I can get it.
Homemade compost, cardboard, woodash,old potting compost from toms etc,Comfey leaves and sometimes weeds left where they are when hoe-ing. BFB at planting or sometimes a slow release fertiliser.
It aint pretty but it seems to work for me.
Like Vinny I use dalek compost, wood ash then leaf mould. A bit of BFB and comfrey tea.
I add homemade compost, well rotted manure, leaf mould, spent pot compost and occasionally feed plants with comfrey tea.
(05-02-2021, 04:18 PM)Spec Wrote: [ -> ]also recommended is rock dust which adds various minerals
Rock dust is mostly calcium carbonate, so best avoided if you have alkaline soil like mine.
"For home gardeners, rock dust is a waste of money and natural resources."
https://www.gardenmyths.com/rock-dust-re...ize-earth/
Or you could watch this video:
I'm in the process of rebuilding my raised beds, so I haven't had a chance to mulch them yet, but I plan on adding home-made compost (including worm compost) in due course. That's about it, really.
For my new beds this year I've added layers of grass, cardboard, leafs, and manure. Will probably add chicken pellets/BFB before or at planting time.
I put homemade compost on beds needing it, also in planting holes. Chicken pellets and/BFB at planting or sprinkled a week before. My supply of horse manure is rather seedy so it goes into the compost bins and I hope for the best.
I find home made compost from grass and weeds really improves the soil. The only trouble with mine is it often holds a lot of weed seeds. I just spread it on the top and am prepared to do a wee bit of hoeing.
In the greenhouse I usually fill each plant hole with bought compost and then comfrey through the year. I have quite a bit of home produced compost from a hot bin this year so I'll try some of that in the greenhouse and compare the two.