Improving your soil can cost little or nothing
Previous newsletters discussed the benefits of organic matter for your soil making it more productive.
This months topic is a look at some cheap or free ways to increase the organic content of your soil.
Animal Manures
Don’t use manure from meat eating animals as these can contain harmful pathogens.
Well-rotted cow, pig, horse, alpaca, chicken, rabbit manure along with their bedding is commonly used. Cow manure is less weedy because the cow has several stomachs which breakdown the seeds, Horse manure can be weedy because they only have one stomach; However if you achieve temperatures above 55 degrees C whilst composting the material this will kill the weed seeds.
NPK Values of Animal Manures
N Nitrogen % P Phosphorus % K Potassium (Potash) %
Cow Manure 0.6 0.4 0.5
Horse Manure 0.7 0.3 0.6
Pig Manure 0.8 0.7 0.5
Chicken Manure 1.1 0.8 0.5
Sheep Manure 0.7 0.3 0.9
Rabbit Manure 2.4 1.4 0.6
Your own home made compost has NPK values quite similar to those of animal manure:
NPK Value of Home Made Compost
N Nitrogen % P Phosphorus % K Potassium (Potash) %
Average Home
Made Compost 0.5 0.27 0.81
NPK is the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (latin name Kalium) in fertilisers or manure.
These percentages are much lower than artificial fertilizers e.g. Growmore which is seven percent for the three nutrients. However the manure will contain organic matter and micro nutrients as well as beneficial microbes. Artificial fertilisers give a quick crop boost but are quickly washed away, they do not improve your soil unlike manure or compost. Manure or compost are far superior products to use their benefits accumulate with long term use.
The RHS state that you need to apply about 5 kilos of manure/compost per square metre when applied. This will supply about 35 grams of nitrogen, 15 grams of phosphorous and 30 grams of Potassium per square meter. So the large quantity of manure added gives a good nutrient boost to the soil in a slow release form as well as improve your soil!
There are several local stables that you can collect well-rotted/fresh manure from. Make sure that they do not use weed killer on their fields it can harm your plants. I use a stable in Bromley Common that does not use weed killer. Directions can be found on the notice board or ask me on plot 53 if unsure. If you dig deep enough the manure is well rotted at the bottom and is at least 5 years old and six feet deep in places. Its also free, for the effort of digging it out.
When you get your manure if its not rotted down stack the manure and leave to rot down. To speed up the process turn your manure regularly. Also cover the manure to protect it from the rain. It will shrink as it rots.
Fresh manure will burn your plants. Well rotted manure has no smell and you cannot see the bedding anymore.
Testing your manure for weed killer
You may want to test your manure for weedkiller. Mix manure and soil in equal amounts and put in a pot (your test). Fill a second pot up with soil (your control). Sow beans or peas into each pot. When watering keep both pots separate so that water draining from one pot does not run into the other pot. About 3 weeks after the leaves have opened examine both pots for sign of weed killer. Both pots should look healthy. If the one with manure in it has turned up leaves and the plant looks sickly then the manure most likely has weedkiller in it.
Home made Compost
Do not compost excreta from carnivores e.g. dogs and cats it contains pathogens. Also do not compost meats and cooked food, it will attract rats. Do not compost perennial weeds or weed which are in seed.
Find a shady non-productive part of your plot which is free from perennial weeds such as bindweed. Also don’t use an area which has a soil born disease like clubroot or you will spread it around your plot!
You can either just create a heap or better still get some free pallets from a builder and build a simple compost bin.
Ideally three or more compost bins next to each other if you have enough pallets. You add your waste material to the first bin. When its full and half rotted transfer the contents to the second bin. Then few months later transfer the contents to the third bin. Each time you transfer the compost it introduces air which allows the bacteria to be more active making the temperature rise and speeding the composting process.
When making compost you want the temperature to rise above 55 degrees C to kill the weed seeds but below 70 degrees C not to kill the fungi. Usually you don’t achieve this but you will still make compost OK.
You add material to your compost bin in alternating layers of browns and greens adding about twice as much browns as there are greens.
Start your compost heap with a layer of browns. Browns are materials which are rich in carbon and are usually brown in colour e,g, leaves, cardboard without shinny or coloured ink, pruning’s. Browns stop the compost turning into a smelly slimy mess keeping the final compost a more open crumbly structure.
Then add a layer of greens. Greens are high in nitrogen and speed up the rotting process. Examples of greens are your vegetable waste e.g. cabbage leaves, annual weeds not in seed, grass cuttings. They are usually green in colour however coffee grounds are a green because they are nitrogen rich.
Things will rot a lot quicker if you chop up small anything you add to the compost heap.
Repeat alternating the brown and green material. Cover the compost to keep it warm and moist but not too wet.
If your compost turns into smelly slim you are adding too many greens so add more browns, or its too wet.
If the compost is not heating up or composting too slowly add more greens to speed things up. Grass clippings or some urine soaked stable manure act as a good stimulant. (urine contains urea which is high in nitrogen). Alternatively your compost heap is too dry.
When the bin is full transfer to your second bin so you can start again (see above).
You are looking for a carbon to nitrogen ratio of between 20:1 and 30:1 for your compost heap.
For more information on composting try this website its an excellent site.
http://www.carryoncomposting.com/
Things to Do in March
At the moment its too cold and wet to sow outdoors. You can start things off at home on your window seal etc or you can wait.
Sow
Outdoors: Leeks, parsnips, peas, cabbage family, spinach, onions, spring onions, broad beans.
Outdoors under cover Beetroot, carrots lettuce, oriental leaves, radish, rocket, salad leaves, turnips, cucumber (late in the month)
Indoors sow tomatoes, aubergine, sprouts, celeriac, pepper, cucumber, florence fennel, globe artichokes, sprouting broccoli, sweet potatoes, kohl rabi, celery, chillies.
Plant Asparagus, broad beans, cauliflower, Garlic, Jerusalam artichokes, onion sets, peas, potatoes, Rhubarb, Shallots, spinach
Approximate planting times for potatoes
First Earlies Late March
Second Earlies Early to mid April
Main Crop Mid to late April
Chit your potatoes before planting.
Next month we will look at making leaf mould and its uses.
If there are any topics you would like covered just ask.
Kevin K plot 53