B*gger!

I knew I needed to dig last year’s compost out of the raised beds in the tunnel because I suspect it was tainted with horse-worming chemicals. I also suspected something else was going on in the beds because when I watered them in the latter part of summer the water ran off into the ground outside the tunnel, making it squelchy.

What I discovered when I made a start in one half of the longer of the two beds, was that beneath the offending compost there was a thin layer of soil and then a bone dry 3cm thick hard pan layer of clay, beneath which was relatively easily dug - looser, but also dry - clay soil, albeit lumpy.

No wonder the grass outside the tunnel was being watered so efficiently!

This means there is much more work to do than I expected. Heaps of humus-laden organic material will need to be dug in, followed by super-charged compost. But first I have removed some of the clay, broken up the rest as much as possible, and watered it thoroughly. It’s made a huge difference already and the clumps of clay are well broken down.

The blip shows work in progress: the original compost-topped soil at the bottom, then the hard pan layer, and the top half is the forked-over lower layer of clumpy clay soil.

I think one of the reasons the hard pan layer developed is because I don’t dig the beds each year, but simply add more compost which is loosely forked in. Where there are masses of worms and other flora this should be sufficient because they will move the compost down into the lower soil horizons. But these beds get very dry in winter. When there’s nothing growing there I don’t water them, and they are therefore devoid of soil beasties.

So once it has been rectified, I shall dig the beds annually and keep them watered throughout the year.

All this work will be worth it. The soil is the most important thing to get right. The hard yakka should pay off in spades next summer.

The extra is of some animal or other who made me laugh repeatedly today.