hi all
my gardens mostly gravel , so over the last few weeks ive been making raised beds arround the borders probly total about 15m2 , also i have alot of veg in pots in a polly tunnel .

obviously these are going to need feeding at some point in the next couple of weeks and was wondering what others are using as feed ?
i want to keep it as organic as possible , worm casts , chicken manure an option ? ive never used any of these ?
cost will also play a big part in choosing feed , i obviously want to get maximum return for as little as possible
growing the usual things , toms , potatoes, leek, parsnip , carrot , corgets, cabage, colli, ect ect

be nice to hear what others recomend from experience

cheers for looking

shiro

eta. i filled the raised beds with compost only , not top soil .

for most of our veg we use organic but bogstandard tomato feed .

Was your compost real (ie homemade) or bags?
I'd try to mix a bit of topsoil in too if i were you.

However Im no great veggie expert , but we're always quite successful.

peace

hi shiro

my garden is mostly gravel as well. so grow in pots and any large container i can find. i use a cold frame to get everyone started and bagged compost.

previously i've used organic chicken pellets to feed the veggies but this year i'm using seaweed extract just to see what the growth is like, and am feeding according to the instructions on the bottle.

so far all the early greens, like spinach, chard and pak choy, were fabulous and really abundant. i've got a bit of everything going in this weekend - tomatoes, beans, courgettes, etc.

i use BioBizz in mine. Great stuff the veg love it.

Shiro,

What have you filled the raised beds with? and what's the soil like underneath? generally Tomato food will keep most things going but if you want to be organic you can't beat loads of rotted Horse shit piled on in the winter, it gives plenty of food and improves the soil structure.

Start now for next year, get a good pile of muck going, also compost everthing you get from the kitchen, it all takes time but well worth the little effort.

Good luck,

JOM

Hi Shiro,

Yes, raised beds are the way to go - easy on the back and low weed numbers. As for feeding, I have used seaweed extract to good effect. It is easy to apply, safe to handle and relatively inoffensive (can smell like the sea has done a cabbagey fart).

I use raised beds for vegetables.

As others have said, horse manure is great......but you are too late this year for it to have any real benefit and you will actually harm a lot of plants.
Get some ready for late autumn/winter.
Chicken pellets are good too........as is bone meal/meat & bone meal/fish blood and bone.
The blood meal is fairly quick acting.......but the others I would say apply at the same time as manure.

Seawead is great......but is not a fertiliser.

I would look at dedicating a small bed to growing comfrey (bocking 14 is best)....comfrey can be used as a green manure mulch, compost activator and can be made in to liquid feed very easily.

If you want to use the beds this year to best effect this year.......I would work in some Growmore as a one off.

FYI - my beds are filled with a mixture of top soil and sharp sand with copious quantities of horse shit added in the autumn/winter.


Have fun and here's to a bumper harvest.
ATB

I forgot to mention; you can make excellent liquid feed from horse manure, or an even better one from sheep droppings.
As for the comfrey leaves mentioned above........place the manure/comfrey in an old pillow case or hessian sack and immerse in a large barrel of water for a few weeks.
The old organic matter can be put on the compost heap after you've made the fert tea.

ATB

great tip m8. shall begining this a go. have tons of sheep shite around these here parts.