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spidergawd wrote:I guess you've got a few weeks now to dig over your patches before the winter settles in.

yes getting the garden ready for the winter is the main priority at the moment ... that means getting all the weeds out, digging in some chicken manure pellets (the key word is fertilize, fertilize, fertilize) and making sure that all the digging is done in november, after that my soil gets too wet to be standing on as the weight just packs down the soil on top and rain cannot soak into it, if i don't dig now i won't be able to dig again until march and then everything is such a rush ... i want to ready to plant in the spring and not miss the sowing windows for each crop, this year yields were down because i put things in too late

if i get the beds dug in time, i hope to put in some green manure plants over the winter which when dug in will provide extra goodness for the soil ... i have some field beans which lock in nitrogen, so you plant them and then chop them into the soil when they are small young shoots, that provides good bulk (ie humus) and nutrients fror the crops in the spring

here is what my seed catalogue (The Organic Gardening Catalogue) has to say ...

"Green manures are plants grown specifically to benefit the soil - replacing soil nutrients, improving soil structure and increasing humus content. They tend to be quick growing, producing a mass of weed smothering foliage. Some are legumes which have the ability to take up nitrogen from the air, tapping a free source of soil fertility. Nutrients which would otherwise be washed away are taken into the plants and then released when the green manure is cut down and turned in to the top six inches of soil.

"A green manure crop should be considered whenever an area of ground is to be left free for six weeks or more, and is of particular value through the winter."

here is the link to the page in the catalogue ...

http://www.organiccatalogue.com/catalog ... 383f418a27