Feed your soil, and your plants, and you ’ll be rewarded with abundant crops.
Time to do: winter-spring
A healthy, rich soil bursting with nutrients is bound to produce good crops. Adding plenty of organic matter while forking or digging over the beds in winter and spring will keep your soil fertile and moisture retentive for the coming season. (See p57 for tips on how to make your own compost.)
Dig well-rotted manure, garden compost or leaf mould into clay soils in winter, but leave sandy soils until spring, otherwise all the nutrients will be washed away in the winter rains. Always stack up manure and leaves to rot down thoroughly. Never use fresh manure as it’s too strong and could kill your plants or, at the very least, take essential nitrogen from the soil as it rots down.
TIP Adding manure to areas where you intend to grow root crops such as carrots and parsnips will produce forked roots if the soil is too rich.
image: https://www.saga.co.uk/contentlibrary/saga/publishing/verticals/home-and-garden/gardening/advice-and-tips/soil/how-to-imporve-your-soil.jpg