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| Its time to harvest the green manure and add it to the soil ready for my next crop in Ecobed 2. I use garden shears to cut the green manure down to ground level, and then chop it into small pieces. I use the no dig method in my garden, so the foliage is left on top of the soil and the roots are left in the ground. I cover them both with homemade compost to stimulate worm and microbial activity. |
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| I used 3 barrow loads of homemade compost to cover the green manure with a 60mm layer. |
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| I used about half a bale of organic sugar cane mulch on top to reduce evaporation and keep the soil and compost moist. It will take about 6 weeks for the worms and microbes to get fully established and I expect the soil to be in excellent condition by the time my seed potatoes are planted in late August. |
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| This is Ecobed 1, and the light feeders are still growing well considering this is mid winter. |
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| Ecobed 3 remains pest free and the plants are growing strongly. I harvested lettuce and broccoli (heads) last week, and in keeping with my no dig policy, cut the lettuce down to ground level and prepared the surrounding soil with a dressing of new compost covered with sugar cane straw. Three mini cabbage seedlings were planted in a recently prepared bed, and are growing strongly |
