Sowing and Planting in Hard, Dry, Clay Soil

Sowing and Planting in Hard, Dry, Clay Soil

It’s a peculiarity of the heavy clay soil on my allotment and of our fields in general that after a wet spell the ground is unworkably muddy, making any kind of cultivation almost impossible but, within a week of dry weather the ground has dried out into solid brick-like lumps, equally almost impossible to cultivate.

However, for many seeds and transplanting there is an optimum time for sowing and planting and that is around April. The time for sowing seeds can usually be extended somewhat but, for transplanting, it is not so easy. The young plants will quickly outgrow their seed beds or little pots.

A colleague and I [on our association committee] were discussing, yesterday, that several of our members had not yet begun to cultivate their plots and we remarked that if the work is not started in April it was probably not going to be done at all. Like many allotment sites we have waiting lists for plots and it does seem a shame that uncommitted plot holders are not prepared to utilise this precious space while others are champing at the bit to have the opportunity. I don’t often discuss my feelings on this in my blogs but it is very pertinent at this time.

I did get my potatoes planted during the very muddy period but, now I must earth them up it is difficult to work enough loose soil to cover the emerging shoots. I have found a Chillington hoe excellent for this purpose [ they are a bit like mattocks and come in different shapes and sizes to suit users and task].

Some of my cabbage plants – brought on in a seed bed in my poly-tunnel - are definitely at the best planting-out size. They could sit for another week but, there is no guarantee that ground conditions will improve, and I have several other varieties of brassicas which will need to be transplanted in a week or so. I got around the hard earth problem by watering  the necessary strip really well to allow me to remove weeds and break up the ground sufficiently to transplant the young cabbages. Brassicas are not fond of finely tilled earth anyway, preferring a heavier ground to give them a firm foot-hold, so-to-speak. Of course I needed to cover the little plants to keep pigeons off – they do enjoy a row of nice young brassica plants!

In a similar fashion, I got around the seed sowing problem. Leeks, beetroots and parsnips should all be sown now. I watered the ground well, weeded and broke it up again using the Chillington hoe and created shallow trenches. As it was impossible to gain a fine tilth for sowing, I half filled the trenches with bought compost, watered well, sowed the seeds and topped them off with a further layer of compost, watering again really well. I have used this method successfully before but it is important to keep the compost well watered until the seeds have germinated as the compost dries out very quickly.

I didn’t exactly do a rain dance but, I am pleased that it is raining gently today with more forecast over the next few days.

My leeks have now pretty much finished. The last few have ‘bolted’. Although they are still useable they are not so nice. Fortunately, my asparagus bed is now starting to produce a crop. It’s a bit early yet for asparagus beetle but, if other plot holders around you also grow asparagus, this is one little pest to watch out for – they can be very destructive.

Interestingly, I did read somewhere that growing asparagus on heavy clay ground was a waste of time but, I have been growing it successfully for several years as have many of my allotment neighbours.