We can’t grow healthy, nutritious food without protecting and investing in our soil, so if you find yourself with a bare patch of soil as we head into winter, protect it from winter rains and take action to feed it, and it, in turn, will feed you for years to come.
Here’s how:
Cover bare soils
Add a layer of garden compost if you have it and cover your soil with cardboard or old plastic sheeting to protect it from losing its nutrients in the winter rain.
Make leaf mould
As the leaves fall, bag and stash them to make fantastic peat-free material to sow and grow into. Leaves break down differently to a ‘normal’ compost heap, taking longer (2 years) to decompose. The resulting product is- not rich in nutrients but great for adding bulk and structure to any soil and a brilliant peat-free substitute when mixed with homemade compost for peat-free seed sowing and growing in pots.
Compost, compost, compost
One of the best garden jobs ever, whatever the month, in all weathers, and one of the most significant for its positive environmental benefits; if you have a heap, turn it, and if you haven’t a heap, but you have some space, then build one! Our Soil pages can help .
