The first year I only got the raised beds ready in June, so I landed up planting immediately into the manure which was dry and clumpy too. I broke it up by hand (it was quite a task!!) into smaller clumps and then forked it into the minimal amount of soil I had in the beds. It has been much less work in subsequent years when I put on a thick layer in autumn and I don’t fork or dig it in at all.
I don’t know about your area, but we often get a late cracking frost at the end of the April, so I don’t plant anything tender (tomatoes, peppers etc) until the first week of May. I find Charles’ sowing timeline is perfect for our climate.
I’m attaching a photo to show how my potager looked last summer only with the manure feeding the soil – no additional fertilisers. I am really thrilled with it 🙂
