Leaf Mould, celeriac

[Big D]

Hi Charles I have some lovely well rotted leaf mould and not sure when best to apply it to my beds. Do I cover the beds for the winter or keep for spring/summer mulch? I have grown celeriac for the first time and not sure when to harvest it or can I leave it in the ground during winter to lift when needed?

[charles]

I would apply your lovely leaf mould to cover any bare soil now, it will feed the soil life and increase fertility for next year.
Celeriac is frost hardy so you can lift it when hungry but sometimes it gets eaten by woodlice, slugs and rodents so I lift roots in November to store in boxes or crates, they keep well even if frozen a bit.

[Big D]

Thanks Charles, I will apply the leaf mould now and harvest the celeriac as you suggest as there are always hungry creatures waiting to eat the veggys!!

[Rhys]

BigD

If you’re feeling lazy in future, you can try just putting a layer of leaves you collect in the autumn on top of where you want seeds to grow, preferably just before it rains as they then won’t blow away. Just leave them until March when the worms have mostly done their job, then grow a quick mustard cover unless you want to sow something in March or early April – by mid april, you can harvest all the mustard and you have a beautiful, crumbly topsoil to sow seeds in. I successfully sowed clumps of onions and banana shallots in situ on that prepared soil this spring and they both grew beautifully………this autumn, I’m trying it on one whole bed to sow parsnips, onions and carrots next spring. Hopefully it will work just as well…..

Rhys

[Don Foley]

Hi Charles,

I have been given to understand that Leafmould adds little in the way of nutrients to your soil but is an excellent soil conditioner with tremendous water retention properties in particular?

Don.

[charles]

I think it has enough nutrients to be useful and should love to use some if I had it, don’t hold back.

[Author]

Posts