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Still no obvious difference in shallots in bottom green waste and top AP manure removed. Some damage due to the removal of the manure, but if the information online is correct onions sown as bulbs wont be as affected as legumes and Solanum.
Potato sown in green waste with a top dressing of AP witch was removed after about a week but lots of rain.
The same verity in the same line sown two weeks later with out a top dressing of AP.
Potato sown in tunnel in same line where original potato’s were fern like as soon as they came out of the ground. Sown two days after removing first potato’s and AP manure. Showing herbicide damage with the spoon leaves but noting like the first batch. Yet.
The first peas that lead me to id the problem. The same peas in the same line but grown in green waste.
I don’t seem to be able to resize my photos at the moment. Ive never uploaded a photo from my phone to the internet so will get help at a later date. So i have a 25m outdoor bed of potato its all green waste but the top half each potato has a big shovel full of AP manure on top, this sat there for about a week in the rain before it was all removed. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Also a very similar planting of shallots but its 10m of green waste beside 10m of manure witch has beeen removered so it is just now soil. Few other examples like that also of fruit bushes that have and have not been mulched with it all winter. Ill keep taking the photos and upload when i can. Fingers crossed there might not be such a differance.
Most of the AP manure has been now removed. Tunnels sweep clean and slowly getting through it outside. Its easier on dry days to see whats manure and whats soil. I have several experiments underway and will keep the findings undated here. I haven’t been able to find a source of organic manure or compost to cover the beds so im using fabric on some and old half bags of all different kinds of potting mixes on others. I hope to make 1m3 of compost (fresh size) per week from now till the end of the summer. So im using 1 square bail of organic hay pluss grass from the garden at the moment. I have 200m2 of Alfalfa sown so will use this as green material from July on wards. Im very worried about composting anything from my garden now. Like fruit trees in the lawn have been mulched with AP all winter so im leaving about 1-2m of grass around these trees as to not reintroduce the AP to my new composts. Its very had not to be paranoid about the whole thing im walking around looking at leaf damage to weeds around anywhere the AP manure was.
Peas grown in green waste in the same row as AP manure. I dont know why there was 2m of green waste there but it really helped id the problem.
Hi All
Thanks everyone for the comments. Mark that is great news for your garden. And it gives me so much hope and motivation. i came in for a coffee this afternoon and seen your post. I didn’t even mark coffee i went straight back out and removed the contaminated manure from my fruit trees. After spending all morning removing it from the tunnels. I have used the broad fork on two beds, not turning any soil just air holes. But for the rest i will just do some more sweeping. I have a tonne of green manure but im not happy to use it yet. Ive only done the pea tests on this batch so i will have to wait. Hate to leave the soil uncovered for so long but it will be just in time for tomatoes. Im in the north of France so im a little ahead of you guys. I will have photos and update coming over the next few days. Thanks again.
Since seen your reply im starting to feel a bit more positive about the whole thing.Hello Mark,
After discovering im in a very similar position as you. As in Nov/Dec 2017 ive spread a surface mulch about 4-5inch all over my two 60M2 poly-tunnels. Spinich and mixed mustard greens and spring onions planted in Sept2017 had been growing along not to bad. Although with hindsight the spinich was much more wrinkly then should be i just put that down to the extreme cold winter we have had. But as soon as potatos and peas sown in late Jan2018 started to come up i realized something was wrong. Peas worse then the worse in your previous photos and potatos that had no normal leafs only what looked like spring time fern leafs. So for the last week i have been moving this 5tons of AP contaminated manure from my tunnels. The first bed i cleared i broadforked and raked before soaking with water hoping to get the results Dow recommend for the soil mircro organisums to do there work. But after a comment from Charles im thinking of not broad forking and just removing as much as possible by hand. On the 2nd bed ive went so far as to use a floor brush to get any physical trace off. Only 8 more beds to go and i can start on the outdoor beds followed by herb beds and 40-50 fruit trees. But i was wondering as you have had this problem since spring 2016 could you post a comment on how you think things are going this year Spring2018 like can you grow sensitive crops like tomato, potato and peas. It would really help to keep me motivated in this task of removing 5tonnes. Because some forums and internet reports say people are still having trouble after 5 years but they dont say if they are no dig or more details on there situation. Your story is the one i found witch i feel i can relate to.
Great work on all your research.