Best Soil Improvers?

Hi,

Quick question from a novice - I'm just about to get my raised beds prepared for planting for the first time (4 beds approx 1m x 2m each) and was wondering, apart from the topsoil and compost I'll be mixing in there, what the best soil improver would be to rake/dig in?
I have some Osmocote granules and a big tub of B&Q Organic Living Fruit & Veg food granules (http://www.dealclick.co.uk/product/13713440/BQ-Organic-Living-Fruit--Vegetable-Fertiliser-10kg.html) but have seen loads of other stuff knocking about like Chicken Pellets, Bonemeal, Fish, Blood & Bone etc etc and wondered if I ought to be using this as well/instead?
One of my beds is for strawbs, another for rhubarb and the others will be a mixture of herbs, salad, flowers, root veg (carrots, beetroot etc) and courgettes, peas etc
Ideally I'd like to keep them all organic.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

Can't go too far wrong with spent mushroom compost, you can get bulk deliveries of it.

 

Worms!

 

Well rotted manure, or garden compost.

Dont think Osmacote is organic.

 

Just had a rethink Andy, and I think you might referring to fertilisers as opposed to soil improvers?
If you want organic, (I'm no expert), Fish, blood and bone, the B&Q stuff is probably just that, in a fancy tub and a higher price.

 

The fertilisers you mention (as distinct from soil improvers) should not be put onto the soil until shortly before the seeds are to be sown, or the crop planted, otherwise some/much of the goodness will have washed out of the soil before the plants get there - or, worse, the weeds will have had a feast!

 

Yep, that'd be my novice-ism showing through!

So from reading all the replies above it sounds like mixing spent mushroom compost, regular compost and topsoil would be a good start for getting a decent 'improved-soil' bed, yes?
And then using just my organic pellets through the growing season, and topping up with more homemade compost and mushroom compost over the winter.
Plus chucking in lots of worms as I go along!

Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Going to make enquiries about spent mushroom compost now.

Thanks all

 

Sounds like a very good plan to me Andy.

 

How do you know what the animals have been fed on when you use fish, bone and blood ie drugs/antibiotics?

 

Oh dear , well I have done it all wrong .. I filled my new beds with compost... Blow , I wished I had asked here instead of blindly going ahead

 

If you can find a proper source of Organic F,B&B then that will have come for organically raised Chickens, so I guess folk would be happy with that.

However, anyone can put the word "Organic" on the label, it means nothing. You need the Soil Association Logo and accreditation for it to be what people actually thing of as Organic, as they have Trademark protection for their accreditation and enforce their intellectual property.

That doesn't sound "wrong" to me. Might not be the cheapest way but why are you concerned it might be wrong? If it is just 100% multi purpose compost you might have trouble getting it moist, if it ever dries out, but if some soil or you are adding farm yard manure, home made compost, etc. over time then it will become lovely soil.

I may have missed another post where you explained it, but if you describe what you did then I and other folk can give you more opinions than you can shake a stick at! and you can decide what you think is best from those

 

Sorry , I filled the beds with compost and nothing else. I think because I was reading the above posts I thought maybe I should have mixed the mix ? But , after reading your reply I am not worried as longs as I don't let them dry out

 

If you've used multi purpose compost then I think you will find that it will compact in time (within this season) which will make it a bit harder for the plants to tackle.

I'd be interested to know what others suggest, but I would be aiming to add some top soil to it (at least 1/3rd by volume, you don't need more, but up to 2/3rd would be fine - e.g. if you want to remove some compost from an existing bed to make a new one). I would also be planning to put 2" to 4" of rotted manure (or mushroom compost, or your own home-made-compost) on the beds each year. After a few years that will have added the majority of the "vitality" to the soil.

But even if you do nothing the multi purpose compost will work very well I reckon

 

Hopefully , ( weather permitting ) I will plant some stuff up this weekend and will of course let you know