Whether I’m an innovative gardener or a lazy gardener I don’t know, but I’m always looking for efficiencies of time and effort when it comes to the veg patch. The root veg bed, without the benefit of a good manuring (to prevent ‘fanging’ of the roots) has come up rather rough this year, but instead of going to great lengths to reduce it to a fine till, I have simply filled the carrot drills with sieved compost. This I hope will give the seeds a perfect environment for germination, as the dark compost will attract warmth, hold moisture and not ‘pan’ during rain (when soil forms an impregnable crust as it drys). Some soils, especially clay based ones such as ours are very prone to this latter problem and during last year’s soaking wet spring I re- sowed four times.
