HI Tui, I have just dug over my vegetable patch. Should I dig in compost, garden mix, vege mix, sheep pellets, blood and bone? Which one please as I get very confused reading articles on this subject. Thank you.

Hi Joy, what you choose to do will depend on how big your vegetable garden is, what organic matter you have access to and what you plan to grow. Regardless of what you are planting, it is always good to replenish the soil before planting your next crop. If you have compost, home made or store bought, dig that in to the soil, an application of Garden Lime at the same time is always beneficial, do this a week before planting so the lime has time to start working on the organic matter in the soil, this releases nutrients to plants. Dig in blood and bone and sheep pellets or you can use a general garden fertiliser, it depends what crops you are planting, leafy vegetables apply blood and bone, fruiting and hearting types apply a more balanced fertiliser such as general garden or Tui Novatec Premium.

As an alternative, you might choose to use Garden Mix or Vegetable mix for convenience. These mixes are a 50/50 blend of compost and potting mix, they contain a starter fertiliser to reduce seedling transplant shock, controlled release fertiliser, sheep pellets, blood and bone and dolomite lime - everything is in the bag so you don't need to add extras such as lime, blood and bone and sheep pellets separately to the garden. Tui Team.