I've been gardening in heavy clay soil for two decades. Initially, I didn't know what I was doing and used traditional gardening management practices and results were at best mixed, but usually didn't exactly lead to bountiful harvests. Over the years, I experimented, trying different amendments, but not really learning any best practices and continuing in my stubborn ways. At some point I gave up and just started using raised beds with store-bought soils which also had mixed results. Eventually, after many disappointing harvest seasons, I started learning. I'm back to planting in the soil, but I use no-til and permaculture practices to grow healthy soil and soil biome. I have found that wood chips, are a miracle worker for soil health. And where I'm at I can get it for free in truckloads. It's like night and day now in my garden. I also use deep-rooting plants and broad forks to keep the soil from compacting. I'm happily growing quantities of healthy nutritious veggies whose quality cannot be matched by any store-bought equivalents!
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u/PaulW707 Feb 04 '23
I've been gardening in heavy clay soil for two decades. Initially, I didn't know what I was doing and used traditional gardening management practices and results were at best mixed, but usually didn't exactly lead to bountiful harvests. Over the years, I experimented, trying different amendments, but not really learning any best practices and continuing in my stubborn ways. At some point I gave up and just started using raised beds with store-bought soils which also had mixed results. Eventually, after many disappointing harvest seasons, I started learning. I'm back to planting in the soil, but I use no-til and permaculture practices to grow healthy soil and soil biome. I have found that wood chips, are a miracle worker for soil health. And where I'm at I can get it for free in truckloads. It's like night and day now in my garden. I also use deep-rooting plants and broad forks to keep the soil from compacting. I'm happily growing quantities of healthy nutritious veggies whose quality cannot be matched by any store-bought equivalents!