Gardening in clay

[baymule]

Pig tractoring!! Fence two garden areas. Run chickens in one, pigs in the other over the winter. Then take them out before spring planting and give yourself time to get the soil prepared for planting. Or you can alternate the garden areas, keep animals in one for a year, while you garden in the other, then switch them the next year.

While animals are living in next year's garden, mulch heavy with straw, hay, leaves, wood chips or whatever you can get, and let the animals "compost" them for you.

 

[sumi]

That is a great idea Just make sure the droppings from especially the pigs have time to age and break down a bit, or it will fry your plants. A very quick way to reduce the acidity in the soil/compost, if needed, is to mix a generous portion of wood ashes in. I did that once after adding a bit too much chicken poop to the compost heap. It reduced the acidity very, very quickly. Good way to use up fireplace/wood stove ashes too.

 

[Beekissed]

Typically and for most of my life, the key to planting in clay soil was to keep tilling it. Wide spaced rows so you can get a tiller in it and a tiller with a hilling attachment was how we kept weeds down and kept the soil loose enough for root expansion. We also used bagged fertilizers when planting. That's how many still do it here...that's been passed down as the only way to garden in clay soil.

Some years back I started trying other ways to keep soil loose and the soil covered. I've tried a little of everything but currently I'm involved in creating new topsoil through the Back to Eden gardening method. So far it has improved the soil and the looseness of the underlying clay but I've had varied results on growing thus far...the jury is still out on how effective it is.

I don't have to till, it's great for keeping moisture in the garden, it certainly attracts the earthworms, and it suppresses weed growth and allows easy removal of weeds that do take root.

 

[Britesea]

When we lived in the Bay area of CA (wonderful place to garden, but WAY too many people!) we had 3 30x30 fenced plots. Each year we would run a couple of pigs in one, the next one got all the chicken and guinea pig litter (his mom had over 500 guinea pigs- she is well known to the cavy world) and the third plot got the garden. The following year, the pigs would be where the garden had been, and the litter would be dumped where the pigs had been. This had been going on for something like 30 years by the time my husband and I took over the property. The garden always did wonderfully; I've dug more than 4 feet down and never hit hardpan in there. I sure miss that soil!

 

[flowerbug]

mostly clay here with some sand.

i don't like raised beds, but we have some because we have flash flooding. i much prefer not having them. all those edges are more work and expense or time than i like to mess with. as i get time i combine gardens to get rid of those edges and make more flexibility in planting. much easier as i am improving things.

i'm now at the point in one area where i need more fill brought in if i want to get rid of any more pathways.

the raised beds helped this season with all the rains we had.

worms and organic material will be your main answers, some sand added to that turns it into prime garden soil.

make some deeper holes in the gardens and put the worms and some organic materials in there so the worms have a refuge space from the heat and cold. eventually your whole garden will be worked down deep enough you shouldn't need such spaces, but through time...