Can we talk about how I built raised beds wrong for 4 seasons
Kept filling them with straight garden soil from the big box store and wondering why everything drowned after every rain, because it turned into basically concrete by July. Finally saw my neighbor's beds in Fresno last month and he mixes in about a third compost and some bark fines, so now I'm digging out 8 inches of hard dirt from all three boxes. Anyone got a cheap way to fix heavy clay soil without hauling it all to the dump?
Man, I feel this in my bones. My dad had the same thing happen with his tomato beds back in Ohio, except his fix was tossing in a bunch of torn up cardboard and coffee grounds from the diner down the street, then letting the worms do the work over winter. Took him two seasons to get it right but he never hauled a single bucket to the dump. If you can get your hands on some leaves this fall, layer those in with the clay and it breaks down way faster than people think. Just don't make my dad's other mistake and dump fresh manure in there right before planting, unless you want your whole yard smelling like a barn for a month.