Amending Clay Soil

Tips, Tricks

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Clay soil can be hard as a ROCK, making it difficult to grow vegetables. I wanted to share what I learned and how I amended my Texas clay soil. It turned out great! Hope it helps you too! If you have additional tips please add them! UPDATE.... If you watch my "2-16-11 Planting Potatoes" video, you will see how I hit a shallow spot in my raised bed where I hit clay. (I think as i was making the beds I probably got tired at that point.. missed a spot! lol) You'll see how I dug that area out, added the cotton burr compost and expanded shale to loosen up the clay. Hope that helps! :-)

Comments

funny, women hate clay in soli but they love it in masks and scrub.

Are you sure you can't have chickens? Normally the cities allow at least a couple.

Sell your clay soil people will buy it for cosmetic purposes

your soil looks amazing from all the natural amendments. Have you considered using a fish fertilizer with kelp to add amino acids and improve the biological activity in your soil? The reason I ask is because I have been experimenting with these products for many years and it makes a real difference on the quality and yield of popular vegetables.

Gypsum

I'd never heard of expanded shell. I will have to add it to my list of amendments. Your soil looks so good.

Make sure to use organic chicken manure! Manure from factory farms has arsenic in it. Arsenic is fed to chickens in low doses to kill intestinal parasites.

Does this work for expansive areas? This is CA native soil.

Check out Azomite rock dust...keep up the good work

Thanks so much for sharing this info. I hope to make a test garden in the red clay (georgia) for next year. I hope your recipe works for me too.

I will be taking your advice. So glad you posted this. I subbed. Thanks for sharing.

Right away! I have had to add more organic matter this past year, but because the expanded shale was in there, that amendment doesn't break down. So that keeps the clay manageable as you add more organic compost. :-)

HOw long did it take before everything began working to loosen the soil? Thanks.

Your so kind to share the soil mix! Wish you the best with your garden.

I went and check out my cities animal ordnance and found out that we can have up to 8 full size birds. I have a 10x10 storage building and made a yard on the back wrapped it in wire and we were off. A year later we get 5-7 eggs a day. Also I put 2-3 cubes of animal bedding (pine shavings) $3 a bag in the coop twice a year. I replace it ever April/May and Oct/November. Then make a compost pile out of it. It keeps the chickens cool in the summer & warm in the winter. compost goes into the garden.

What is cool though, is that once set up properly, the soil takes care of itself which takes care of the roots of plants, which provide food, minerals, water, and many other things to us, which we consume and what is left of the plant can be put back on the TOP of the soil to compost and the cycle gets better year after year ... perpetually ... farming on the other hand perpetually requires more and more work and money and less and less results. They will figure it out some day

I live in Texas not to far away from you, but a good distance none the less. Great video, and job well done. Clay is the worst soil for growing, but it, like any other soil, can be fixed "for good" with time and effort. A desert can be changed to a living dirt as well ... there is no place on this planet that cannot become an oasis.

if you have bark and other "wood" products in your mulch (covering) as you do here, it will or can rob the soil of nitrogen. This is why you add some bloodmeal to it. Also if you cut your grass, put the grass cuttings over your wood based mulch ... green cuttings are a source of nitrogen and will balance out the wood type mulch and also start a composting process on the spot and when it rains ... guess what ... Compost tea for free for your plants. Everything must work together

With all the amendments that you did, your soil will start to become better, but you will need a "covering" of some type to withstand the drought seasons in Texas. A covering can be hay, mulch, cardboard .. anything to cover the top of the soil, but still allow some air in. This stops "evaporation" keeping the soil moist and not dried out.

blood meal and bone meal ... all NATURAL nitrogen source and phosphorus source N stands for nitrogen, which is responsible for strong stem and foliage growth. P is for phosphorus, which aids in healthy root growth and flower and seed production. K stands for potassium, which is responsible for improving overall health and disease resistance. Just spread it out over the TOP of the soil ... AWAY from the stem of the plants if you have plants planted already ... and water it in