In article , "Pete" writes:

Don't talk to me about muck and sweat ....... ok ya can this seems the right
place, we have to improve every bit of soil we plant in ... our soil (or
whatever it is) is very salty and has little organic matter ..it is soupy
when wet and rock hard when dry, it gets to a stage where it is almost
impossible to re-wet it ... a lot of Aussie soils have this unwettable
characteristic ... its a weird one.

Sounds like raised beds would be the best bet. That is is what I'm using. I
can't keep all the soil moist all the time with my rain water storage and
supply capacity. I do need to expand this, but finances might soon dictate that
I sould have held on to the cash. I can take solice in the fact that sparrows,
which have been suffering a big dip in numbers, will invade in hoards to take a
dust bath when the soil gets to that hydrophobic state.


David Lloyd
So open-minded - my brains dribbled out.