Meanwhile, the best garden I ever had was in Aquabogue (out near Riverhead),
about 2 blocks from the water. Pure sand. But, the owner of my rented house
was constantly stopping by with fresh fish and nagging me to bury the parts
we didn't eat. I had corn 350 feet high, and that is no exaggeration. We had
to charter a helicopter to harvest it. The pumpkin vines abducted several
neighborhood children.

"escape" wrote in message
news
Actually, I didn't know I'd ever say this, but after having gardened on
Long
Island for most of my life, it seemed this Texas clay would be awful. Now
that
I've been gardening in clay for 12 years I can honestly say it is superior
to
sandy soils, has far better structure and overall texture after it is
moistened,
loosened and amended with organic matter. A nice thick layer of mulch
helps
preserve the organic matter till you develop your own OM in the form of
worm
castings, and other microbial activity.

So, I'll say it, I much prefer my clay soil over the sandy soil I had on
Long
Island.


On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 16:00:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"

opined:

You know what's funny? Actually, you *do* know this: In 30 years of
gardening, in 4 different locations, every time I've loosened the existing
soil with a pitch fork, and applied generous amounts of mulch (usually
chopped leaves, lawn clippings, and/or straw), 3 months later, I have soil
I'm happy with. I'll qualify this by saying that I've never had to deal
with
really awful clay soil. But still....sometimes it doesn't take much, other
than a little patience. Unfortunately, many people want to pay their money
and have instant results.

"Cereus-validus....." wrote in message
.com...
I am not recommending tha anyone use peat nor any other soil additive. My
point is that when you purchase peat you know exactly what you are
getting.

If you are foolish enough to buy "top soil", you could be getting
anything
under the sun, including something toxic that could do actual damage to
your garden!!!


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
In the hands of a beginner, actual "peat" can produce results ranging
from "hmmm...." to "disaster". By "beginner", I'm referring to the
ever-increasing legions of people who don't seem to know what a library
is, and how to plan far enough ahead to have time to read a book or
two,
or (heaven forbid) locate a real garden center run by grizzled old
people
who actually know what they're talking about.

"Cereus-validus....." wrote in message
m...
Here we go again.

"Top soil" is ANYTHING that makes up the surface layer of the soil and
does not have any specific chemical or biological composition. It can
be
good for growing plants or it could be toxic. Buying "top soil" is
buying a "pig in a poke". You may not only be wasting your money but
you
can actually be doing damage to your garden by using it.

If you instead buy "humus", "loam" or "peat", you know exactly what
you
are getting and how to use it.


"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message ghY%d.22081$oa6.14080@trnddc07
from "Travis" contains these
words:

The name "top soil" has no meaning.

It's a well-known term throughout Europe, meaning the fertile layer
above subsoil. When people here buy/sell a lorry-load of soil for
horticultural use, it's normal to specify topsoil.

Janet.













Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html