Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
Dan L wrote:
...
Why add sand?
I thought sand + clay = concrete.

when it dries too much yea, that's about
what happens if there is no organic matter
to keep it lightened up or if it is left
bare between crops. it's does a number on
the hands trying to weed or plant.


I believe organic material alone will help modify the soil.

the reconditioned area i did this past summer
had nothing added to the clay besides it being
killed off (to get rid of the sow thistle that
was taking over). then i tilled it a few inches
deep to give seedlings a chance to get roots
down in and to soak up the rain (instead of it
running off the compacted soil). oh and i took
the advantage of it being all dug up and leveled
it more to keep the water from running off
too quickly into the east ditch.

i seeded it with two legumes, alfalfa and
birdsfoot trefoil (in a spiral pattern). it
took a while to get going, the alfalfa has very
deep roots after several years and will help
break through that clay hardpan layer that
often develops. both were chosen for color,
and because they fix nitrogen. if they are
mowed they both come back low growing and
with some color, but so far we haven't had
to mow there.

this was left to grow (i only walked on a
certain pathway to avoid compacting the soil
again). this fall i had to move a rhubarb
plant and there was a spot along the edge of
this whole patch where i wanted to put the
rhubarb... that gave me a chance to check
out the depth of the roots from the alfalfa
and trefoil and to see how the soil was
doing. we hadn't had much rain late in the
summer, but this fall the rains have been
enough to keep it moist and the worms have
been going nuts as compared to how it used
to look. there were not very many worm signs
before. when i was digging there were plenty
of worms so i'm taking that as a good sign.
and the times when i've walked across it it
has been soft and squishy instead of like
walking on pavement. so from that i'd say
that tilling and staying off it while
replanting can be a good approach

Better IMHO is mulching instead of tilling. Mulching reduces run-off,
and a mulch like alfalfa (lucern) will feed the soil with both "C" and
"N", and no tilling will preserve the earthworms habitate (as opposed to
rototilling which turns them in to worm emulsion).

we don't have the many cubic yards of mulch it would
have taken to recondition that entire area. instead i
took the approach i did because there weren't that many
worms to begin with in that part of the soil (the top
few inches of dry hard-pan clay) and it really needed
to be softened up so that seedling roots could get
established (before the frosts came). for smaller areas
mulching is much easier i would agree. oh, and i did
need to level it, tilling helped move a few cubic
yards eastwards.


as long
as you don't need to run a mower over it or
walk on it when the seedlings are starting.

the alfalfa will take several years to get
the deep roots established. we'd tried an
alfalfa patch before for the purple flowers
but it was not left long enough to get
established before it was changed to another
garden. so this time we'll leave it for
a longer time period and see how this all
works out.

i may intercrop it next year with beans
to take advantage of the space and get some
return on the weeding.

i'm hoping this winter the deer will
bed down back there and eat that area up
instead of messing around in the other
garden they've been using that is much
closer to the house (about 20ft from
where i'm typing this from -- i'd like
to sleep instead of hearing them clomping
around at 4am).


Venison would be healthier than most of what you can buy in a store.

the hunters have been booming all around us, but
we still see many running during the day now (groups
of six or more).


Talking about garden problems and approaches to fixing them are good for
the newsgroup, thanks.




songbird