I hadn’t heard of @Upstate ’s specific approach here but it made sense on a first read, his seems like a pretty good strategy to managing the situation that the field presents, I was just reading this article and gently encasing small lumps of clay with old horse manure (which has a lot of undigested roughage in it) really tracks with this statement:
“Like diamonds, clay soils are highly structured at the atomic level,” Brewer said. “No amount of sand added to a clay soil will change its texture. The large sand particles provide a surface onto which the tiny clay particles adhere. The result can be more difficult to manage than the original clay.
Think of the action of a potter’s hands on the clay as the potter’s wheel turns. The potter pulls the clay against the rotation of the wheel. In addition to shaping the clay, this action aligns the individual clay particles, and increases the strength of the clay. I emphatically recommend against rototilling sand or vermiculite into clay soils. The action of the tiller is like the action of the potter’s wheel.
Organic matter serves as food for earthworms, insects, bacteria and fungi that transform it to soil nutrients and humus. These soil dwellers decompose and break down organic matter. Decomposer bacteria give off “glues” that aggregate soil particles, improving drainage and make the soil easier to work.”
Thank you Brother,I see,Better to get some perlite or lava rock then.That approach Is the best,digging a hole Just for the plants in a selected space,so I can minimize cost and maximize the outcome.It should work.What do you suggest as tool for tilling this Little area?The soil Is dry and very Rocky/hard to dig.
Dang…you are up against it here time wise. I would (I think) mattock out a trench inn the top of the mounds. Either bucket up or cast the stones to to sides. plant your cloves and fill the trench with good material on top of them. That’ll get you a crop, might not be the best one but it will be something. Then I’d throw some white clover seeds on what’s still exposed of the mounds. Let that all grow until you harvest the garlic. Then I’d plant the whole mound in Black eyed peas. I harvest around July 1st downstate. I’d terminate the first crop of peas as soon as they are mostly flowered, then turn in. Then I’d plant them again if I was going to grow garlic in that spot next season. The second pea crop would terminate when you plant the garlic…hold back the tops for mulch. When you plant the next time, put then in holes and cover them with good material, then the held back pea tops. Rinse, repeat. It’s going to take a while. Those rocks will be a pain in the ass. Your crop should improve each season.
Sand and clay are two of the three ingredients of concrete. You have to really know what you are doing when you mix the 2. @Dirt_Wizard I love my mini grub axe. That long handle version you posted is sweet. @andrexi, while sand or pumice will work, my go.to was always bale of peat. True, it will degrade, but in its place you’ll have worms and fresh castings. Make sure to add lime( again) after your first season, as peat will lower the ph as it degrades.
Stay tuned as I continue to fix the beds. Basically I’m growing in a soiless mix with poo, leaves, subsoil and small rocks and clay parts as my medium. I plan to top dress for food during the season, but will be adding more things as I go. Bonemeal is next. Here’s the beds now, starting to look proper.
Thanks brother. I can hardly move after yesterday. Even my hair hurts🤣! The soil color is getting good, but the soil is still a bit too sticky. Either more manure or leaves are still needed. @Dirt_Wizard pumice isn’t sold in my area. If I could order a bunch of it I would have considered doing so. Sounds like great stuff. Without it, I’m trying To treat this plot the same as I would a bush patch, so I am approaching it in a similar manner… Use what’s at hand type of thing. Due to time constraints, I may have to buy bales of peat, much as I hate using the stuff due to environmental concerns.
Lol. 3 days ago I was 50. Now i’m 62😁
I’ll be 70 by days end, and by Sunday evening, I’m quite certain my corpse will add to the fertility of the soil🤣
It’s great smoke, and it will be gone before it thinks of curing lol. I think I want to grow a big one next summer. Excellent yielders and manageable stature. So far the dark purple plant is disappointing…it may need a cure…the others get chopped today. I’m looking forward to trying that Corinto you have going. Miss purple tips is a real looker, as are a couple more. I’ve got the Colombian bug now!
I wish I knew how to do something like that. Welding is a great thing to know how to do. Broad forks are some bad ass tools…
Daikon radishes work great! My father in law planted them in his food plots. I couldn’t believe how big they got. They punch a massive hole in the soil.
As far as cover crops go,…in this case I don’t know if I can do it @willie, although I love the idea. Here, garlic harvest is the end of July, and planting is mid October. I’m not sure what I could grow in that short amount of time, and then afterwards, I would have to turn it all under with my bad back during weed harvest. I’ve had to start to think differently over the last twenty years with my injury. Instead of thinking about which way is best to tackle a project, I have to think about how I can do it. It’s much easier for me to add things to the surface and let the worms turn it under for me.
There will be a couple beds that we will not get to this year. I honestly don’t know if they could even grow a cover crop. There is almost no soil. But once we get the beds in rotation I’ll revisit the idea. If frost kills it, and I can leave it without rototilling, it’s an option
Horse manure is amazing, and all kinds of beets, and letting them rot is great!
Throw down some Alfalfa seeds? Their fine roots go crazy deep.
Beans/vetch also do well in poor soil.
You don’t necessarily need to rototill the covercrops under, you can hold a stretched tight wire low by the ground with two people and walking alongside the beds on woodchip walking paths, crushing/cutting the bean/vetch stems that way so you don’t compact the soil, and then sowing/planting directly into the mulch. The left in roots help with drainage, will decompose and feed your production cops. The mulched cover crops help with moisture retention and harvesting dew, feeds and increases the soil, creates habitat for beneficial insects, etc. It’s important to always have your soil covered.
Walking paths with woodchips inoculated with mushroomspores so the walking paths are not a waste of land but also productive. Mycelium also helps break down rock.
Garden giants for example are mycorrhizal so help the plants grow and you get huge mushrooms.
They will turn the walking paths into sponges. They will get soft and bouncy, so even if you walk on the paths a lot you won’t even be compacting the soil under them much at all.
The more variety of species you put in at once, the faster your fertility will increase.
Sunflowers and corn perhaps. Even if they don’t mature it’ll benefit the soil.
Where I’m at in the upper Hudson valley it’s clay just as bad or worse. I’ve definitely learned some hard lessons trying to grow in it over the years, thanks for posting this!
Right before you lift your garlic, salt down the bed with black eye peas. You can get them cheap in the dry bean aisle of the grocery store. Pull your garlic and walk away. The peas will be planted with no additional effort. All you need is 30 days, you don’t need to grow the complete crop, in fact you shouldn’t. Terminate with a weed wacker, rake aside, plant your bulbs and use the tops as a mulch. On the beds that are fuct and you might not get too…sprinkle in buckwheat. Buckwheat will sprout from the surface and will winter kill and also re-seed itself. It’s not a big N producer but it’s great for soil structure. And bees love it. Arugula is another easy seeder that winter kills. There are very few covers that will work with garlic without giving up a season. Vetch, clover, alfalfa do not work with garlic without sacrificing your garlic season.
