Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[yarrow@sfo.com]

At 10:42 PM -0400 7/15/09, Liz wrote:
> Fascinating. I don't think there's any way I could dig 24 to 36 inches deep
> in my clay. It's like concrete to begin with, and on top of that, the land
> was part of a tobacco farm years ago that got plowed year after year after
> year, so there's an even worse layer of hardpan about three feet down. But I
> can go up, in the raised beds I've already got. Have to try that in one that
> I don't have planted yet. You must have some mechanical way to dig. Around
> here it would take a backhoe to go that deep.
> >

Is your clay diggable when it has the right level of moisture? We 
have hard clay in the summer, with no rain for months, that's 
impossible to make a dent in. But it's possible to dig if it's 
moistened properly, with a trickle of water, so that the soil can 
absorb it. It's like magic! I've been able to dig a foot down with no 
effort, even in the middle of the dry season, when I've let the hose 
run at a slow trickle for a little while.