OK, so I sprayed it with water several times and mixed the mud up with the dry soil, then added some complete organic fertilizer, and bought some compost which I both mixed in and added as a top 1/2 inch layer. It may still be a bit silty in parts of it, but I do think I added a good bit of organic matter (the store-bought topsoil I put in there earlier was mostly peat moss and forest floor compost plus sand). In any case, I am planting arugula and escarole which I think are pretty hardy plants, so if the soil isn't in top-shape they should still be able produce something for me. I think that it soaks better now, it doesn't just turn to sludge like it did originally. I live in the Pacific NW in the USA, and in fall it is very rainy, so I think that now I will just let the rain do its work. Can I just use more of the store compost (I only added half to the bed so far, because it was over-full) to mulch the plants once they are bigger, or do I need heavier stuff like wood chips or straw? Thanks for the advice!

Hey, Spongey, I suggest you start a blog on your growing efforts. That way, you have a narrative of what you are doing and how things are going this year in chronological order and you can add photos where appropriate. It is basically a diary but handily it is online and can be added to and even edited as you see fit. This is my first year growing peppers from seed and I decided to do that from day one. I keep going back even this year to see when certain things happened such as the first time I saw blossoms, or the first day I got them outside or the day I transplanted the seedlings into larger containers, etc.... Next year, I will be able to see just how big the plants are in the photos of this year to see how it compares to the current year and it will give me dates as to when certain milestones were achieved. Hopefully, it will also keep me from making the same mistakes over.

Oh! It could be heat. Boy it has been hot here, in the 90's-100's and it did reach over 105 for a few days. I didn't think of sunburn! I did water them extra to try to keep them hydrated though. I forget how hot has been because I'm working from home, inside, fan blasting on me and shades drawn. And my dahlias look like they are made of steel wool from the sun, I assume. And some of the roses bloomed and looked half dead by the time that they opened. So that very well may be it because it has been spreading, and today it's really bad, although because of the fires, it's cloudy now and so it's finally cooler. Anything I should do? They're awfully big to throw cloth over, being 6-7 feet high, but I could put sheets on them? I don't have shade cloth on hand. I could also just let them get burnt. I'm sure it will cool down in a week or so.

I'll 2nd petrushka's advice. Ponytail palms are slow growing plants, so it's going to take some time to recover. The best place for it right now is somewhere outdoors in a brightly lit, shaded location. I just spent some time repotting one of my smaller ponytails. Luckily, I took a a few photos along the way. Hopefully, it gives a good example of what a healthy plant with healthy roots looks like... Usually, I'd pull off any dead foliage from my ponytails as they send out new growth, but with this one, I decided to leave it as it is, to give it a more natural appearance. To make it easier to handle during the repotting, I laid the plant on its side and "combed" the leaves up and tied the leaves temporarily together to keep them up and out of the way. Once I was finished, I just cut the ties and combed the leaves back out. Ponytail palms actively grow during the spring and summer months. During this time, they need both water and sunlight in order to grow properly. I don't even really care for my ponytails anymore. I move them outdoors in the early half of spring and ignore them for the most part until it's time to move them back indoors. When autumn arrives, any new growth is fully formed and has had sufficient time to completely harden off. Ponytail palms are no longer growing during this time, so both water and sunlight aren't as necessary. My ponytails get moved back indoors before the weather gets too cold for them outside, and they spend the winter indoors where they'll probably get watered once a month. Any more than that and they'll try sending out new growth before spring has arrived. That new foliage won't grow like it should, and you'll encounter a whole new set of problems.