I'm so glad you asked this question! I put in a few cold frames this year, in my existing raised beds, and I wondered how to amend the soil. My other beds I grew cover crops, spread composted manure, and put down shredded leaf mulch, but I wasn't sure what to do in the beds with the cold frames. I hesitate to put down manure, even composted, with crops in, especially greens and root crops. Maybe I shouldn't hesitate? I do put crops into beds that have been amended with manure, but usually it has time to sit. Something about planting root crops and greens directly into freshly-spread manure that makes me hestiate. Perhaps next year I'll save my compost for these areas. Again, thanks for asking this question, especially for those of us who have small gardens and who need to keep the beds in constant production. :) Dee

I hope the three households are going to help out with the chores :-) You have a good plan going there and I really hope it goes well for you. I think you are going to have to go vertical on some of those crops (like the cucumbers, tomatoes, maybe melons, pole beans) otherwise simply walking through the garden will pose a real problem. I agree with glib that you are going to need a bona fide soil test done. Check with your local extension office or do a quick google search. They will be able to provide more accurate assessment of the nutrients there (for instance, nitrogen is notoriously difficult to accurately measure and I would be suspect of any testing that includes nitrogen without special handling procedures). Are you planning on growing on this patch for years to come, or do you only need short term space. If it is long term, you are going to have some tough decisions to make. First, do you adopt an organic approach. I would argue that any soil needing to grow for more than three years should be organically managed. Salt build-up, destruction of organic matter and permanent damage to the soil food web are just a few results of using chemical fertilizers (i.e. Miracle Grow, or anything water soluable and more than 3-3-3, or anything greater than 5-5-5 or so. Even if it says organic, you can't necessarily believe it). If you are using the plot long term, you are going to have to focus on soil fertility. In vegetable growing, the mantra really is fertility, fertility, fertility. How to max fertility? Organic matter at 4-10%, balanced levels of major and minor nutrients, good tilth and drainage with sufficient moisture retention to prevent leaching. Crop rotations to avoid buil-up of soil diseases and nematodes. Diverse habitats to attract beneficial insects and pollinators. Wow, sounds really easy when I type it out. I am on my third year in this location and I am still working out fertility issues. Some parts are better than others for certain crops. For instance, you mention heavy clay. Well clay is not that bad as long as it isn't in a low lying area. Actually, if you are growing any brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale) they very much prefer clay soils because of fertility retention. So, where does this leave you? Read, read and read some more. For now, get a delivery of compost, probably two or three yards. Make sure you are getting it from a reputable source: most urban compost delivery comes from sod farms and they are notoriously toxic. Find a local source for organic fertilizers: soybean meal, alfalfa meal, dolomitic lime, kelp meal (if you can afford it), bone meal, dehydrated chicken manure. These are just a few suggestions. Do a google search for Solomon Complete Organic Fertilizer for a great recipe. Spread out a layer of about 2" of compost on top of all your bed sites. Broadcast a half of a gallon of COF into each bed. Then till or hoe in the compost to a depth of around six inches. Water it in. Then spread another 2-3" of compost on top to create a raised bed, borrowing some from the pathways if necessary. Broadcast another half gallon of COF onto each bed. Rake it in, creating a nice, smooth seedbed in the process (rake the clods and rocks into the pathways). Bingo, you are ready to go. As for year two and beyond, well, that is another post I'm affraid :-) Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out! Michael

In my experience I've found that tillers don't dig very deeply. I agree with the above comments on the addition of the compost. As the tiller mixes the compost with the clay it fluffs the mix and appears to be quite deep. After watering and settling you will find the amended depth to be somewhat less. In my tilling experience it seems that the tiller really only goes to a depth of about one tine's length. S ham recommended trying to dig deeper and I would second that. A good garden fork could be used to dig a bit more deeply into the clay and to provide a broken interface with the amended soil above. At the end of the garden season you might be asking yourself where all of the compost went. It's amazing how the heavy soils will seem to soak up the organic amendments. For the best results I would encourage you to repeat the process in the coming years.

Do not remove soil when adding compost. The best compost is all carbon. Carbon eventually breaks down into CO2 and floats away on the breeze. It is perfectly acceptable for your planting space to be mounded. Be careful: the peak of any topography dries out much faster, so plant/water/mulch accordingly. I am a big fan of trench composting. Using your spade that you carry everywhere with you in the garden, dig a hole as deep as you can (I usually get 12-24"). Throw in your raw kitchen scraps, roadkill, etc. Dig a hole next to the hole; throwing the dirt from hole#2 in/onto hole#1. As you fill hole#1, mix in finished compost/eggshells/etc. that you have with you in a bucket/wheelbarrow. Next week, rinse and repeat. You may want to keep a small square of plywood or something to cover hole#2 until it gets filled and a third hole is created. And so on. Don't put your plants' root-zones directly in the raw stuff. This is something you are generally doing in the off-season, or in preparation of some future planting. Not amongst the current season's crops. It is important to get the organic matter INTO the mineral soil, and that it gets incorporated into the bodies of soil dwelling flora/fauna (plants, worms, fungi, bacteria, etc.). This is how you create stable soil organic matter. Sheet mulching is less effective at acutely building soil organic matter, but a long-term carbon-cycle maintenance system.