Storm passed us completely by, though there were some beautiful thunderheads to the east. Not even a drop. Yay! I'm on the other side of the same coin, NJ. I can't conceive of it *not* raining in the summer. I frequently read in gardening books and even on GW here about not getting the leaves of certain plants wet. I've scratched my head for years. Doesn't rain get them wet all the time? We just got back from a road trip to Victoria, BC a few days ago. It doesn't really rain in the summer there either. It was extremely strange to see brown grass (where it wasn't irrigated) and occasional falling leaves and I was told this was normal in the summer. That just doesn't happen here except in drought years. We saw farms all over BC baling beautiful hay. They could cut and bale at the optimum nutrition level because they totally controlled the irrigation. Time to cut? Just stop watering. Take as much time as necessary to dry in the swath; heck, take a couple extra days to flip the swath and dry it through. It's amazing. We just can't do that here most years. Usually, when it looks like there's going to be a rash of a few days with no rain, farmers are dropping everything - even 9 to 5 jobs in town - to 'make hay while the sun shines'. Even then, it's unusual to get hay off with no rain at all on it. Most of the prairies here support "dry-land" farms with no irrigation setup at all. In an average year here, I only usually need to water the garden at the beginning, when seeds are close to the surface and yet to germinate. After they've established, I rarely need to pull out the sprinkler. There's at least an inch of rain per week or so and when there's not, the roots dig deep enough that they're good for a few more days until it rains again. This is only my second year doing dry bush beans, but I'm finding it difficult to mature them on the plant because of the short season and because the rain still comes in the fall, though less. Same for the pole beans, though, they're up in the air and do dry off a little faster. No rain in the winter - just snow, cold and more cold. We can go into the -30s Celcius for a couple of weeks at a time and -40 and below is not unheard of. I don't get to do cover crops. Typically, last frost is within the first week of June (or late May in a good year) and first frost is usually early to mid September (but can come as early as August in a bad year). We can extend harvest into early October by covering on nights where there's frost forecast. Crops mature, but don't really grow much by then. I've tried mulches a few times, but have discarded the idea. I know it's a great thing for many gardeners, but I find it cools the soil too much and there's not really a need to conserve moisture. Should we go back to drought years, I'd see about trying it again. Right now, though, I need heat heat heat to reach my soil. :)

The ph and complete composition of mushroom compost is going to depend on what the mushroom growers use to make their compost and what they add to it. This will likely vary depending on what type of mushrooms are being grown. The mushroom farm where I get my compost uses gypsum for added calcium so I don't expect that the pH of mine is exceptionally high. The soil the OP has sounds like it is at least on the slightly acidic side (strawberrys mentioned.) And another component of the raised bed mix is peat so I doubt the problems in the raised bed are due to High pH. The manure/Mushroom compost mix may have a fair amount of nitrogen but if it was sterilized before being sold, then it may not have the necessary microbes in it to make the nitrogen available to the plants. Softmentor, your lengthy post about how plants and seeds can't grow in the non mineral soil media, I can't agree with. I have grown plants hydroponically and Therefore know that soil is not necessary. That said, most of my gardening is outside on the ground, the larger deeper rooted plants I'm sure reach the native soil, but a huge number of my plants are actually growing in deep layers of mulch and compost. I've found seedlings sprouting in 4' deep piles of wood chips before so saying that "Seeds can't grow in the "O" horizon, they need to be in the "A" horizon" just doesn't jive with what I have observed in my gardening nor in nature. Some seeds/plants may need the mineral soil more than others but most any plant you can grow in a container with a potting mix can grow without mineral soil provided it gets fertilized with what it needs.

I completely agree that it is a lot easier to select plants that will tolerate the conditions than it is to change the conditions on the hillside. However, some cut banks have newly exposed clay that might not support much vegetation for a number of years while natural processes slowly change a clay subsoil into a clay soil that can support plants. If this is the case, then you might need to do something to the soil to make planting wildflowers - even wildflowers adapted to clay - feasible. I would consider planting a cover crop. This would be a fast growing ANNUAL crop that will create lots of organic matter, break up the soil with its roots, then die. Oats are popular for this. Annual rye grass is too, but make sure you plant only annual rye, not perennial rye. You might need to break up or at least scratch the surface of the soil before you sow the seeds. I would plant the oats really thickly. For color you could add a few sunflowers to the oats - just use sunflower seed sold for feeding wild birds. Don't plant any perennial plants. If you ask around, you'll get lots of recommendations for perennial plants to cover slopes, and some of these would probably grow, but they would keep growing ifor years and prevent you from eventually planting wildlfowers. If the oats grow well this summer, next spring you can plant wildflower seeds into the dead oats. I'd select species that are native, tolerate clay, and you like. I would not plant any "wildflower" seed mix. Most of the seeds in mixes are not native, and many won't be well adapted for your hill. I think picking out species is the best part of the process and will entertain you over the winter. There are lots of websites that describe wildflowers and how to grow them. I usually try to compare several websites or books decribing each plant to make sure I know a little about each plant before I try to grow it. You can expect despite careful planning that some of the plants you select will thrive, while others won't grow well, This can't be avoided. Eventually you'll know what grows well and looks good on your hillside, but it will take a few years. If there are similar slopes in the area, check out what grows on them this summer for ideas. Expect that most of the plants along a road or behind a building will be non-n ative weeds you wouldn't want to plant, but a few will be natives.

Top soil is typically low in nutrients. I would have suggested compost, manure, and garden soil mixes whenever he needs to top off the beds in the future. If I were him I would add vermiculite or perlite to help aerate the soil. That will keep it from compacting. Some greenhouses carry large, 4 cubic foot bags of vermiculite...around $20. This is great for raised beds. If he has greenhouses nearby he could call around and see what they have available. The 4 cubic foot bag will be much cheaper than buying lots of small bags. The online store greenhousemegastore.com also sells the large bags with good shipping prices. That's where I bought mine. Good luck to your friend! It's great that he's found such an interest in gardening! Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden