My story: I had an area behind our fenceline that was covered with kudzu (you southern's know what a nightmare that is) I was determined to get rid of it so I could use that area for a garden etc. I had it plowed up 3 times *hired a guy with a cat tractor* and he dug down as deep as he could to break up the kudzu's roots, It lay untouched (covered with knee high weeds) for about 2 years, Every time the vine would pop up, I'd pull or dig it out..Fially it was gone...so I then proceeded to pull weeds and get a spot ready. Shovel meet clay, shovel was denied, you literally could not penetrate the ground with the shovel unless it was completely soaked and then like others have pointed out, it was a muddy bog, that then dried up and was like concrete again and there was no way I could plant into it. I then researched GW for ideas and heard of lasagne gardening...and figured what do I have to lose...gathered up about a dozen CRV loads of cardboard from the dollar store etc. also newspaper, neighbors grass clippings,pine needles, leaves whenever I could get them and 3 truck loads of moldy hay bales and I started putting it on, since I didnt have all those ingredients all at the same time every time, I did sections a little at a time and then kept adding and expanding it. took a few months..then I left it all winter. When spring came (this was 2 years ago now) I went out to plant my maters and all but an inch or two of the hay was left (it was probably about a foot tall all piled up). Shovel meet ground....AH, it was like buttah. have not tilled this area since. Weed control is newspapers covered with free compost/mulch from the fairgrounds and I throw in any other composted material I can get. It is very easy to tell where the OM has been added and where it has not. You can dig down probably a foot where it was added and about 4 inches elsewhere before you reach clay.

calliope: maybe? How can I identify potworm? I look around and 1 website says its length is ~1/4 inch, and the other says it can reach up to 1 inch. One thing that totally confuse me (and make me think if this is a larvae of flying bugs) is none of the pots has been out for >4 months, and placed in a very closed apartment on the second floor. I have never seen them until 2 weeks ago. So where would they come? I don't have any gnats currently (have that before and successfully eliminated with Gnatrol), but I have to admit that I got bites at night, not sure if it is related or just mosquitoes.

THanks Kevin, will do. By the way, these were planted in error (seeds must have gotten mixed up). They are so freaking hot, can't imagine eating one of these plain. I made some chili powder out of them and call it the "death powder". Its more for enemies than friends!

It sounds to me like you have a fair amount of experience and know how you want to proceed. Overall, I'd just add mulched leaves and grass as you plan to do and see/adjust as you go forward. Location and type of soil (warm/sandy for example) affect how much organic matter is retained in soil, as well. There are also practical considerations, like whether it makes sense to re-till after you've already done most of it, and how much 'compost' you have access to and its condition (how well aged, etc). If it's a large area, and you're tilling to ten inches, it'd actually have to be a large amount to make much of a difference. (Obviously your existing soil has at least some organic content - roots, stuff you've tilled in, etc., too, just not clear how much). Probably my only specific comment is you mentioned aeration a lot, but not clear that's a big issue in sandy soil. Anyway, you've done it, and I'm not arguing with your reasons, specific/local conditions matter. If you're feeling scientific, it might be interesting to till in compost to a smaller plot and see how that goes, just for comparison. A few random thoughts in no particular order: -I put compost in scare quotes because it really does depend. Compost from fibrous/woody materials will generally leave more stuff behind, "finished" or stable compost will reduce less in volume, and stuff that is 'raw' will settle and reduce in volume a lot more. Woody/fibrous inputs will (at least temporarily) tend to 'rob' nitrogen for the breakdown process, but also don't break down fully and can even become semi-permanent. -You say you'll add milorganite, that's a type of compost-like organic material, but I have no experience with how it degrades over time in soil. I'm guessing it mostly disappears over time. -A lot of the benefits of compost are for the structure of the soil and ability to support soil life (fungus, microbes, and yes, worms, etc). Also the partially-digested stuff and fungus hyphae and the like make the soil sticky and yet with air in them. Tilth and all that. -Does the compost itself have a lot of nutrients? Not its most important role although mostly doesn't hurt. Plays a bigger role in storing/keeping/sharing some of the nutrients (fungi moving them around, etc). -The roots of plants also do some aeration and affect drainage as they sprout and grow and die off etc., too. -I think your points on worms are mostly accurate, some types of worms will do their own aeration, eat plants, bury some, etc. There are probably some exceptions, but mostly I've heard people say that adding / introducing worms usually not very effective, it's more a question of conditions for them to thrive than adding them. If you have some, can't hurt to spread them around, but just probably not worth spending money on them. -Side note, compost worms - ones that live mostly on surface or close to it, or in piles of decaying matter - don't tend to dig down deep in soil, but it's amazing how they'll just show up. No need to go out of your way to introduce them, but if you spread some compost with compost worms in it, they won't hurt. Anyway, let us know how it goes, always interesting to hear. I've written too much when all I wanted to say was 'mostly, spreading compost on top won't hurt.' In fact spreading uncomposted organic material on top - within reason, ie in somewhat thin layers - as mulch or whatever - mostly won't hurt either.