If you dig a big hole in clay, you will make a pond. I think you need a raised bed of some sort. The clay holds water and has minerals. Maybe you could mix it with the stuff you bought. Others in your area would know what to do with the kind of soil you have. If it is subsoil and there was top soil which was scraped off, I would look into Lasagna gardening. You can probably get the book at your library. It sounds like you are doing well with what you have.

Thanx Helen.

You are correct about the pond. I planted some pots in a different section of the garden and filled them with cactus soil for some plumerias I have. The holes filled with water, drowning the pots. I ended up filling the holes with grass clippings that packed down about half way, keeping the pots out of the water. I should have mentioned that I plan on putting the tomatoes about six inches above "clay level" by mounding up whatever soils I get.

Of the other local tomato growers I know, most of them dig up top foot or so of soil and replace with this type of soil purchased by the truckload. I don't have a truck and my wife won't let me take the seats out of the minivan (I've tried) so, I'm limited to what I can buy by the bag. The garden center I got this stuff sells it by the "fill your own bag", that is about 2 five gallon buckets worth (plus whatever else you can cram in) for about $3.50 each.

You are absolutely correct about the Lasagna gardening. That's kinda what I'm doing except every other fall, I will till in whatever has built up before recovering with whatever leaves I can find on Craigslist and all the shredded Christmas trees the minivan will hold. To do Lasagna right, it can take years. I'm worried about this year.

I currently have three bags of their Hill Country Soil. I was also thinking of getting one bag each of their Turkey Compost, Farm Style Compost, and Manure Compost and mixing it in with the three bags I already have. I'd mix in a five gallon bucket with three parts of the Hill Country to one part of each of the others.

When I buy truckloads of soil, they bring me clay. Normally I have rocks. I have mixed the bought clay with peat moss and leaves to improve it. I really know nothing about what to do with clay soil except to mix in organic matter. Don't mix in wood though unless it is bark. Wood goes on top. Organic matter is good, but the clay is also good as a part of the soil.

Mark off a long rectangle on the ground for a future raised bed, say 3 feet wide and however long you can manage. Remove the sod.

Have someone with a truck deliver you a load of inexpensive composted bark chips, manure, leaf mulch, barn stall bedding, whatever other composted organic material you can get. Till this material into the clay soil within the boundaries you have marked off and denuded. Get the organic material well blended with the clay at least 6 - 8 inches below grade. This will facilitate drainage when you build the beds up.

Do not add sand. It would take too much sand to do you any good. And sand does not hold nutrients. Clay and organic material binds nutrients for the plants to use. Besides, sand + clay = concrete, basically.

Now build your beds with side boards or stone or concrete blocks, whatever, at least 8 inches tall. Twelve to 15 inches would be better. But 8 - 10 inches will do.

Now get someone to deliver more organic material and till that material in one lift at a time, say 4 - 6 inch lifts, with the underlying soil. Keep building the bed up like this. The organic material will bind with the clay particles and make some fine garden soil.

If you cannot afford to fill the bed or beds all the way up the first year, fine. Do what you can. Add grass clippings (without herbicides), leaf mulch, and whatever other organic material you can gather as time goes along.

I never buy bag mixes for containers or raised beds. Fortunately, there is a farmer nearby who builds soil from horse stall bedding, leaves, bark and wood chips, native clay loam, and agricultural lime. Cheap - $25 a pickup load. Look around for someone like that.

Archherb don't be intimidated by the huge task. Hoosier gives good advice, and you can implement this on a small scale. I am working on my soil constantly. It is good exercise and a healthy way to spend your free time. It is kind of a game scrounging material that others including your neighbors are throwing away. I have no pride. After Thanksgiving I ask people if they want their hay bale decorations. By that time they weigh a ton rotten and full of moisture. Men will load them for me, but I get most stuff myself. Most people are nice and save their bags of leaves and grass clippings for me. One lady chewed me out for taking her trash which was obviously bags of leaves. I usually ask and usually people are glad to get rid of the bags, but one time I just took some bags of leaves set by the curb for the trash truck. That was the only time I got in trouble, so now I always ask. I knew people who lived in town that made a little trench and buried all their potato peels and egg shells etc. They would cover it and make a new hole and keep adding stuff. Gradually they improved their soil with out having a compost pile. It is trouble but not if you consider each bit free soil improvement.

Thanx again, Hoosier & Helen.

That's pretty much what I've done. The back fence in my back yard was already a bed. I had placed that "weed stop" tarp stuff across the length of the back side, 4 ft wide. I had placed store bought mulch over it all and spread my lawn clippings over it all summer.

Last year, I tore down the little wooden separator across the back and replaced it with stone, about a foot high. I did the same for the two side fences for two more beds, 50x4 feet (this is where the tomatoes go... the back fence is for pretty stuff to pacify the Mrs). For the side fences, I tilled up the grass that was there, spread the mulch and clippings from the back bed over the two sides, and put down whatever I could get my hands on to make the soil better (bagged compost, manure, leaves, Starbucks UCG and so on) and tilled all of that in as well. I then covered the whole thing with the weed stop tarp and covered that with store bought mulch. Throughout the summer, I dumped my lawn clippings on top of that.

This year, I removed the weed stop and covered the whole thing with about two inches of "Christmas Tree mulch" (city of Austin recycling program) and another two inches of dried leaves (from Craigslist). All of this, along with this year's grass clippings will be tilled in next year and recovered with next year's Christmas tree mulch and leaves.

Here is what it looks like now:

So what y'all are suggesting, is pretty much what I'm doing. But as I found out last year, no matter how much fresh stuff I till into the soil, it will not make much difference to this year's tomato plants as it will take time for all the stuff I'm adding to break down and turn my clay into something much better. That's why I am digging the holes and making mounds.

Please don't get me wrong, your advice is priceless and sets my mind at ease knowing that I'm on the right track for the next several years, but my question was, "should I stick with the "Hill Country Garden Soil" or mix in some of the other composts or manure that The Natural Gardener offers?" Again, I'll build up my soil in due time, but this year, I'm thinking "Earl's Hole", but with store bought blends.

Here is a link that might be useful: Earls Hole Method of Growing Tomatoes

Two or three things ...

First of all, I had no idea you're in Austin. Holy cow! You're really up against it regarding soil conditions and heat.

Secondly, you've got a great start and are doing a great job. Keep on truckin' ...

Pile on the organic matter. Maybe try growing in straw bales for awhile and unbind them at the end of the season and let that break down in the beds too.

Good growing in 2010.

Earl's hole method would work here, but in clay I think you should make Earl's mounds. Cow manure is great stuff. Sometimes hyped products are expensive. I looked up Hill Country Garden soil. What is reclaimed composted top soil? I think the soil you have mixed with Earl's stuff would be good. I don't like the texture of the fine peat; sphagnum peat moss helps texture although there are environmental complaints on its use. Your soil fertility may be fine you may just have bad soil texture, but I don't know your area. I love your Botanical Garden and Lady Bird's place. I have grown potatoes with straw; the growing in straw bails is something I would investigate.

If you can locate an organic recycling center where the landscaping crews take their brush, a lot of them will offer a compost product that has been heat treated and balanced.

Here in KC I get some of the best composted material imaginable. I add a couple of pickup truck loads, ($30.00 a yard, two bobcat scoops) to my garden each year. (they may deliver). ph level is right at 7 and NPK is off the chart.

Improper compost will cause you trouble, with fungus virus and disease. Only properly composted product is what you want.

I did the 'hole' thing last year in my heavy clay soil last year and wont be doing it again. Even if you mix in the garden soil at a 50/50 rate the hole areas will drain much faster than your native soil around it thus making your watering uneven. Its more work but I would work the whole area with the new garden soil and any other composted organic matter and fertilizer of your choice.

Damon

Helen said, "I have grown potatoes with straw; the growing in straw bails is something I would investigate."

I sent tomato seeds to Jerry down in San Marcos about 30 miles south of Austin and with the same general soil and climate conditions. He grew them in straw bales last summer with great success. Indian Stripe and a few others did very well until the big heat wave of 2009 hit.

The bales have to be soaked with a fertilizer solution well before plant out date. Like right now, basically. And left to age. Then you cap each bale with a thin layer of growing medium or you wrap the top with landscape fabric and auger a planting hole or two in the top of each bale, fill the hole with a potting mix just sufficient to give the transplants a foothold.

University of Southern Mississippi has a facts page on growing in straw bales is where I first saw it.

Here's a fairly good run-down on how it's done:
Straw Bale Planter

Sorry. I know how to spell bales of straw, one of my favorite things along with cow manure and big flat rocks.

Thanx for the tips, guys. I just got back from picking up 13 bags of leaves... or at least what was supposed to be leaves. Most of it was, but there was some weeds in there as well and a couple of beer cans in one of the bags. Oh well, I guess beggars can't be choosers. About half of it (that with the weeds mixed in) went onto the compost pile. If weeds grow in that, they'll just be re-composted anyway.

Windclimber: Surprisingly, Austin does not have such a place (that I'm aware of). Most of the stuff that Austin's trash collection picks up ends up being sold as Dillo Dirt. Great stuff, but it's mixed with human waste sludge, so it won't go into my garden. I'm sure it's safe and all, but I grow onions and garlic as well and couldn't bring myself to eat it, much less feed it to my family knowing where the dirt came from.

We have clay here in South Louisiana that is impenetrable. On my first beds, I ammended the clay with wood chips, organic matter, and used a tiller. 2 yrs later, when I dug down, it looked exactly the same. I've read that clay might break down after 30 yrs.

Forget the existing ground---bring in the good soil that you have access to and put on top of the ground (in raised beds at least 10" but 12-14" is better). This is what I currently did and it works great.

Although, I did a little work on the clay before I set my beds. Used a pitch fork to open up some big holes. Then spread a lot of shrimp meal with chitosan (to help prevent any root knot nematodes in the existing soil). Then a sprinkle of blood meal and covered with newspaper. On top of that with my good soil. My plants thrive.

One thing--get a soil report after you mix all those bags together and it sits for awhile. You will really want to ammend the beds before you plant.

archerb: Hey neighbor, I live north, Cedar Park, anyway if you have done any digging you might have noticed it is solid limestone, in my yard if you dig one foot down the rocks start after 2 feet its solid limestone, in fact I was digging a koi pond and it was SOLID limestone I even found fossils a foot wide. so drainage is really a problem for us. I gave up and decided that raised beds of 18 inches or so would be good and not to even worry about ammending the soil. I have heard nothing but good stuff about the Natural Gardener and their products, I plan to make a trip and fill some bags myself soon. Hope you have good luck with your tomatoes, My cherry tomatoes did fairly well last summer even in the drought, they were in a raised bed that had sandy loam and organic stuff. They were loaded with green tomatoes when we had our first freeze:o( Oh well I am looking forward to a better spring this year. Happy growing :o) Deanna