I googled compost spanish fork and found this place.

The best advice I can give you regarding increasing the quality of your produce is that you should try to avoid the mistake most people make with zucchini. For some reason, people grow zucchini and let it get huge and are really proud of how big it'll get. Then they hate the way it tastes and the texture, etc and figure the only good use for it is in bread. If you pick it when it's about 6-8 inches long and maybe two inches in diameter, you'll get it when it's at its best. At that size, you can chop it up and use it in soups, omelets and just about anything.

I am making a youtube vid about building soil. It won't be ready until thursday or friday. You need a lot of organic matter in that area. And it would be good if it could cook for a week. If you are going to rototill you might consider doing a few layers. A good free item is pine needles. You could till in anywhere from 10 to 20 five gallon buckets of pine needles into the bottom portion. After that you could till in some compost and maybe some green and brown manure. Green manure like alfalfa pellets will really help attract the microbes and they in turn will attract worms. 50 to 100 pounds should work great. If you have a week to hot compost use 100 pounds piled in the center. Water it daily and check the heat. When it starts to cool spread it out. If you don't have that much time then use 50 pounds and till it in with your compost and/or your brown manure. Because you are on clay I would also recommend using some Ironite, bone meal and crushed granite if you can find some for diversifying the mineral content. And if you drive by coffee houses on your way home from work go in and get some grinds. They have traveled half way around the world to amend your soil. And they are always free. I will link to my vid when it is ready. Happy tilling.

Spanish Fork sells compost http://www.suvswd.org/compost.html

I'm also a newbie starting a garden - I'm going to go there to pick some up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spanish Fork City compost information (address and prices)

I would be careful about the compost from a waste facility if they use sewage in their compost. It's a safe product for flowers, shrubs and such but I would not use it where you're growing food. There's a risk of bacteria still in the compost and it might make you sick. I got that warning form a friend who is a water engineer and actually designs these systems for composting sewage. He's a big fan of the compost containing sludge and uses it all over in his ornamental beds but not in the veggie garden. I took a quick look at that website linked above, and they do mention "biosolids" in one of their compost types, and that's code for sewage. I would not get it.

The other problem with composted sewage is that there are chemicals and heavy metals in our sewage systems, and composting can't neutralize those elements. I'd just rather not put that stuff in my yard, so I stopped using the sewage district's compost, even in my flowerbeds.

There's a place in Lindon called Tucker Lawn Care that I've bought compost from, and they make it from lawn and tree clippings that they bring in from their yard work. It's good stuff. $19/yard plus $50 to deliver. Last time they delivered, I thought I didn't get the full amount I ordered, though, so I called and they came out and gave me more (ended up being more than I paid for). I think Woodstuff in Springville sells some as well, but I don't know what it costs.

you have sand?! i would consider keeping some if not all of that to use in your soilÂespecially if it is course sand. i am not discounting the organics and would dump as much as you can into your soil. the sand can help with the drainage and mineral content. i have clay soil too and have added sand in places with success

scooby mentioned the layering. i recommend doing this if you are going down pretty deep. you can use cardboard, paper or wood chuncks and branches in you deeper layers (deeper than you will work with a tiller). making a bottom pan out of paper and cardboard is a pretty popular permaculture practice in dry climates as it keeps the water in the root zone a little longer.

another cool thing i have tried is a water absorbing polymer called watersorb (watersorb.com). it is similar to the powder in diapers ans holds 400 times its weight in water. i degrades into ammonia which is effectively fertilizer. it takes years to degrade. it breaks up the soil continually as it expands and contracts. pretty cool stuff in clay and in dry climates.

i would also recommend looking into no till gardening practices online. it is all about minimizing you work and improving the soil.

really no matter what you do you will be improving your soilÂit is hard to make what we have worse.

Thanks for all the replies! They've all been very helpful as we've been planning this out.

So here's what we're planning:
*gather pine needles from somewhere and till them into the dirt as deep as we can.

*add 6" of compost, 50 lbs of alfalfa pellets, some extra minerals if I can find some, and till some more.

*we'll start planting the next weekend.

Seems like a good start for this year? It sounds like there's more we can do to fine tune the soil once we get some experience under our belts, and taste the first season's results.

Called Woodstuffs, and they sell their compost for $27/yd. So $7 more than the city's. It was hard for me to understand over the phone, but it sounded like they use animal biosolids in addition to green waste. I don't see how that's much different from sewage, but the thought of the city waste skeevs my wife out a bit much, so I think we'll go with the compost from Woodstuff. Unless there really is no real difference, and I hear about it before Sat. morning.

Again, thanks for the advice. It's comforting to have a plan.

Here is my video on building soil in my new garden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6eBqiM3jHY

Let us know how yours turns out.

I live in Spanish Fork and used the compost from that place someone mentioned above (its on a road behind Kmart). They have a few different kinds. I used the stuff made from composted wood chips and grass clippings. It was $30 a yard. To me that was a lot easier than gathering stuff up on my own.

I would also throw in some peat moss for water retention. IFA on arrow head trail in spanish fork has it for around $10 for a large compact bag.

This year I made garden boxes and made soil with 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite and some steer manure. My veggies are growing like crazy.

I would avoid the peat moss. The problem with peat moss around here is that if (when) it dries out, it actually repels water until and unless you manage to get it wet enough again.

I agree with avoiding peat moss.

I think you have a good plan. There is no 'perfect' answer to your question. I had a garden that was mostly our native clay with just a little nutrimulch tilled in and things grew fabulously well.

I then built the raised beds using the expensive 'Mel's Mix' which included vermiculite, coconut coir (instead of peat moss- much better and a renewable resource) and compost. After spending a couple hundred bucks making great soil- I got poorer results than I did with my basic clay garden.

I've since added some topsoil to those raised beds and they do fine now but the point is- you don't have to spend a fortune trying to make it all perfect. Soil is important but it's just one factor. Proper care after you plant is also important and makes a big difference. You're soil plan is an A+ so I'm sure your garden will be just great. Enjoy!