If people are still looking for a cheap solution I had the same challenges on a similar size garden plot. I added compost and manure but not enough. Before I planted for a couple weeks I sprayed Compost Tea on the ground to add moisture and then I added gypsum rock dust to help break up the clay a little bit. The compost tea was by far the cheapest way that I could help the plants. Because my soil needed so much help I ended up spraying with compost tea almost every watering, but they loved it and it was very affordable. I found DIY compost tea brewer instruction posting that really helped, and another one on the best compost tea recipes. After reading for awhile I decided I love Compost tea. Try this recipe, it's been proven under a Microscope. Compost tea: 5 gallon bucket 4 gallons of water 1.5 cups of Earth Worm Castings 1/3 Cup Molasses Aerate with 18-20watt airpump for 30 hours. Use immediately! You can pour the tea through a filter and into your sprayer or just water each plant with an equal amount. You Cannot hurt your plants with compost tea when done right. Just make sure that it doesn't smell awful, or sweet. You want it to smell earth and pleasant when you use. To sweet and the molasses hasn't been used up yet and you don't want too much of this in your soil. Also, if it smells foul, then it hasn't enough air and should be tossed!

I like your choices, too. I would continue searching for the right light neutral color, myself. I'm also not sold on blue in there... It does take time to get the right color! My usual procedure: 1) bring home about 10 different swatches from the store. Hold them up in the room in various places, sometimes right on the wall, sometimes holding it out at arms length so it's "bigger" in your field of vision. Narrow your swatches down to say 5 or 6 that look OK. 2) Look at them at different times of day, different weather, different locations in the room. Next to whatever different materials they will abut IRL. 3) Narrow it down to a handful. Buy testers of those colors or whatever the smallest amount you can buy is. Paint ~2'x2' blocks on various walls (or paint pieces of poster board that you can move around) and again, look at them in different light situations.

Gibson, I don't like killing them either. And if they're outside, you can probably get rid of them quite easily without much damage. Inside... well, another story. Boron should be ok if not sprinked on the substrate. Just put in little a lid or something else that's shallow and place near. The tiny amount the ants carry is not enough to do any real damage.

That is hilarious - I get a kick out of the funny things plants do frequently - one of the many benefits of a garden! Jackie