Clay Garden

We lived just out side of town up on a hill not far from the cemitary.. the view across the vally was beautiful.. but it was so normal to us we did not realize how beautiful it was.. not untill I grew up and left the area and came back for a visit did I realize I had grown up in one of God's prettiest parts of the country.. Unless of course it was mud season. A rich clay soil.. clay.. ugh.. you could start out across the field and you would get taller & taller as you went. Your feet would get heavier and heavier too, and larger. As the clay stuck to your shoes and more clay stuck to that clay and more and more and so on. Getting it back off your shoes was not that easy either.. and the dang stuff stained anyting it touched like your shoes or clothes or the house if you tossed some against it.

As an adult I decided to plant my own garden. I knew about the clay sticking to everything in sight but i had not thought about how my grandmother had gotten her garden spot to be such nice soil to work with.. at any rate. I planted a small but very nice garden and things grew like crazy.. but I coul not get the carrots, beets or radishes back out of the ground. I tried soaking the soil before pulling..it didn't work. I got a spade and dug the carrots & beets up then run a water hose over the big clod of dirt trying to liberate the veggie's ..it would work but what a monumental waste of water! What a waste of effort and seed that years garden was.. I did my research before the next year came around and fixed that soil.. t I learned is Clay is very rich in minerals and nutrients but it was difficult to work.. Sand on the other hand is easy to work but has very little nutrients.. So i tilled the sand into the clay AND it worked... I had a great garden with great soil that was easy to work.. truth though i did not rototill the sand into the clay by myself, I had help...Okay I didn't do any of the rotor-tiling .. but it was my idea and I did watched and fetched iced tea for the person that actually did the work :)