You'll probably be fine - especially if you mix in some more organic matter or even vermiculite. Having a raised bed and never walking on the soil will help tremendously!
I gardened in heavy clay soil for years and the first few years I didn't have much organic matter added but I got good crops mainly, I think, because I never ever walked on the soil and I mulched as much as I could.
Never underestimate a plants will to live!
Namaste

Go ahead and rake out the hard chunks, compost them if they look organic, toss them in a low spot in the yard if they look like dirt. I've had good results with as little as 4" of compost over existing sandy soil, with an amended mix below whatever you put on top you should be fine.

Thanks for responding. Luckily, I have plenty of spots in my yard that could use some filling in. I was hoping to save some work by having the soil delivered- boy was I wrong! It takes a lot of dirt to fill a 12'x4' bed!! It looked like a mountain in my driveway. Thanks again.

I have sort of the opposite problem. I built my raised bed a few years ago and bought a load of composted manure and topsoil combination. I live in an area that is heayily clayed. I add small amounts of compost every year, but over time my soil seems sandy and thin. It doesn't seem to hold moisture well and I see very few worms. I'll dig in the heavy clay of Loudoun County and find tons of worms, but they seem to avoid my raised bed.

Any thoughts? I've tried to bring some of the clay up from below every year when I turn over the garden with a fork. Should I consider adding clay or more topsoil?

Thanks

GRiley, I think you'll be OK if you can add some more good stuff on top. What do you have available?

Hi magoo; My guess is you need to add more compost, not clay or topsoil.

It sounds like you started with a good amount of organic material (compost) mixed in, and over the years it has decomposed, used up by the worms, bugs, bacteria, fungi, plants, etc. You should add more compost or other organic material every year to make up for that. The only way to attract worms is with organic material, since that's what they eat.

If it were me, and I didn't have a compost pile, I'd go get a few bags of Leafgro (composted leaves available in our area) and *composted* manure. I live near you, and I've got some worms in my lawn/clay, but many more in my raised bed I added lots of compost to. Good Luck!

--Riff.

Thanks, Riff,
I bought a bag of composted manures today. The bag said 100% composted cattle manure. It looked better than the bags I've bought in the past at Wal-Mart, HD, etc. There were no clay-like clumps of ? in it- don't need more of that. It was a little more expensive but I think I'll get more of that and some mushroom compost.
The mix that was delivered looks like it has (besides clay) some shredded bark in it so I don't know if I need to add any peat to it.
It rained heavily yesterday and the drainage seems to be o.k.- that makes me feel better. Thanks, everyone, for the help. You guys are great. Wish me luck.

Thanks Riff,

I guess I probably have been guilty of taking away and not giving back to my soil. I'm a lousy composter. Since it's already planted I guess I'll have to rely on fertilizers and spend this Fall getting some leaf gro and compost back into it. Have you ever tried sowing rye and turning it over for a green manure in a raised bed?

Magoo, yes, I did exactly that in one 4-foot by 4-foot bed. I planted winter (cereal) rye in September, I think. It looked nice all winter. I felt it worked well, since I planted my garden crops late the next year (end of May or maybe even in June). I turned it in a few weeks before planting, basically by cutting down the tops, then taking a straight-edged shovel and making vertical cuts to make a shovel-sized block and simply flipping it over onto the tops.

This probably wouldn't work as well for an area where you plan to plant early spring crops, like peas and lettuce. My current *plan* is to plant winter rye on half my garden where I expect to grow beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and just mulch the other half, which will be planted in the early spring (latter part of March, this year) with peas, lettuce, radishes, turnips, carrots.

Just for fun I also planted some rye last fall in a mostly unused flower area to keep out the weeds and see what the mature rye was like. It did a good job of keeping the weeds out, especially my biggest problem, ground ivy. The rye there is five feet tall now, looks kind of like wheat to me (not that I really know). I just cut down most of it, though, because there are a few peonies blooming in the middle of it and my wife wanted to be able to see them!

By the way, if you try this know that you do not want ryegrass! That is very different from the rye I'm talking about (which is also called cereal rye and winter rye).

Regards,

--Riff.