can you till in finished compost or wood mulch?

Part of my garden used to be a driveway, with 100 years worth of hardpan (gravel sitting on top of clay, yum!!). We brought in dirt that we had to excavate for a brick path (about 100 feet x 3 feet by 6" of topsoil) and a pickup truck of cooked bull manure, and 3-4 pickups of wood mulch and the parts of our garden that I was worried about. It's draining very well, and although it gets a hard crust on it when it gets dry, it retains moisture. I put black plastic on some beds and the ground stays moist underneath.

The crust is nice for weed abatement!

I'd suggest some reading of the many FAQs and great discussions over on the Soil & Compost forum here. ;)

Seriously, there are some long how-to threads on building new beds with detailed step-by-step directions there on how to fix clay soil? Which are the best soil amendments to use? Organic soil improvement techniques. etc.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil & Compost Forum