In spite of what you've heard/read, coffee grounds won't acidify the soil.

You can plant the same season you amend. But you must continue with amending with each year. For the first year, consider biting the bullet and buying bulk amendment. If the horse manure is fresh, you should wait to plant for a month or so after tilling it in.

Suggest you start on a smaller plot. 10 x 50 is quite large for a beginner. That's in spite of your experience doing containers. Drainage, growth, fertilizer and water are all different in the ground.

Where do you live?

You would need around 125 cubic ft worth of compost just to mix your top 6 inches soil at ratio of 3 part soil to 1 part compost.... Like what Jean proposed, start with a smaller area. a raise bed could be a good idea.

Thanks to you both,...I live in Kyle TX. (South of Austin)

Definitely start with a smaller area and amend it intensively with something that's already composted so you can plant in it. Bagged or bulk compost will work.

Meanwhile, select an area for next year and build a compost pile on it now. A foot or two thick with whatever you can lay your hands on - grass clippings, leaves, shredded tree limbs or yard waste (if you have a free city mulch site?), horse manure and bedding, etc. The decomposition process will enrich the soil underneath with no work from you. By fall or next spring there will be a thick layer of compost. Dig it into the bed and off you go. Nature can do some of this for you given TIME. Try to stifle the desire for instant gratification.

It's better to take it slow and get that soil in good shape before trying to plant, than to come home with a truckload of plants and try to plant them in soil they won't be happy in.

Ok,..consensus is to start with a smaller plot. What size would you all recommend? I have an acre and a half of land, so space is of no concern, and all of this area is exposed to sun all day long. I am starting with a clean slate as I have nothing in my backyard. :-( I like the idea of working two areas (a kind of hop scotching in between seasons). I think I will be doing the double-dig method,..any suggestion here? I did do 3 rows of lasagna and my plants are doing well there. I have many plants in buckets that seem to be stunted, but I'm trying to be patient. I also worked in a little area with very little compost, I worked it in at the base of the hole where I planted cantaloupe, and they are doing best of all. I have always wanted to have a garden and I know I am probably being too enthusiastic about all this, but I just can't wait to get home and begin my next project (working the soil). I wanted to test which method would work best for me, and I need to give it more time, but I am surprised how well my cantaloupe is growing in my clay with little amendment.

Rather than one 10 by 50 foot plot I found years ago that some 4 x 50 foot plots where much easier to work and maintain. The only real problem with clay soils is most often the lack of adequate amounts of organic matter, 6 to 8 percent OM is about what to shoot for.

How do you know you have a "very" alkaline soil? Was a good reliable soil test done? Some people think a soil pH of 7.2 is very alkaline while most plants, and most all nutrients, like a soil pH in the 6.0 to 7.0 range.

While I have seen statements that coffee grounds are quite acidic the test results I would trust (from a test that Sunset magazine had done) shows the pH is 6.2, slightly acidic but not enough to significantly alter any soils pH . To make much difference in that clay soil you would need tons of coffee grounds. To make much difference in your clay soil you would need tons of animal manure.

Start by checking with the people at you local office of the Texas A & M Cooperative Extension Service about having a good reliable soil test done for soil pH, major nutrient levels, Calcium to Magnesium ratios, and Cation Exchange Capacity. These simple soil tesat may also be of some help.

1) Soil test for organic
material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in
a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and
replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24
hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight.
For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the
bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above
that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole
1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains
away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain
away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs
more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the
soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful
of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is
released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a
finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your
soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant
odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria
will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter
can be bad as well.

5) Life. How many
earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5,
according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that
is not healthy.

kimmq is kimmsr

I agree with the long skinny plots or having some other way to have paths. You don't want to walk on clay! It immediately reverses the sponginess you are trying to create by digging, adding compost which feeds the worms and microbes which will dig around in there and create porosity. So don't walk on it, like ever, if you can help it.

As for how big a space to start with, it all depends on how much you can handle at a time. How much compost can you haul in, spread and dig in. Are you double digging by hand or do you have machinery? There are so many variables, you're going to be the only one who really knows that. Try it and see, you'll know as you go along.

kimmsr is right about coffee grounds, the acid ends up in your cup rather than the grounds. And what little is left is organic acids that will decompose in the soil anyway, so even that small amount will not have a permanent effect. Compost will bring any soil toward neutral. I second the suggestion to get a good soil test done. With such a large area it's well worth it.

kimmq,

Funny you mention all this...I checked out a book from the library this past weekend titled Secrets to Good Soil, by Elizabeth P. Stell and she mentions all the above tests. I did perform the 24 hour test, and it appears that I have about 10% sand and the rest is really hard for me to differentiate. I do have stuff floating on top separated by clean water,..maybe this is just debris or is this the organic matter? She didn't mention the organic matter in the book. It looks like I may have 40% silt and 50% clay. I say this because I can still see tiny specs of whitish sand particles and then above that there is none. I got these percentages by her means of calculation. She recommended 1 cup of soil, filled with water in a jar (I used a 1 pint mason jar and filled it to about 1/2 inch from the top), as she did not specify, and then 1/2 teaspoon of dish washing liquid (I used Dawn). I have yet to perform the remaining test as we have Tropical Storm Bill blowing in as we speak, but I plan on it. Earthworms are scarce, but I have seem them.

I performed an at home test on the pH of my soil and it was off the charts on the alkaline scale (the color was almost black). I think I will send a sample in to A&M just so I can get accurate/scientific readings.

Also, I will take your advice on your 200 sq ft garden size. In your experience has it been better to have the area shallow and long vs being more square? For example a 4' x 50' vs 10' x 20'. I still haven't figured out how many plants are adequate for each row, I know that I need to take into account what is being planted, but on my 10' row, I only planted 3 tomato plants as that is how I understood spacing( 3' between each), but I have seen videos and pics and it looks like others are planting much more closely than that. I don't want to waste space. I did hear that if I do the "double dig" method, I can plant closer together as this gives the roots more room to grow down as opposed to spreading out. Thanks in advance.

CC

The size of the plot you wanted to started with its all depends on your physical capability and time availability. If I were you, having a plot of 10 x 50 ft land, I will plan to built 10 raise bed, each measuring 6x 3ft. This will allow 2 ft gap in between raise beds for you to walk around and you have additional 2ft walkway along both side of the 10 raise bed row. This is important as you do not want to step on your raise bed to further compact the ammended clay soil.

If you intent to do your composting (which Im sure you will!) simply
reduce 1 raise bed and you will have sufficient to built 2
compost pile ( 27 cubic ft each, measuring 3ft x 3ft x 3tf )

Im having the same problem as you, having very compacted, red/white clay soil hard as stone when its dry. Its very poor in OM and I couldnt even find more than10 earthworms while digging a 7 (L)x 3 (w)x 3 (d) ft trench. Ive tried numerous method to break the clay and nothing is more effective than tilting nitrogen rich OM directly into the soil.

Dig a trench of 3 (w) x 6 (L) x 1 (d)ft, since you can get horse manure for free, you may wanna try to find some sawdust, or fine wood chips and mix it together with your claysoil at 40(manure)/30(sawduck)/30 (claysoil) ratio. Fill up the trench with these manure/ saw dusk/clay soil mixture. Leave the raise bed for 3 to 5 months to stabilised (depends on temp and humidity) and your raise bed should sunken by 1/2 or more. By now, if your check the raise bed, the soil should be loosen up, loomy and rich in OM.

Some people may find the formular above too rich in OM, but the fact is, tillting nitrogen rich OM directly into the soil is the fastest way to loosen up claysoil "naturally". Spreading a layer of 3 to 4 inches think compost on top the the claysoil as mulch could breakup the claysoil as well. This would minimise the damage cause by disturbing the soil but that would easily take 3 to 4 years just to ammend a thin layer of claysoil.

Another faster method would be mixing 6 inches of your topsoil with mature compost at 50/50 ratio. This will allow you to plant anything you want, once the raise bed is constructed, but bear in mind that this could be pretty costly if you couldnt find cheap compost.

There are many other methods that could work for you, while there is no absolute right or wrong, its all depends on the resources you have (time, money, man effort). Find a way that suite you the best.

Happy Gardening!

Like others have said, go ahead and plant. Consider that things like melons cover lots of space, but you can get away with amending and working a smaller area where the plant originates. Things like bush beans and field peas/black-eyed peas will grow in the clay soil and help improve it over time. Since you are in Texas, the biggest challenge is keeping organic matter in the soil from burning away - I gardened there for 7 years, and put as much organic matter (bags of leaves, grass, etc., collected from my neighbors) as I could find into my garden. Plant, then mulch everything heavily - it will help in the Texas heat, and it will help retain some moisture to help keep the clay from drying out like concrete.

I'm curious what the scale was on that home test kit. "Off the scale" only means anything if you know what the top end of the scale was. :-] A good lab test will take care of that anyway, I was just curious since you mentioned it.

ccinaustin, I believe that you have that black clay that is very calcerous......lots of limestone in the soil. Your local ag people would know best how to deal with the high PH.

I don't know about your soil, but here with my silty clay loam soil, adding coarse/medium sand and local peat moss does wonders here. Course, I also add lots of organic matter too. The peat moss IS organic matter.

"The peat moss IS organic matter."

Only in the strictest sense :-) It is almost completely decomposed, doesn't really support any soil biology and has virtually no nutrients. It is pretty much inert.

I'm not a big proponent of peat moss and I know it has virtually no nutrients. It does seem like it would provide some of the benefits of organic matter. A microporous organic matter 'surface' in and on which all the things could happen that happen with compost derived organic matter. Ion exchange sites, places for microbes to set up shop, drainage and water retention, aeration, etc. Being already fully decomposed, it wouldn't provide the benefits of the active decomposition process, or nutrients, so I would still prefer compost. :-D

toxcrusadr,..the high end on my pH scale was 9. Again, I will be sending in a soil sample as I am curious what all they can tell me about my soil. Just about anything for the right price is what it looks like. LOL. I think I will be taking rgreen48 (6b)'s advise and amending an 18" x 18" area per plant for now as I will not have enough compost for the area I'd like. I'll get there....wish I would have started at least 10 years ago. I'd like to keep from spending any more than I have to. I think I will also do the long skinny plots. The reason I'm avoiding the raised beds is, one, buying the materials to make them and two, is I have a rear tine tiller that I want to make use of. Although I have heard that the weight can harm the soil. Not too enthused about reading this. I spent a lot of money on that thing. I have heard of in-ground beds, (basically a raised bed, but dug out instead of above ground) Any ideas or suggestions on this?

The peat moss is fairly inert...what makes it useful for a long period of time. It is not used for nutrients. It is a soil conditioner and it is totally organic. Why would it be an either/or matter between compost and peat? It is aerating just like the sand. I sure am glad I have amended with all this rain.

The soil mix I have made is lighter and looser and handles some traffic very well.

The ('dug out') in-ground 'raised' beds are what I use. I too have clay (although I don't have the pH issues you have,) but I've been planning my beds for a long time. I've been throwing small amounts of my grass clippings into the space I turned into this year's garden for about 3-4 years. Clay, aside from its horrible tilth issues, is usually very nutritious.

Therefore, why not take advantage of the free resources. Basically, I just tilled the soil, mulched heavily, then planted. In the fall the mulch will get tilled in, and I'm already preparing the organic matter to add for next year.

The more compost and organics you add, the more 'raised' they will become. If you have fairly good drainage, and this is just my opinion - everyone will have their own reasons for their decisions - the only reasons to box in and 'lift' your beds are for organization, esthetics. and for those who have difficulty bending down low.

Here's what my beds look like...

When I was younger, I used to work all my beds (a lot of them!) by hand. Breaking new ground with a pick ax and a digging fork. Turning-in organics with the fork. Now, lol... not so much. I borrowed a relative's tiller and after the ground was broken well, I worked the soil by handling the tiller from the side. That way, in the final passes, there was no walking on the freshly tilled ground.

Now that the hard work for these beds are done, I'll add a couple new ones each year as my sunlight allows (I need to top a few trees on the south.)

Anyway, sounds like you have the beginnings of a plan. There's a lot of good advice on this site, take a little of this, and little of that, and find what works for your situation. There are people who have a lot more knowledge than I. When something comes along that is better - whether it be knowledge or tools... upgrade!

If one really looks at a 10 by 50 foot planting bed about 1/2 of that would be wasted space to allow the gardener space to get in there and work while in a planting bed that is 4 by 50 the only wasted space would be from how far apart the plants need to be for good growth. With a 10 by 50 foot planting bed you need to amend all of the soil, even that part you walk on which could be considered a waste of resources. With a 4 by 50 planting bed you only amend where the plants will be growing, and as the plants grow you only need to water that same area conserving water as well.

Using some of Mel Batholomew's ideas from his Square Foot Gardening you could get twice as much planted in the 4 by 50 planting bed then in a 10 by 50 foot bed.

kimmq is kimmsr

Good logic kimmq....your right.

nice bed rgreen48 (6b). I can't wait to have something like this!! ;-)

Don't worry about the weight of the tiller, it's really not much more than a person anyway and your clay is probably compacted way beyond where it would matter. As you add compost over several years and avoid walking around on it, the soil begins to fluff, and you'll do less digging and tilling. Make use of that machine now when you need it most.

As for pH I could see 8.3 which is the carbonate buffer pH related to limestone. It's rather high and in fact it will be difficult to lower it permanently with mineral acids as you're basically titrating the whole soil matrix. Luckily compost will moderate the effect of high pH and will help to make nutrients available in spite of it. So if the lab test confirms that, don't get too hung up on trying to make it 7. Just keep adding compost. I know people in NM with decomposed granite/limestone silty sandy gravel soil with high pH and their gardens are OK.

I purchased ground cover today to help with my soil. I got Crimson clover, buckwheat, and peas and oats. I'm still confused about when to plant. I'd like to start prepping my winter/cold weather area, but I live in Texas and it doesn't get cold until January or February sometimes. Everything I read states spring and winter. Not sure how this applies to me. Can anyone elaborate? When should I plant for winter and when should I plant my cold weather crops at that? I've never grown any, but would like to try.

On a side note, I started a horse manure tea yesterday for the first time ever. The manure is dried and I believe it is well composted by now. It does not smell at all and looks like small grass clippings. My concern is that I looked in the brew when I got home from work and I see tiny parasite/worm looking things swimming all around. Is this normal? Is it contaminated? I was gonna let it sit until Saturday to apply. I started it yesterday (Wednesday). Someone educate me please.

Buckwheat and Oats are usually planted in late spring or early summer when used as a green manure or cover crop, because they are all frost sensitive. Clovers can be seeded most anytime. Winter cover crops would be Winter Wheat, Winter (Cereal) Rye, Hairy Vetch. and winter Peas.

Those might be parasitic worms from the horses, certainly not Mosquito larva.

kimmq is kimmsr