Hi Ginny,

Wow! You must be pretty far South to be in zone 9B. Our Kansas soil is a sedimentary type, and plant roots need access to oxygen (air), so I add washed river sand to our soil to approximate sandy loam. I mix the sand into the existing soil with one of those metal finger hand tools and sometimes I use my Merry Tiller to mix in a larger amount of sand. Once the plants are going I apply some more river sand as a sand mulch. That discourages pillbugs, earwigs, and such.

Composted steer/cow manure should have a similar aerating effect on your soil, with the benefit of some added nutrition. The washed river sand I use costs less than composted cow manure, but provides essentially zero added nutrition. So I apply some MiracleGro plant food during the growing season. Let us know how composted steer/cow manure works for you.

ZM