New Mexico...

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

Yeah, it's a lot of work most times to get good soil, but it can happen. I have dumped a ton of compost into my yard over the past 8 years, and I am finally starting to see a few earthworms. The downside: now I have more weeds to pull. It's always something, but I would rather have to weed than look at a dirt or rock yard.

With better soil, the weeds come out easier anyway.

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Originally Posted by GregW

Humidity is not a term used in NM weather forcasts. Why bother reporting zero. In the winter!

Just joking but the Weather Channel did report a Las Cruces dew point temprature of 2 deg F a couple of days ago.

Thanks, GregW. On days like today (64 Degrees with 64%) that's music to my ears. We've booked a car (shame when you can rent and pay the fuel cheaper than you can pay the fuel on your own car!) for June 21st through the 28th. I've got sooo much hinged on this trip.......

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by jsc23

...We have been amending with coffee grounds obtained from a local coffeehouse, manure from nearby farms (sheep, goat and horse) and our own compost combined with composted cotton hulls. Most of the stuff is free or by barter. After four years, our landscape has gone from mudhole to thriving but still needs work. A warning about manure: fresh manure can over-nitrogen your plants if applied directly and burn them out. Make a "tea" of fresh manure, mixing the liquid with soil where needed.

Great info. Thanks for the post. I'm with Vinegaroon in that I'm just constantly putting some kind of organic materials in and have finally started to see some results. My sister just got a new property down by the river, and I realized how far my soil has come when I saw her untouched dirt.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

Great info. Thanks for the post. I'm with Vinegaroon in that I'm just constantly putting some kind of organic materials in and have finally started to see some results. My sister just got a new property down by the river, and I realized how far my soil has come when I saw her untouched dirt.

A piece of advice I learned long -- some soil is hard to amend. You just dig it up and throw it away. Question is -- where do you throw it?

[jsc23]

Originally Posted by Devin Bent

A piece of advice I learned long -- some soil is hard to amend. You just dig it up and throw it away. Question is -- where do you throw it?

Suggestion: if you got a lot of it, find a contractor looking for fill dirt. We used our worst dirt as fill in new concrete steps and to build up "topography"-- build up certain areas to alter drainage patterns and add relief to large flat areas.

We knew when we bought our house we were acquiring a major long-term project, but we didn't really understand the scope until we discovered the sizable "private landfill" area out our kitchen door. About 1000 sq ft of primary garden area consisted of a 4-8" layer of densely packed chip bags, aluminum cans, brake pads and fan belts topped by 2" layer clay soil. Oh the joy seeing a big chunk of our remodel money spent scraping and removing the trash.

Then we had a strange turn of luck. The city was about to install a new water main on our street. Turned out the feeder line to the dozen or so houses behind us was mis-mapped...we had a 1920s vintage 4" cast iron water main running under the middle of our house. Fearing the liability issues, the water dept. asked to reroute line through our trash pit area. We gladly agreed on condition they scrape and remove the entire trash layer. We were all happy our problems were resolved without cash outlay.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by jsc23

About 1000 sq ft of primary garden area consisted of a 4-8" layer of densely packed chip bags, aluminum cans, brake pads and fan belts topped by 2" layer clay soil.

The other thing I do is raised beds. I'm lucky -- I have a truck -- I get animal 'droppings' from neighbors, mulch from the transfer station, and my son gets me free compost. And I mix in some soil.

I have to let it sit for a year or so while it literally cooks out there -- but then I have a raised bed and the landscape is a little more varied. I worry about planting too soon, but so far I have been okay -- maybe just lucky.

But -- I don't know if I could put a raised bed on top of that witch's brew you found???

[mesavista]

We live outside Aztec along the river and have all the water we can use for $100 a year, no restrictions. Get away from the rivers and it is desert land but near any of the 3 rivers here in the NW and you have water and people growing things. Our growing season is a few weeks shorter than Alb but I get around that with hotcaps and Walls o' Water.The area you live in will vary your restrictions, my brother has days and time he can take water, we have no limits in our neighborhood. We have a big garden, fruit trees and hay. Prices have dropped on properties like ours lately. Lots of homeschoolers up here too, RRR.

Mesavista