[prakash_mib]

after digging one layer of manure early in the spring and mulching it with another layer of manure at start of may I tried to dug that portion of plot yesterday to find the soil is the same with texture. the manure layers were quite visible in two lines sandwiched in layer of clayish (pretty much like vocanic rock). Will I ever get the topsoil quality anytime in future or is my work is futile?
I dont have any problems growing in it as I had a fairly good produce. I put it down to the land being fallow of many many years.
I am just worried about the future!

[savbo]

hmmm - have you got many earthworms? I had poor soil in ireland, which I put partly down to lack of worms (acid soil and NZ flatworms)

[prakash_mib]

We do have earthworms and lot of them. I can see atleast 2-3 worms pulling out with every fork dig (I dont use spade due the fear of chopping worms and the soil is not spade diggable either)

[Salmo]

When you dig this year the two layers and the soil in between will mix. Keep on adding lots of manure and your soil will improve.

[potatogrower]

try adding sand to it and see if you can get hold of a rotivator. that will break up the clayish soil and mix in the sand well with the manure you have already and you should get top soil kind of soil. i had someone rotivate my soil because it was clayish and that was 2 years ago and since then i never had to use it again. we added about 2/3 of a bag of sand all over in a 225 ft sq area and rotivated it some 10 inches down and the job was a gooden  :happy:

now i just stick to the good old method of just laying manure on top over winter and turning the soil with help of a fork in spring

[savbo]

i'd also consider getting some compost - municipal or spent mushroom - to start breaking up the clay...

[prakash_mib]

hmm. have to add more and more and more and more horse manure I think. to give more information of extent of problem: the patch was used for sweetcorn planting. I had sweetcorns grown in paper pots and while planting made a how with a trowel (dont have bulb planter) just about the size of the paper pot and dropped the plant in. yesterday when I pulled them out 3-4 plants had a fantastic cylindrical root shape where the roots couldnt claw outwards. fortunately they somehow went downwards. I felt like pulling that thing from pot rather than plot.

[crh75]

Lime will also help with the soil structure.  Just think about what you are going to plant where as some things will not appriciate the lime.
Keep adding organic matter.
The soil will always be on the heavy side but think of the advantages: water retension and nutrient availability.

[Goosegirl]

Mine is alluvium silt like heavy clay and I know the problems. A mixture of sharp sand and grit will be instantly beneficial, as will liming and / or adding calcified seaweed as they binds the clay particles together; however, don't lime and manure at the same time. Rotorvators are fine but, like ploughs, they only go down so far and you could end up with a hard pan of clay like a layer that prevents proper drainage. I dug out a spit (spade depth) then well-forked over the bottom with added manure, then forked over the soil with more manure added and left it for winter.

[prakash_mib]

Lime will also help with the soil structure.  Just think about what you are going to plant where as some things will not appriciate the lime.
Keep adding organic matter.
The soil will always be on the heavy side but think of the advantages: water retension and nutrient availability.

will add lime where spuds not going this weekend. I am not too bothered with digging heavy soil now as I have some energy left and expect good produce which comes with the heavyness.