Yard Make Over
I did measurements in my backyard. My backyard was almost 3,500 square feet. I was only using about 800 square feet. I knew the clay soil would be a challenge. I had to amend the soil. I used compost, vermiculite and peat moss so the soil could drain better. I looked into different methods of gardening. I looked into Lasagna Gardening, No Dig Gardening and the Bio-Intensive Gardening. I went with the Bio-Intensive Gardening instead. With the intensive gardening I had to do a "double dig". Double dig is when you dig down 2 feet deep. I was not happy about that but I knew it would be better for my clay soil situation. It's a lot of work but for me it was worth it. I wanted my veggies to have more room to grow with their roots. Instead of the roots spreading out, it would be better for the roots to grow deep down in the dirt because of more room for growing. This is why I went with this approach. I also read a book called "How To Grow More Vegetables. You can grow your veggies close together utilizing the growth space. It also cuts down on weeds.
I have also started a compost pile!!!! I am going to start a worm farm in a few more months. I want to have my own compost and fertilizer.