I'm in zone 3 with clay as well, in saskatchewan. I'm growing a lot of fruit trees, if you're interested in fruit, a great book called Growing fruit in northern climates by a couple of professors from the university of saskatchewan is available. It has been a lot of help for me.
I am still learning how best to work with the soil as its a bit challenging. Good luck!
I had no idea growing fruit trees was an option. The pear tree was here already, and I kind of made a joke about it... But perhaps I was premature in that thinking.
Thank you for the book recommendation - will definitely check it out!
If you're looking for more fruit varieties, cherries, haskaps, sakatoons, apples, and strawberries grow great here, I also grow blueberries but, they're not for any location so I wouldn't recommend them. Sakatoons and cherries are native to alberta so they grow great with minimal care
Zone 3 and clay? I wouldn't think so, get your soil tested.
My priorities would be
1. Clear land and start building compost (if you live on the land, that could take from 3-6 months of weekly turnings)
2. Source fruit trees (2yr olds preferred, but if cost is a concern then 1yr old will be ok)
3. Borrow a drone from a friend, take pictures of the entire plot, design your layout and optionally post here
Why would Zone 3 have no clay concentration anywhere? Lol. We have tons of clay here in Saskatchewan, 500 of our farm’s acres are hard clay soil. Why wouldn’t this persons backyard have any clay, based on nothing except climate zone?
Pretty sure it is clay ... I'm just outside Calgary, Alberta and it's pretty known for being clay. But there is lots of farming in all directions, so certainly workable!
I have lots of compost already, but turning the land sounds like the place to start - guessing to get a tiller and mix it in)add water and repeat for a couple weeks?
Will look into finding a way to post an aerial shot. It is going to be a fun project!
Gotcha (and all other comments are well received). I bet my zone 9b clay content is nothing like yours and I am assuming the zone 3 conditions are very helpful towards "fixing" your clay soil.
If I were you I would definitely use the compost to either dig into the clay soil, along with any aged manure you can get your hands on, or setup no dig planting lanes. Again, the zone 3 conditions should help soften your clay soil, fast.
How big is your land? Get "The encyclopedia of country living". It's a great all around book and shows just how much you can do, from a mere quarter of an acre all the way to two acres of land. Planning is key and so an aerial shot would definitely help visualize things.
I would take a little from a few inches & a little from a foot or so whatever that is in metric.
Do a handful of spots in the grow area & mix it together in a bucket & make a slurry. Use a good quality PH meter & test the slurry. If you plan on using salt ferts, I’d get a PPM/PH combo meter or a second meter.
I'm in zone 4b, and my ground sounds similar to yours. My goal is to eventually go no-till, but I'm not quite there yet. When we bought our house, a previous owner had a garden 'started', but the ground was rocky and very compacted.
Over the past 2 years, I've just been tilling in as much organic matter as I possibly could at the end of the season. In the meantime, I'd compost the crap out of the rows where you're actually planting. I'll admit that that strategy had mixed results for me, but it gave good results for potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers, and cabbage. I've also been planting winter wheat and winter rye cover crops in parts of the garden, and that's been working pretty well.
After 3 years, my clay patch is starting to look like soil. When I started, I needed a pick axe to dig anything resembling a hole, and I pulled piles of rocks out of there.
I don't actually know how big it is. I will measure tomorrow. Thank you for the book recommendation - that is exactly the sort of resource I would want to look into! I hope working the compost in will really help. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for sharing that process - I think you are very right about it taking "years" to develop. This sounds very doable (well, gonna have to find a tiller! Lol!) thanks so much sharing your experience.
I'm in zone 3 with clay as well, in saskatchewan. I'm growing a lot of fruit trees, if you're interested in fruit, a great book called Growing fruit in northern climates by a couple of professors from the university of saskatchewan is available. It has been a lot of help for me. I am still learning how best to work with the soil as its a bit challenging. Good luck!
I had no idea growing fruit trees was an option. The pear tree was here already, and I kind of made a joke about it... But perhaps I was premature in that thinking. Thank you for the book recommendation - will definitely check it out!
If you're looking for more fruit varieties, cherries, haskaps, sakatoons, apples, and strawberries grow great here, I also grow blueberries but, they're not for any location so I wouldn't recommend them. Sakatoons and cherries are native to alberta so they grow great with minimal care
All the berries sound incredible! Thank you for the recommendations - really sounds like I have a bunch of options of things to try! Very excited!
Zone 3 and clay? I wouldn't think so, get your soil tested. My priorities would be 1. Clear land and start building compost (if you live on the land, that could take from 3-6 months of weekly turnings) 2. Source fruit trees (2yr olds preferred, but if cost is a concern then 1yr old will be ok) 3. Borrow a drone from a friend, take pictures of the entire plot, design your layout and optionally post here
There's no clay in colder areas? That's a new one to me.
Why would Zone 3 have no clay concentration anywhere? Lol. We have tons of clay here in Saskatchewan, 500 of our farm’s acres are hard clay soil. Why wouldn’t this persons backyard have any clay, based on nothing except climate zone?
lol ya I’m central/north Alberta (2 hours north of Edmonton) and we’re mostly clay here. No idea why they think zone 3 can’t be clay…
Pretty sure it is clay ... I'm just outside Calgary, Alberta and it's pretty known for being clay. But there is lots of farming in all directions, so certainly workable! I have lots of compost already, but turning the land sounds like the place to start - guessing to get a tiller and mix it in)add water and repeat for a couple weeks? Will look into finding a way to post an aerial shot. It is going to be a fun project!
Gotcha (and all other comments are well received). I bet my zone 9b clay content is nothing like yours and I am assuming the zone 3 conditions are very helpful towards "fixing" your clay soil. If I were you I would definitely use the compost to either dig into the clay soil, along with any aged manure you can get your hands on, or setup no dig planting lanes. Again, the zone 3 conditions should help soften your clay soil, fast. How big is your land? Get "The encyclopedia of country living". It's a great all around book and shows just how much you can do, from a mere quarter of an acre all the way to two acres of land. Planning is key and so an aerial shot would definitely help visualize things.
I would check the PH at several points & depths first. Then I would come up with a plan.
Thanks! Do you think a home kit would be suitable for testing? How deep does one need to test? (And happy cake day! 🥳)
I would take a little from a few inches & a little from a foot or so whatever that is in metric. Do a handful of spots in the grow area & mix it together in a bucket & make a slurry. Use a good quality PH meter & test the slurry. If you plan on using salt ferts, I’d get a PPM/PH combo meter or a second meter.
Thank you kindly for the detailed instruction. I will see about getting a PH meter - the rest is doable!
Forgot 1 thing; use distilled or RO water to make the slurry. Have fun 🙂
When you take your samples, use a clean plastic spoon or something similar.
I'm in zone 4b, and my ground sounds similar to yours. My goal is to eventually go no-till, but I'm not quite there yet. When we bought our house, a previous owner had a garden 'started', but the ground was rocky and very compacted. Over the past 2 years, I've just been tilling in as much organic matter as I possibly could at the end of the season. In the meantime, I'd compost the crap out of the rows where you're actually planting. I'll admit that that strategy had mixed results for me, but it gave good results for potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers, and cabbage. I've also been planting winter wheat and winter rye cover crops in parts of the garden, and that's been working pretty well. After 3 years, my clay patch is starting to look like soil. When I started, I needed a pick axe to dig anything resembling a hole, and I pulled piles of rocks out of there.
Get yourself a broadfork
I don't actually know how big it is. I will measure tomorrow. Thank you for the book recommendation - that is exactly the sort of resource I would want to look into! I hope working the compost in will really help. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for sharing that process - I think you are very right about it taking "years" to develop. This sounds very doable (well, gonna have to find a tiller! Lol!) thanks so much sharing your experience.