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May 12, 2021 7:55 PM CST
Bellevue, NE
Late suggestion but I have clay as well and managed to grow a jungle of a garden last year. My garden is somewhat sloped. I created "trenches" around my plants, about 6-8 inches away from tomatoe and pepper stems and down the middle of the space between rows of beans. I then connected the trenches. The trenches allowed water to sink in slowly rather than run off quickly. I mulched with a thin layer of grass clippings, adding more as it decomposed. In the fall I added a few inches of mixed grass clippings and shredded leaves. Worms loved it. This year it was a little bit easier to dig in the top bit of soil. I just mixed in a few bags of garden soil. My plan is to repeat what I did last year, but add compost with the grass and leaves in the fall.

For watering, I mostly did it by hand. That allowed me to do a little at a time and let it soak in. Then repeat until I felt it got a good soak. I learned to not let it get so dry that water couldn't soak in. I found using fertilizer that could be applied when watering worked well.

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