A HARD CLAY SOIL

(Music: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, Lennon-McCartney) (info./disclaimers) (glossary) (index) (gardening guide)

I've got a hard, clay soil
And I've been working like a dog
To add humus so that when it rains
I've got a garden, not a bog
But when the dry season comes
Instead of fertile, rich crumbs
It's still like a concrete log

You know I work all day
Digging ditches, adding mulch
I've tried forking, and been known to pray
For soil imported from Green Gulch
But when I get home at night
I know the garden's alright
As our veggie bin starts to bulge

When I'm home everything seems to be right
When I'm home -- but then I'm dreaming of bentonite, -nite, yeah

There are more nutrients in heavy clay
Than in pure sand, which drains too fast
But if I could really have my way
I'd like a loam that's made to last
I'd leave these harsh hillsides for
The fertile valley floor
A garden there would be a blast
Ow!

I'd leave these harsh hillsides for
The fertile valley floor
A garden there would be a blast 

When I'm home everything seems to be right
When I'm home -- but then I'm dreaming of bentonite, -nite, yeah

I've got a hard, clay soil
And I'll be working it 'til I rot
'Cause in pleasure and in toil
What you've got is what you've got
So at the end of the day
I'll still be feeling ok
'Cause I've been doing what I ought

I've been doing what I ought
I've been doing what I ought

Comments: Humus is a brown or black organic substance resulting from the decay of vegetable or animal matter. Crumbs are aggregates of soil particles -- the bigger the better, for water and air infiltration. Mulch refers to a material applied to the surface of the soil, in this case to provide nutrients and organic matter. (It can also prevent evaporation of moisture, reduce weeds, or moderate, raise, or reduce soil temperature.) Loam is a benevolent mixture of sand (large particles of disintegrated rock, often silicate), clay (fine particles), silt (intermediate-size particles), and organic matter. Green Gulch is a Zen Meditation Center with enviable garden soil. Bentonite is a type of clay used to line ponds, dams, and the "homesteader's bathtub." It's extraordinarily important to understand that the Beetless are a product of their time and their place. The time: an interlude between ice ages, though "hothouse earth" is a wildcard. The place: a hard clay soil. Like all homes, like life itself, this soil inspires a love-hate relationship that the Beetless have been trying for a long time to express eloquently.

 
Excerpted from The Beetless' Gardening Book: An Organic Gardening Songbook/Guidebook, copyright 1997 by Chris Roth (info./disclaimers) (glossary) (index) (gardening guide)