Hello, im from Indiana

[FreyaLeeAnn25]

moved to Sullivan in December onto 20 acres and am finding out the ground is horrible. it is hard grey clay. i have always had a garden and now I can't get anything to grow. when i was tilling a spot and found the horrible stuff in the ground I have tested other spots, same thing.
so, I am hoping I can get other ideals from here.
I have chickens, 16 hens 3 roosters and so far, 20 chicks. planning on getting some goats again and a couple cows.
I have 4 dogs, and 4 Prairie dogs.3 adult kids that have their own families now.
looking forward to chatting with and learning with the good people here.

 

[Blueberry Acres]

Welcome to TEG, @FreyaLeeAnn25. Glad to have you here!

 

[flowerbug]

welcome to TEG from mid-Michigan, we have a fair amount of clay here too.

i try to stay out of the gardens as much as possible when they are too wet, it's a mess and i often spend more time scraping dirt off the garden tools than actually getting much done.

avoid running animals and equipment on the wet ground, keep it covered with growing things and don't let your animals overgraze it down to nothing. once it gets compacted it is harder to recover.

whatever organic materials you can put in there will help, but some garden vegetables may not need a large amount. it can take several years to really notice a difference, patience...

if you are just starting out you have the benefit of figuring out where your water flows, wind and sunlight are at and also can avoid putting in hardscape projects until you know where you want the garden. which also lets you possibly bring in materials if needed without having to move them in a wheelbarrow at a time. also helps to plan your paths and access roads to spots before fences or other things happen.

i always advise people to put the garden as close to the house as possible because then it means you'll be more likely to take care of it and enjoy more harvests while also discouraging some of the predators that may otherwise eat of it.

fences are the best thing i've done for some critters. good fences. tall enough to keep deer out. don't grow things on them and keep any weeds from getting going along them because then you may not notice someone burrowing under or may also be providing easy things to help some critters climb over.

raccoons are all around us. we don't even bother to try to grow sweet corn here...

just some notes that come to mind.

 

[Dahlia]

moved to Sullivan in December onto 20 acres and am finding out the ground is horrible. it is hard grey clay. i have always had a garden and now I can't get anything to grow. when i was tilling a spot and found the horrible stuff in the ground I have tested other spots, same thing.
so, I am hoping I can get other ideals from here.
I have chickens, 16 hens 3 roosters and so far, 20 chicks. planning on getting some goats again and a couple cows.
I have 4 dogs, and 4 Prairie dogs.3 adult kids that have their own families now.
looking forward to chatting with and learning with the good people here.

Welcome to the forum from the Pacific Northwest!

 

[ducks4you]

from Central IL! Please put your general location, Indiana, and zone, bc I will forget where you live once your start posting.
@flowerbug is right.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Al the soil was hard pack clay soil here to. I gave up trying the amend the soil since my garden is a few acres. I began to have dump truck loads of mushroom compost delivered for built up beds. Years later it’s all good .

 

[Vanalpaca]

moved to Sullivan in December onto 20 acres and am finding out the ground is horrible. it is hard grey clay. i have always had a garden and now I can't get anything to grow. when i was tilling a spot and found the horrible stuff in the ground I have tested other spots, same thing.
so, I am hoping I can get other ideals from here.
I have chickens, 16 hens 3 roosters and so far, 20 chicks. planning on getting some goats again and a couple cows.
I have 4 dogs, and 4 Prairie dogs.3 adult kids that have their own families now.
looking forward to chatting with and learning with the good people here.

Plant daikon radish, let it grow, then as it nears maturity, chop the tops down and tarp it. Let it rot 2 weeks. Now you can plant it with crops. That's how the market gardeners handle clay. This radish is much larger than a big carrot and nicely opens the ground. You can plant medium red clover in areas you want to garden in the future and it will break those areas up for you over a season. Good luck!