Turn it over working steer manure in``` If you see and add on craigslist for free horse flower~ go for a trailer full and work it in~ horse isn't strong like chicken and will benefit your soil```
If you soil had been too acid or alkaline~ you would know it by now~ but you can buy a low cost test kit~ if you would like```
good luck and welcome```You can tell us about your garden~ wouldn't hurt```
Richard
Hi~didn't realize I was talking to a lady~ we're happy to have you come by```
Howdy neighbor, I'm just across the border from you outside of Prairie Grove. Glad you found us.
First thing I'd do is call your county extension office and ask them what it takes to get a soils analysis. That will tell you the pH (acidic or alkaline) plus give you some recommendations on how to fix it if it needs fixing. It will also tell you how you stand on certain nutrients. Here in Arkansas it's free, I don't know about Oklahoma.
The best thing you can do for poor soil is add organic material. If you have access to any kind of animal poop put it on pretty thick and dig it in. By spring when it's time to plant it will have broken down enough. You can also work in organic material like dead leaves or grass trimmings as long as you do it now.
I think any serious gardener should have a compost pile. There are lots of ways to go about that, but compost is pure gold for growing anything.
During the growing season use a lot of organic mulch. As it breaks down it will enrich your soil.
Basically any way you can add organic material is a good thing to do.
any organic materials you can mulch with and/or bury will help it along eventually.
what kind of dirt do you have? how large an area are we talking about? what do you want to grow there?
depending upon your rainfall and growing season spreading manures can be useful, but i would make sure they are also buried to prevent surface water flows or wind-erosion moving things around. i try to think of the entire system/area and what i'm doing.
i'm a firm believer in keeping things simple, low cost and efficient. like if i have a large area i might only put amendments under or around certain plantings because not all plants are heavy feeders and often you can get several years out of amendments if you rotate plant crops.
Welcome Toppers! Tell us more about garden so that we may get to know you. What do you grow? Any chickens? Pictures would be great. I agree with what has been said. Just keep adding horse manure, wood chips, leaves, compost, etc. It will take a couple of years before you have really good soil.
Welcome from the Tyler Texas area. Ditto to all the above. We moved 3 years ago to pure sand for soil and are working to make it better. One winter we raised 3 pigs in the garden! We use compost and wood chips. Post pictures! We love pictures!