I have a lot of clay soil---

We have been using alfalfa-- newspapers--leaves,kitchen scraps and lots of coffee grounds from Starbucks

We now have lots of worms and the soil is very easy to work.

Good Luck,

Florence

Check out this site for the extension office in your county, dig down 6" and take a sampling from 6-10 locations in the area you want tested, mix all of the samplings together in a bucket, take a 2 cup sampling and put in a ziploc bag and take to the the extension office and ask for a soil test. Make sure you tell them what you will be planting in the soil, in a couple of weeks you will receive a print out in the mail of what your soils Ph is and other pertinent information including what amendments to make and how much.

www.extension.psu.edu/

Another option is to make raised beds ontop of the clay. The only way to find good top soil is to go and look at it yourself before buying and having delivered (if you don't have access to a truck). I have access to a truck so I've been purchasing compost or mushroom compost (for top dressing only or to be worked into an existing bed).

Good luck, and remember there is always container gardening.

Mine too! We moved into our home one year ago, and our builder gave us 2" of top soil which quickly washed away. Now I have bright red clay soil. I have not seen a single earthworm!! But I am keeping the faith that compost will eventually do its job. If you hear a "hallelujah" from Lancaster County you'll know I saw my first earthworm!! So, you are not alone, but it may take awhile to get that gorgeous dark, loamy soil we all covet.

The coffee grounds attracts earth worms, and the worms build the quality of the soil.

I've seen fairly useless soil improve greatly in twelve month's time due to the coffee grounds & earth worms.

How to check for good topsoil: If you can feel it, if it is granular, don't get it. I forget why, can someone else comment on that?

Getting topsoil can be risky - it's often loaded with weed seeds. It would be better to keep adding organic material: the coffee grounds already mentioned, dead leaves in fall, compost, aged manure. A really nice trick is to take your organic waste from the kitchen and garden and bury it in your beds. It will rot very quickly and make a huge difference in the soil quality.

As for reading your test results, pop over to the Soil forum here and ask for help. There are some extremely knowledgeable people in there. And it's a very active forum, so you'll get quick answers.

Janet's Garden

All good advice. Karen mentioned the soil test. That is the place to start. The test runs about $10.00 and is invaluable as a starting point. Have your soil tested by late fall, so there is time to correct your soil before spring of next year, for the most part. You can get a soil test done anytime. In the results, you will receive the content analysis of your soil: soil nutrient levels, recommendations to remedy pH, calcium, and magnesium levels and at what rate, the CEC number (which measures your soil's ability to hold nutrients), and other measurements and recommendations. The test asks what type of garden you are targeting, ie veggie, woodland, flowers, etc..., so the recommendatons are targeted to that particular type of garden. If you have different garden area, like a veggie area and flower beds, you should do individual soil tests for those areas.
The Penn State Ag Analytical Lab site is: www.aasl.psu.edu
You can request the soil test kits through your county extension office.
Trish