Field Notes / What I'd Plant This Week on the Gulf Coast (Late July)
Field Notes

Building Real Garden Soil on Texas Clay

Late July feels like the garden's dead season, but it's secretly the most important planting week of the year — fall starts NOW. Here's my actual list.

J By Jordan Polasek · September 9, 2026 · El Campo, TX

By Jordan Polasek · September 9, 2026

Texas hands you either brick-hard clay or water-shedding sand, and both feel hopeless the first year. The good news: the same simple habit turns either one into dark, crumbly, living soil. It just takes a couple seasons of feeding it.

Feed the soil, not just the plant

Compost, shredded leaves, and mulch are the whole game. Clay: organic matter opens it up so water and roots move through. Sand: it acts like a sponge that finally holds water and nutrients. Same amendment, opposite problems solved.

Stop tilling, start topping

Lay 2–3 inches of compost and mulch on top and let the worms work it down. Tilling burns up organic matter and wrecks the soil life you’re trying to build. Patience beats a rototiller here every time.

Happy growing, y’all. Got a Texas gardening or homesteading question? Come back tomorrow — there’s a fresh post here every day.


“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who gives the growth.” — 1 Corinthians 3:7

Around our little corner of the internet: BVTech.org · JordanPolasek.com · In Remembrance of Autumn 🐾

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