[quote=bearishgurl] LOL, eavesdropper, I, too, have been attempting to break up hard clay today, with #50 sunscreen on and aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome in effort to plant more water-storing succulents.

I’m not a pot user but have considered trying to get a pot-growing license, for medicinal use, to supplement my income. Given our current powers-that-be, I’m probably located in the wrong county for that – LOL!!

I’m not counting on SS either, and am most likely in your same demographic. It’s sad, because we’ve already put so much $$ into SS on our own behalf!!

Your environment sounds bucolic to me![/quote]

The funny thing is that our place in central Virginia is in a county that is famous for some of the finest quality pot out there. It is a big agricultural area, and if you treat the soil properly, it can produce some amazing stuff. Lots of apple and peach orchards. Lots of grapes – all different varieties – some for local wineries. We can get grass-fed beef and free-range chicken from neighbors, and incredible cheeses from other farmers. The rivers come right out of the mountains, and are stocked with trout, rockfish, and bass. There’s a strong local movement to buy and eat what the county’s farmers produce, and to patronize restaurants and stores that sell it. I really like that.

It IS incredibly bucolic there. 3 hours from DC, and I’m in a completely different world and mindset. Unfortunately, I only get down there once or twice a month for a couple days. Last summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 10 days there. That’s when I put the perennial garden in.

It’s just a little 1,000 sf farmhouse where we’d like to be able to retire to one day. In the meantime, I treasure every hour that I manage to spend there. The nice thing about living in the crazy DC suburbs is that I really value the time when I can escape.

As for the clay, I’ve lived all over, and NEVER come across anything like this soil. Unbelieveable!! A geologist would probably love it, though. Lots of mineral deposits.