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I live near Portland, OR and have finished constructing some raised beds (2 ft high). I put lawn debris and branches on the bottom 1/3, compost and recycled soil in the middle 2/3, and got lazy and just dumped bags of potting soil on the top 1/3. As fall approaches, I'll be building hoop houses over each bed so I can garden year round (it will be first time winter gardening, aside from some rogue brussel sprouts and brocoli that survived last year, so I hope it goes well).
My recycled soil was kind of clay like, and it's a recurring problem on my property. I've heard that incorporating organic material into clay-like soil helps, but I still have TONS of little clay 'nuggest' about 1-4 inches in diameter.
So I have two questions:
1) How do I get rid of clay nuggets, should I just remove them when I spot them?
2) What should I be starting from seed RIGHT now? I'm transplanting peas, tomatoes, peppers and squash into my beds tonight, but I want to start preparing for the next cycle.