Actually, clay, plus coarse sand, plus organic matter…and you end up with some pretty good stuff…
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Yes, “coarse” being the operative term…
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At least you have a perfect climate. We have to battle 4 seasons.most of it horrible 
Just plant a couple of palm trees and call it a day 
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I should take half a day off tomorrow and till my garden. It is always difficult to till in the spring because it is so wet plus clay based soil. We have been without rain for better than a week so now is my chance. Rain starts Friday.
…and yes I get as much enjoyment watching my soil improve as I do growing things. Most years I dump a load of horse manure on it. All my kitchen scraps and leaves go in as well as rotten wood and fire pit ashes.
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Lol, my neighbor has a couple of palm trees right next to the property line. He has to have the professional tree trimmers out 3 times as often as I do to have the dried fronds cut off the stupid palms, since they’re way too tall for him to reach. Aside from the fact that I think they’re ugly, palms take more maintenance than you would think.
Believe me, I am thankful for the mild (but not perfect–we don’t get enough rain to be perfect) climate.
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If i remember correctly, palms aren’t even native to California? I like the look of them because they give that tropical vibe, but the good ones are the coconut palms which i think only start occurring naturally south into mexico. You should tell your neighbor to get rid of the palms and grow bananas.
All that rain we get is good for the bugs, disease and flooding. I’m giving up on grape tomatoes because they just explode after a good rain.
Raised beds work nice. I built some out of cinderblocks (probably cheaper now with lumber being worth more then gold)…then just fill in with some quality soil.
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Well, my neighbor is in his 90’s, so he’s past the point where he wants to make big changes in his yard. As for the bananas, I got some last year. So far, they aren’t doing great. I think they would like more heat than we get. A hot day here is 80 degrees F.
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I’ll get a pic later. My soil is of two types. Fruits and veggies in the back grow in a nice loam with some sandy traits (dries out a bit faster than I prefer). Naturally quite acidic (5ish pH) but with lime, compost, etc it is now a nice 6.5 with 8% organic matter and a good nutrient profile.
Out front I have a heavier (silty with some clay) soil. Better nutrient profile and more neutral pH (around 6). However, it’s MUD all winter if not frozen, and takes a long time to dry out.
i only dream to have soil like you guys have. if i took a pic of mine you would ask how the hell do you grow anything in that? fist sized rocks and hard clay. everything i grow other than cane fruit is in raised beds.
You people displaying your dirt porn are making me crazy. 
Have pity on those of us who aren’t so well endowed.
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If you have drainage and you have moisture, you can make any soil work for you with some effort. The biggest challenge I ever faced was trying to garden in poor sand in Florida.
Rocky hillsides or clay mud I can handle.
*And raised beds work almost everywhere.
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Don’t be ashamed of your dirt! All soil is beautiful.
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You must be pretty close to the ocean?
I dug a big hole (in my garden bed) and threw all my yard waste from last fall in it and then buried soil on top…I tamp it down and rake it as flat as i can get it/cardboard and then woodchips. Nice clean way to get rid of it//the worms will have a nice meal or 2. What does happen is it will settle and sink some over time so i try to keep it a little high to begin with to compensate. Frost is out of the ground here and already saw a lot of worms.
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Yes, I’m a mile or so from the ocean. I can’t see it from my house, but I can hear the surf.
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This is my much improved and brought to life clay soil. Three worms in my first shovel full when i first moved in i dug two cubic yard sized holes and only found three earthworms in total so things are much better now.
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Looks good!
The wood that borders my beds looks terrible after 9 years, I may just remove it and leave as is. Thanks for pointing that out.
Nice contrast here between the native soil and the commercial “garden soil” (mostly compost and aged manure, plus a little sand and native soil), which I’m adding to this planting hole to increase organic matter:
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