peat moss ?

I had seen on youtube that adding peat moss to the soil can aid in alleviating hard compact soils. This seems like an interesting idea. I planted some shallots and mixed in some peat moss. I am considering doing something like that with groundnuts also as an experiment.  

Larz,

Yes, peat moss can loosen up clay—temporarily.  To really get clay to loosen up, try to get soil biota working.  This is everything from bacteria and fungi to earthworms.  Without the soil biota, the soil will compact back down to something as hard as bricks.

Speaking from experience, for years I kept collecting shredded leaves and tilling them into the soil—to no avail.  And I mean I collected HUGE amounts of leaves—3-4 4x8’ trailer loads packed 2.5-3’ tall.  All this was put into two beds measuring about 6x12’.  I did this for years yet the soil never loosened appreciably.

Turns out that I was scaring off worms and damaging important fungi strands in the process of tilling.  Eventually I discovered wood chips, just piled them on the top of the bed and never looked back.  After just 1winter it was already hard to tell where the chips stopped and the soil began.

Even better, I introduced some aggressive fungi to the chips and the resulting bedding is the best I have ever had.  Again, speaking from experience, getting biology in the soil counts for virtually everything!

So yes, peatmoss can help, but I strongly suggest piling matter on the surface and letting biology take over.

Good luck!

Eric

Larz, anything that you can put on top of the soil will improve it over time.

Wood chips, compost, leaves, etc.

While this thread doesn't pertain to you the post by Dr. Bryant Redhawk I am linking explains how it works.

https://permies.com/t/134715/Terrace-heavy-compaction#1057450

You might also enjoy his soil series:

https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil

The other thing to consider is peat it self.  There's a lot of controversy about peat removal destroying and unbalancing the ecosystem.  If you feel you must add something, maybe consider coco coir.  It's like peat, but a bi product from the coconut industry. I like the thought of using something that would be a waist produce, instead of taking something from nature.
Like Eric I have seen amazing results piling on the wood chips.  It's really quiet amazing to start with soil so hard and so dry in the summer weeds can't even grow. After a few months of about 8" to 12" of wood chips if I pulled the chips back the soil was darker, soft enough to dig in, and there are worms.  Even my family, who thought I had Lost my mind are now believers. I think of it like wood chips help nature heal itself..  good luck to you.