Derek Mielke

North Central Florida

The rain recently is sparse, but not drought conditions. Winter growing is possible here, I do it myself on my setup, and that's his intention too. He's trying to prepare the beds for planting in early September.
I should also note that the mulch is a medium grade hardwood.

It's a question of whether the manure & mulch should be tilled into the existing sand?

Thanks

I'm currently helping a friend get a garden started, it's a typical backyard scenario with a small number of beds.

The problem though is that soil in this situation is nonexistent, it was amended once or twice sometime before, but is currently pure sand and will not retain any water at all
We've since put down two inches of manure, followed by two inches of mulch. However, this has made it worse by acting like a sponge to soak up any water given, leaving the sand beneath completely dry at all times.

I dislike tilling, and tilling in mulch is not typical, but obviously the current is not working; so should we till in the manure & mulch?

Thanks.