posted 3 years ago
Yeah, I agree that you are on the right track. The more compost and manure that you add, the faster you will build up a healthy soil. Biochar might be helpful, as it should help prevent nutrients from leaching away, and also loosens heavy clay soil. If your climate allows, you can plant cool-season nitrogen fixers like clover and then incorporate them in the spring before planting your crops. Avoiding tillage is a good goal, and in theory it should be possible to mow down a cover crop an leave the residue on the surface to work itself in. Some will re-sprout from the root though, so you might have to experiment with what works best for your garden.
I will also say that I have seen tremendous gains from using urine, especially in the spring and early summer. I just fill a watering can halfway with water, and set it up somewhere out of the way with a little funnel over it. It does not smell great, but what fertilizer does? You need to be really careful not to get it on the leaves of tender young plants.