Converted Vegetable Garden to Raised Beds with Great Soil

Where I Went Wrong When I first Started My Garden 

Vege garden - moved into this old house 8 years ago - started garden on hard clay site. I've converted half to raised beds with great soil (lots of compost). But it's too rich for a lot of things (tomatoes grow lots of green - not too many tomatoes).Great for carrots, beets, celery, ... Although I've grown green manure crops over winter on the "native soil" and turned in, brought in compost and a neighbors horse manure, I still haven't improved the ground soil enough. That will take time.

What I Did to Fix It 

Still fixing - green manure over winter, neighbor's horse ****, although I'm "basically" organic, I use petro-fertilizer (long acting, lower acid, ...) to pump up production of the green manure crop - then back off as organic matter builds up in the soil.

Tips & tricks 

* For vegies,automatic timers on all watering systems. * For large plants like tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc: various plastic mulches (red, black, etc) with "T Tape" - tubes with slits every 6 inches, or 9 inches, etc. Very low tech, doesn't get stopped up, only problem is cracks that are easy to patch with Duct Tape. * For "mass" vegies like beets, greens, carrots, onions (the way I grow them) - water timer set 4 times during daylight with spray to keep seed bed moist, then less often and longer as they grow. * Row crops like corn - and my winter squash patch - again automatic watering - with LOTS of straw mulch.