Soil, Mine, Continued...

Last Sunday we had a master gardener and his wife (our friends) over for early morning coffee and cornbread.
Visiting my raised beds Oot (his nickname) squatted down and picked up some dirt and immediately said it was no good. No surprise there; but he had/has a remedy.
Early that same afternoon we went over to his house which is located on a few acres (4 - 6 rai) of beautiful property. He does everything organically and mixes his own dirt. It should be noted here that in our area the "dirt" is riven with clay and when it's dried out is as hard as concrete. That said; his diagnosis of my problem is the clay and I haven't broken it up enough and thoroughly mixed it with humus. So, when my beds dry out they become raised concrete/soil beds. The result is the roots have no where to go. I confirmed that last week when I dug up and re-potted 2 of my bedded plants (2 Costa Rican Reds). They appear to be recovering in their new "homes".

Oot's formula for dirt is as follows:
1. Dig down 1 foot and break up the hard pan. Make it as fine as possible (nothing bigger than course salt).
2. Mix in an equal amount of milled cow manure and an equal amount of milled coconut coir.
3. The ratio of dirt, coir, and manure is 1:1:1.
4. The raised bed should go down 30cm (1 foot) below ground level and extend about 12-15cm (6 in.) above ground level.
5. Make the beds about 2 meters wide for planting a double row. Capsicum roots tend to spread out as opposed to going deep; so it's important not to make the beds too narrow.

I've started digging up my first new bed and even with the ground wet, it's still quite a job. I've got to toughen up my hands again; blisters are us. It's slow going at the moment.
I've laid in all of the supplies (milled manure and coir) and dug up about 2 sq. meters of bed.
It seems odd to begin all over again after 14 months of growing; but I'm confident I'm finally on the right track. Oot's capsicum are looking great (as they should) so I know he know's what he's doing.

I'll be following up on this thread as things develop and will post pictures where appropriate.
It's a new year and time for some new challenges. Cheers and Happy New Year.