I'm having an issue with my soil in my garden box, particularly the one closest to the house. My garden boxes are set in a portion of my yard that gets sunlight all day. They are surrounded by light colored river rock, and the heat gets really intense and can reflect off of the house. Usually, this isn't an issue, because my tomatoes love the heat so I have started putting them in the same spot in the box closest to my house where it is the hottest. Problem is that tomatoes are nutrient hogs, and even though the last few years I have put quite a bit of (free from the town) compost in the box, I am having an issue with the soil becoming hygrophobic/unable to take in water. Internet searches have led me to see that this is because the soil needs more nutrients/organic matter and some really, really deep watering.
I have been planning to put in drip irrigation for more watering efficiency (currently using hand watering), but I think I will also build the remaining two boxes I have planned for that area and transfer a bunch of the old soil to the new boxes to mix with some good purchased compost, as maybe the township compost isn't of the highest quality. Then I will top/mix in some additional compost to the current bed that is experiencing soil issues. I also always use straw mulch for water retention, but over the winter the wind tends to blow it off so I think the dry winter this year added to the problem.
Anyway, if I get my additional beds built then I am going to install that drip irrigation system I have been intending to do for years, I think it will really help things out!
Ugh, this is the nitpicky detailed stuff that annoys me about gardening. I just want to plant things in the ground and watch them grow, not have to do daily problem solving.