Sounds like my area, lol. Clay 5cm down, orchards and vinyards just a few km away. I've got my girl right in the ground, and she's doing pretty well. Clay has a lot of nutrients, it's just harder for the plant to get them. You'd want to get mycorrhizal spores. Mycorrhizae put out a lot of really fine root like hyphae which grow faster than plant roots, and can penetrate and loosen up really dense clay allowing the roots to grow into it. They also extract nutrients from it and transfer them to the plant in exchange for the sugars the plant produces. I start my seeds in promix herb & vegetabe mix as it has spores added to it. That way the plant has been colonized from the start. The pic is from Aug 17th, she's even bigger now. I like the idea of raised beds, allows you to put some better soil on top, better drainage, easier to amend in the fall or spring.
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