New form CA

[Linny]

Hello...I'm new here but have been gardening for 40+ years on our acre in Walnut Creek, CA. We have chickens, deer, ground squirrels, rabbits, opossums, racoons, and hard as a rock clay soil! I am an avid birder and am passionate about creating habitat for birds and pollinators. I use plants native to CA whenever possible.
My current question: My newly planted broccoli lost many of their new leaves to a ground squirrel. Is there a chance they'll pull through?

 

[cpp gardener]

Welcome to the group!
As long as there are still leaves, they will pull through.
A good thick layer of mulch does wonders for workability of clay soil. It’s still a process, but over time it gets easier. Let worms and bugs do the mixing in and just add more as it decomposes.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Welcome to the forum.
I am in E. Sussex on Weald clay. I have been here four years now, I pick up the clay balls that accumulate when I hoe and every time I have a bonfire I make sure it can burn hot and add a couple of buckets of dry clay. The terracotta it produces and the wood ash make a really good addition that is starting to make a real difference. The other thing I am doing a small section at a time is lifting off the top soil, digging out a layer of clay and putting it around the edge of the bed, then replacing it with wood and putting the soil back on top, amending it a bit as I do so. That makes a slightly raised bed, and a big difference.