Wow! What good luck to have found you glazenerd! Thank you so much for the great information.
You guessed it, I live in California, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. Muck is the right word for this dirt! It's nearly impossible to dig, because it sticks to the shovel with so much tenacity!
I have been drying, slaking down, sieving, and wedging. Is there a better method? I had some bone dry, so it was easy to weigh out and add neph syn and om4. I can't wait to try it!
If I fire out the organics, can I do this before slaking and sieving? There will be some rocks in there, but it would streamline the process if I didn't have to dry it out twice.
Thanks again for all the information. I didnt have a clue of where to begin, and now I have somewhere to start.