What's the best way (and cheapest) to fix a bad soil? I've got a bit of land that's 30 feet square or so that I'd like to have working for spring. I don't have a lot of $ though- is it possible to do a QUICK compost? Let's consider the budget for this project at around $50 or so. The soil is clay, with mostly gravel right now. I realize that I'll have to remove the gravel.

Compost is going to be your best friend. I've done this before, but you have to get started NOW. Time is already against you. Get as much brown waste as you can (leaves are a good source of this), and combine it with 10% green waste (kitchen waste will work). Combine as much as you can find into a compost hole, then cover that hole with a clear tarp (with a small hole to allow air to still come in). This should get things warm enough to work. Finally, go and buy some bait worms, or better yet red worms. Dump these guys in their new home, and keep it watered down good. Introduce the worms on a warmer day, so that they can safely burrow into the pile to keep warm. Red worms are least likely to "run away", and they're always hungry.

The trick is to get as much of this good compost as possible, and remove at least 8" of the bad soil. Move that to another location, and in the spring buy some cheap potting soil, or worm castings to make up the difference in the soil.

It's not too late if you start right now.

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I've got a bit of a green thumb, and would have to agree on the compost idea. Get as much of it available as you can- just don't make your pile where your garden is. The reason for that is because the pile might not be 100% composted when you plant. If it isn't 100% composted, the Nitrogen deficiencies and heat from the compost pile may kill the seeds or plants.

The best way to speed up composting besides introducing worms is to cover the compost pile, and cut up the material used for compost. Although tedious, the composting process will be much quicker if the material is smaller, and always kept moist. You might not be able to find leaves at this time of year, but you can also use shredded newspaper (the ink is soy based, so it's not dangerous), and kitchen waste. Make sure to keep it at 10% green stuff to 90% brown stuff, by weight. You might be able to get away with more green stuff though, since it is colder out now.

Composting is one of my favorite parts of gardening! I'm currently in the process of learning everything I can about compost. One of the main things the experts say is that it takes patience, more than anything, and shouldn't be regarded as a "quick fix" for bad soil.

The answer for your soil will depend on what's wrong with it in the first place, so it might be a good idea to invest in a home soil-pH testing kit, available for pretty cheap online or at garden centers. Here's a Rapitest kit for only $3: http://plantitearth.com/store/product.a ... gle&pid=37

Good luck!

If "quick" is the key word, then you need to just buy some soil amendments, like fertilizers. There's no shame in giving your soil that quick boost while you get a composting "cycle" set up.