Think about adding something like vermiculite or coco coir for fluffing up the heavy clay soil.

This is outside of my raised beds: My soil is really compacted clay as well. Plants don't build deep roots and the soil gets super water logged. I am working with straw and my own compost to kind of add some organics. I'm also using deep layers of wood chips that will eventually break down.

I hope this isn't unwelcome advice, but this is a vegan gardening community:

I practice veganic gardening (as much as is possible - I'm sure my triple mix had some animal manure in it) so I don't have direct experience with using manure in my beds. I do want to flag that mixing top soil with manure has a few potential downsides:

1. It's probably not going to drain very well. You will likely need to add something to bulk it up.
2. There are a few hazards associated with using animal wastes as fertilizer. I'll spare you the lecture, pathogens, etc but you do risk having too much nitrogen and "burning" your plants.

If you google raised bed soil recipe or something like that, you will find ideal ratios for different components that will allow good draining and aeration.

I bought some corrugated metal beds and I've liked them for the couple of years I've had them.

The biggest lesson learned is that 4ft is too far to reach comfortably. I put a trellis arch between two of them and they are too deep to really reach the middle.

Mine are 3 ft deep. I filled them with logs and sticks and then added triple mix. A few years in they are pretty compacted, I will need to get a lot more compost in them. I am experimenting with adding straw for bulk.

I see a lot of honey in 'plant based' foods.

This is what plant based capitalism gets us - selling products to a wider audience vs the struggle for animal liberation.

Omg, that whole plate looks amazing. I need to find some fresh corn 🌽

This is an excellent comment! I wanted to add that commercially produced carnist cat food has supplemental taurine added to it already, so switching to a plant based food isn't introducing a new and 'exotic' ingredient.

This looks glorious.

It sounds like magical thinking.

It sounds like you didn't bother to take a cursory look before asserting your incomplete knowledge of food science.

https://www.usarice.com/thinkrice/detail-pages/blog/sprouted-rice-explained

In the sprouting process (AKA germination), the rice kernel converts some of its internal starches into healthy amino acids. That makes the percentage of the other nutrients in every single rice grain higher. This is especially true for the beneficial GABA (Gamma Aminobutyric Acid) that is found in abundance in rice after the sprouting process.

If industry orgs aren't scientific enough for you, you could always try searching papers on the topic. Oh, like this one maybe?

2.5 years clean of paying for flower

~~and my axe~~

er...you can count on me!

People have refused to see the hideous cruelty of animal death factories since they began. I hope that they don't refuse to see the immense suffering that will extend far beyond their walls with zoonotic diseases if they are allowed to continue.

On the other hand, people are also happy to kill themselves slowly for momentary pleasure so my hopes aren't high 😭

Sounds like a thousand island dressing base and this intrigues me 👀