Can I dig it in?

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KGH
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Hi,
Last year I redid my vegetable garden and new garden soil was delivered. The soil became compressed by machine work and whilst it smelt manurish and has plenty of sand in it, I don’t think it was great soil to start with. On one half I dug in (about a foot deep) my own partially composted matter with lots of red worms and mulched the entire area with sterilized hay and straw after planting. They both sprouted (the straw more-so than the hay. I just pulled it out and left as more mulch. The side where no compost had been dug in, I believe was void of enough air. Nothing grew well in that soil. Plants were weirdly stunted and blemished. So my plan is to dig in and bury the compost again, and then go forward with covering the ground again. Any suggestions on whether you think I should continue to use hay or straw, or do you recommend other organic mulch? Incidentally, there were practically zero weeds where I mulched. Your comments and opinions are welcome before I dig in. :D
Danoost
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I wouldn't dig anything in. In copying nature, we only apply compost and mulch to the surface without any digging.

If I understand correctly, you applied and dug in compost on the one side and on the other side you didn't apply any compost. So was it the digging action that gave better results or the application of compost?

Red wrigglers don't survive buried in the ground. They're surface dwellers living in decomposing matter. This is the case for many organisms we find in our compost.

If you wanted to aerate very compacted soils you could use a fork or broad fork. This has been the approach of some gardeners to immediately trigger biological activity. I don't believe this is strictly necessary in most cases.

Hay and straw make good mulch. But weeds can be problematic.
KGH
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Thanks for replying.
The side with the dug in compost actually work better than the other side that had no compost at all just straw/hay for mulch. I think it had to do with one side having air from digging in the other side being compressed and having no air. I will use your idea of aerating using a pitchfork and then applying a compost layer on top of that. Next question is can the application be partially composted material full of red wrigglers, or should it be fully composted. Also is Hemlock/fir bark mulch good on vegetable gardens?
Danoost
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For vegetable gardens use composts that are quite broken down with less woodchips. You can use hemlock and fir chips but a good variety is always best.
KGH
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Thanks :D
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