Gardening

i started out w very little shitty, sandy soil, and a large hole from the house that had once been on the site.

you will be amazed how quickly it settles and rots. my piles were 4' high, and they have sunk by half in 4 years.
find someone in tree service in your area if you can, and make the base of some big logs. use plenty of woodchips to fill in. they will rot down to great soil in a couple years.

especially if you are using it to divert/soak up water, go as big as you can. i dont know how i would have done it w/o my bobcat. but go as big as you can.

one thing i didnt do that i plan to do this time is to seed the top layer heavily w shrooms. oysters are the go to because they are not that picky about species.
depending on the wood i get i might add others.
a heavy layer of straw on top might let you grow some wine caps.
fungi will help you a great deal. many types came in on the wood i used, so we are pretty lousy w mycelium.
but i plan to try to jump the new one w some good cash crop.

good luck.