One of the ongoing struggles that I encounter is soil quality. Mine is crush granite. An absolutely terrible soil for growing things.
All the experts talk about soil amendments and improvements. I am annually working organic materials into my garden beds. My first choice is composted chicken manure and coop cleanings. It is something that I have plenty of. When I lived in the Midwest I could flip a couple fully worked compost piles a year. Here even with diligent work the high altitude makes it much harder with less oxygen, drier environment, cold nights, and short season it really does take nearly two years to get a batch ready for use. These are the only compost piles that the worms never move in to, and I think it is because no worms reside in the soil around my house. Then once I add it to any garden bed or dress any tree in only a couple years any thing that I add is fully absorbed and my soil is back to the state it was before.
This weekend I put three tomato plants in a flower pots on the deck and am getting the new raised beds ready.I am moving to raised beds. I am enriching each of these with my wonderful compost. Raised beds allow me to extend the period that the new improved soil lasts, but even then experience has shown that it quickly is absorbed in to my soils looking for a better lot in life. Lets see how this all plays out when I plant my cold weather veggies later.
I have been a raised bed fan for many years,having lived in less-than-desirable-soil locations much of my adult life. I knew a man who about cried when he had to sell his house in Flagstaff after spending more than 20 years developing the soil in his garden. The raised bed can be pricey to start (especially when you have to buy soil to fill it) but it sure makes up for it when you can actually grow something!
I made the change to raised beds this year. Plants are doing great. Living next door to you in SE Idaho I completely understand the soil and climate challenge.