RE: You know what really grinds my gears?

I agree with you. I know our soil health is absolute crap, lacking in every mineral and basically dead. We didn't amend the soil much even though it desperately needs more organic matter and fungi because the current garden area is actually a patch of kudzu that we cleared. We didn't want to invest in adding a ton of great-for-soil amendments because we would be feeding whatever kudzu might still remain, in case we lose the battle and have to nuke the area with herbicide. We're attacking it aggressively and as the years wear on, I am hopeful that it will get better.
When we planted I added lots of organic material & mushroom compost just at each planting site, and have been carefully fertilizing with fish emulsion at the plant bases. This fall I hope to add some broiler chickens to our homestead and they'll be tractored around the garden area. I already have some chicken manure from our laying chickens that we'll spread out this fall, too. We have our work cut out for us to turn our nasty, pasty dirt into healthy, rich soil! Thanks for the well-wishes :)