Since we did not want to wait for a year or more to build and make soil, we decided it would be best to bring in 4 yards of compost/loam mix from Western Canada Compost. They have a great mix of organic matter, no bio solids (municipal sewage), and maintains good water retention.
Finally by June 10th we were able to plant our seedlings in the garden, now with our swale system in place and slowly filling in with gravel as more was dug out of the beds. In the background you can see the black buckets and tires where we were trying to grow potatoes for the first time.
While the swales were filling in with gravel, I sprinkled this product (which is really just clover seeds) around the edges of the swale to aid in holding the soil in place and fixing nitrogen at the same time. Some of it grew, but much of it was washed away in the heavy rains in June. Additionally, we broadcasted daikon radish seeds as a cover crop to help us deal with the compaction of our mainly clay soil. 
Up next: How we built the wicking beds!
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