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"Harry Krause" wrote in message ... Doug Kanter wrote: "Harry Krause" wrote in message ... A Bully of Bunnies! What's your problem with rototillers? They make gardening much easier. You can rent a commercial grade tiller down here for about $35 for a day, and that's enough time to turn over the dirt for really large garden. For a number of reasons. 1) You're not supposed to turn over the soil. The soil exists in definite layers. The layer at the top BELONGS at the top, not buried or mixed with the layer that's a foot deeper. It contains more of the microorganisms that make organic gardening work so well. If you screw it up, it can take 2-3 seasons to recover, and there's NO way to speed up the process using soil amendments. 2) If you're making new beds where there's now some lawn, the goal is to remove the turf, not chop it into a million pieces and bury some of it like a rototiller does. Otherwise, the grass will be popping up all over the place a month later. You have to slice the turf into manageable pieces, slide under it with a fork, and shake off the soil. It's easy if you get the right spade & fork, like a Smith & Hawken or something like that. Sounds like a lot of work, but you're gonna end up doing it anyway if you rototill. At least with hand tools, you know you've gotten 99% of the grass because it never gets hidden under the surface. Once the garden's been prepared, it NEVER gets turned over - just loosened slightly with a fork in the spring. I injured my shoulder back in March, but I was able to do this job one-handed because the soil was perfect. Ah, I used to till for a garden. Never seemed to hurt the crops. You tilled every year? How would you know there wasn't a better way if you weren't aware of it? |
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