Tillin' by hand stinks!

[obsessed]

oh... It is always the logistics of gardening that kill me. I used what I think is a pitch fork because I thought it would be easier than the shovel. I never actually tired the shovel. Dang well 3 beds done and two to go.

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, well, at least you did not finish ALL of them with the pitchfork

Shovel: catches all the soil, making it harder to get into the soil but also actually MOVING all that soil.

Pitchfork (has thin round tines): goes into the soil with ease, but not efficient for *moving* soil. Not much use in garden IME, except for forking mulch hay/straw onto beds.

Digging fork (has flat tines, maybe 3/4"? wide): halfway between shovel and pitchfork in terms of behavior in soil; takes less effort to shove into the soil than a shovel requires, but still has reasonable ability to lever up and retain clumps of soil to be turned over. Also good for loosening soil (just stick in verticallly and pry vigorously back and forth, without lifting any soil above the ground, all across the bed)

Have fun,

Pat, counting the days (currently: 21) til it makes any sense for me to start my earliest spinach seeds under lights

 

[ducks4you]

You lucky dogs!!! It was 0 degrees last night. Gardening is a dream to me right now- not going to happen for 4 months!!!! Enjoy your time digging in the dirt!

Do what I'm doing--empty out a pot where some plant died on you, work the soil with your bare hands and plant something that's easy--like mint or onions. Then you can pretend it's Spring!

 

[Grow 4 Food]

Now see you guys are starting to make me feel bad. I get on my tiller and turn the key, flip the switch and take out 72" at a pass. It is hard work turning over 1 1/2 acres "by hand". Darn near takes me 1/2 an hour (that is if I dont stop for a lemonade).

We just got rid of the 6 inches we had and they are fixin to send us 3-5 more tonight and tomorrow! I am SOOOO ready for spring to be here.

:tools

 

[ninnymary]

Well, I've been tilling my bed all winter by hand. It gives me something to do and the soil is nice and soft. We dig and look for worms everyday to give to our 5 chickens. There are days when I want to take a break but my preschoolers tell me the chickens need worms.

It's been raining so I haven't been able to add my compost and amendments to the soil. I'll be having surgery this Thursday so now that they predict a good weekend, I won't be able to do anything! but we did plant our seeds in containers and they are starting to sprout. Yeah

mary

 

[digitS']

I almost hate to post these, Troy-bilt Horse 8 HP with electric start. . . .

I don't have an 8hp tiller. It's an 850 briggs and stratton engine and that makes it just a little bigger than the 5hp I used for 12 years or 15 years, if'n I understand the cc's, ftlbs, and hp's correctly.

As I say, it takes me about 3 years to work down thru the rocks to 11-inches with the spading fork. I could get there all at once but with only about 8-inches of topsoil, that wouldn't make any sense, anyway. I call working with a spading fork,
"Cultivating Peace."

I'd never get there using that rototiller in all those rocks. But, I call trying,
"Raising Hell."

Steve

 

[vfem]

My husband laughs at me... I get my boots and climb into the raised beds with a shovel and pogo stick up and down until its all clumpy. Then I use a rake.

To finish that off, I give my daughter her pile of shovels and buckets and let her go to town like its a sandbox. ( 10 minutes in a hot bath for that tool and we're gold!)

 

[Amigatec]

I almost hate to post these, Troy-bilt Horse 8 HP with electric start. . . .

I don't have an 8hp tiller. It's an 850 briggs and stratton engine and that makes it just a little bigger than the 5hp I used for 12 years or 15 years, if'n I understand the cc's, ftlbs, and hp's correctly.

As I say, it takes me about 3 years to work down thru the rocks to 11-inches with the spading fork. I could get there all at once but with only about 8-inches of topsoil, that wouldn't make any sense, anyway. I call working with a spading fork,
"Cultivating Peace."

I'd never get there using that rototiller in all those rocks. But, I call trying,
"Raising Hell."

Steve

This Tiller was a peice of junk when I bought it, I gave $150 for it, spent another $600 fixing everything on it. For breaking new ground it works really great, I have to do it in 2 or 3 passes, but after it's broken I can till with just 1 hand on the handlebars.

 

[LVVCHAP]

Where'd all dat snow come from??

Weather man said it came from El Nino but I think it just fell from the sky. We are supposed to get another 8"-10" Tuesday and Wednesday

 

[curly_kate]

You *can* rent a tiller for, usually, like $20-30 for a half day; or what I find to be somewhat labor saving is to spread the amendments then do what Steve describes, but with a pointy shovel, so that you are just turning over clods of dirt "in place" not actually lifting or moving them to any meaningful degree. Much of the amendment ends up underneath and amongst the shovel-clods of dirt. Then you leave it that way, all lumpy, for a few dry days until the clods are dry enough that when you whack them hard with a bow rake or shovel they fragment apart pretty well; then whack the remaining clods with a bow rake, use the rake to rake it all flat, and call it good. The amendment will not be 100% totally homogenized into the soil, but you don't NEED to do that with typical amendments, worms etc will do it for you, honest.
Pat

We rented a tiller last year & it was a piece of cake. Our garden is 15' x 40', so I definitely don't have the time to work it by hand. It's still fairly new, so the soil is usually pretty compacted again when I start this spring. I have them covered with compost right now, and am letting the chickens do their work. Although it's about time to cut them off; before all the snow we got, it was getting really muddy.