Growing Vegetables

Tilling has many advantages. First it breaks the soil into small particles which encourages plant growth as the roots can go deeper faster becoming anchored in. Also it allows you to be able to pull weeds out easier. With deep tilling and loosened soil your vegetables will grow larger. Tiling mixes your fertilizer and organic material together better. You can also use tilling to make the most of your green manure.  Tilling is the best time to add your compost pile in to help your soil.

If the soil you are tilling has never been tilled before fall is the best time to do it. This allows all of the grasses and weed seeds to die out over the winter. If the vegetation is very thick you may need to till again in the spring. Many gardeners use power tillers but if you are just starting out and don’t want to invest that amount of money in a small garden you can cultivate with hand tools. Although hand tilling is hard work I always find it to be rewarding and overall better tilled than with a power tiller. First dig out and loosen the soil down about two feet.  Just scoop up shovelfuls of the dirt turned over on top of itself. Then take a spading fork and go over the dirt clods breaking them up into bits. Then scoop up and turn over repeating until the soil is at the desired consistency. 

You can also save time and effort by tilling only where you plan to plant. Just leave the paths between the rows untilled. This will keep the ground hard and as you walk over it and keep it tramped down no weeds will be able to thrive or cross it.  Your shoes will stay cleaner  and you will have a nice even surface to move tools on.